Types of clearance
Household Clearance
Also known as: Dissolving a household · Household liquidation · Haushaltsauflösung · Contents clearance
A household clearance is the complete winding-up of a household, in which the contents are sorted through, valued, partly resold and only then disposed of. Unlike a pure clearance, the focus is on assessing and reusing the household goods rather than simply emptying the property.
The difference from a straight clearance
In everyday language the terms are used interchangeably, but they describe different priorities. A clearance is about the property ending up empty. A household clearance is about what happens to the contents: what do relatives keep, what can be sold, what is donated, what has to be disposed of?
That is why a household clearance is almost always a multi-stage process. First the relatives go through the contents and take what matters to them. Then whatever has a market value is appraised. Only at the end is the property cleared and the remainder disposed of.
What can realistically be resold
Genuinely saleable are solid wood furniture and design classics, mechanical watches, jewellery, precious metals, coins and stamps, real carpets, musical instruments, high-quality tools and machines, art and antiques, and occasionally collections with enthusiast value.
What brings little or nothing: upholstered furniture, chipboard wall units, cathode-ray televisions, encyclopaedias, used mattresses, mass-market clothing and most household appliances more than ten years old. An honest assessment is part of proper advice — inflated promises about how much will be credited are a warning sign.
Working with the family
Household clearances are rarely purely logistical tasks. They often involve the parental home, memories, and a community of heirs (Erbengemeinschaft) with differing ideas about what should happen. A sensible process gives everyone involved a clear deadline to go through the contents and records in writing what was secured — that prevents most of the conflicts.
A real-world example
After their mother's death, three siblings wind up the household in Horgen. They are given two weeks to go through the contents. We then value what remains: a Biedermeier secretaire, a Persian carpet and a set of silver cutlery together produce a credit of around CHF 2,400. The clearance cost of CHF 4,200 is reduced to CHF 1,800. The rest of the household goods goes partly to a collection point for reusable items, partly to disposal.
Services that cover this
Frequently asked questions about Household Clearance
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