Last year Kathy and Doug were appointed co-executors of their late aunts will, along with a number of other beneficiaries in their extended family.
Part of the Estate contained a large heritage home in Camberwell which had been in the family since the 1940’s. The house was full of antiques and household goods collected over the years and its large garden was once part of the Open Gardens Scheme.
The executors lived in Geelong which meant long drives each time they went to the house to sort through the goods. This process was very time consuming for them. With this in mind, the lawyer acting for the Estate recommended Tower Property to help deal with the tasks in front of them.
“Our first job was to have all the furniture and goods in the house itemised and valued so that each beneficiary knew the value of what they were receiving and everything could be accounted for. We then arranged for the remaining goods to be auctioned, but left some furniture that would assist in presenting the property for sale.”
As the executors were not familiar with the local estate agents, Phil Hoopmann, Senior Property Manager with Tower, arranged marketing proposals from three of the leading agents in the area. Making a choice of agent was then made easier for the executors as they were provided with an ‘Agents Comparison Table’ and ‘Sales Strategy’ for the property.
It can be a burden managing the presentation and maintenance of such a large property and Tower was able to relieve the executors of much of this stress by using their trusted contractors and service providers, as well as dealing directly with the agent during the marketing campaign.
Auctions are stressful, especially for vendors. It is doubly stressful when selling on behalf of other family members. Phil attended the auction with Kathy and Doug, along with a written Auction Strategy discussed in the lead up to the big day, based on market feedback and an independent sworn valuation. This helped to de-stress the day for the executors. The vendors were in charge every step of the way, armed with the knowledge, experience and support of Phil and Tower Property.
“It was clearly an emotional day for the family as the property contained many happy memories for them. However they can take comfort knowing they honored their Aunts memory by presenting the property at its best, and the sale result justified the work and effort they had put in to selling the property.
It was rewarding to be able to help Kathy and Doug during this process, especially with such a great outcome.
We were also with the vendors through to settlement with the sale of the remaining items and ongoing maintenance of the property.”