An estate liquidator takes responsibility for the contents of a home and converts them into money, donations, or disposal. In practice that means sorting and cataloguing what is there, researching what has resale value, pricing it, running the sale — on-site, by auction, or online — and then clearing whatever is left so the house can be listed or handed over. Some firms handle the whole chain; others specialise in one part of it, such as appraisal or auction. The listings in this directory say which.

Most estate sale and liquidation firms work on commission — a percentage of what the contents sell for — rather than an hourly rate, which aligns their incentive with yours. Some charge a minimum fee if the total sale is small, and clearing or disposal of unsold items is often quoted separately because it is a cost rather than a revenue. Appraisals are more commonly billed as a flat fee or hourly. Rates vary widely by firm and by what is in the house, so get two or three written quotes and make sure each one states what happens to unsold goods.

An on-site estate sale suits a house with a large volume of ordinary household goods; buyers come to you and most of the contents move in a weekend. An auction — increasingly an online one — suits collections with genuine collector demand, where competitive bidding finds a price no fixed tag would. Consignment suits a small number of high-value pieces you are willing to wait on. Because so much of British Columbia's housing stock is condos and townhomes, many Burnaby firms also run smaller, apartment-scale sales rather than the sprawling weekend sale common in a detached house — ask what format a firm actually runs before booking one.

In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) sets out an executor's duties, and household contents are part of the estate the executor must secure and account for. Before probate is granted, the executor must serve the required Notice of Proposed Application on beneficiaries, intestate successors, and the deceased's spouse and children, then wait at least 21 days before applying to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Get a written appraisal of anything of significant value before it leaves the house — it protects you if a beneficiary later questions the price — and make sentimental distributions to family before a liquidator prices the sale. If the estate is contested or the will is unclear, talk to the estate lawyer before anything is sold. This directory is not legal advice.

For a typical Burnaby home, expect two to four weeks from first walkthrough to empty house: a week or so of sorting and cataloguing, the sale itself over a weekend, and then removal of what did not sell. Strata buildings common across British Columbia add their own timeline — many strata corporations require move-out bookings and restrict elevator or loading-dock access to certain hours, so confirm the building's rules before the liquidator sets a date. Larger properties or estates needing formal appraisal take longer. If the property is already listed for sale, tell the liquidator the closing date at the first conversation.

Reputable firms will set out the plan for unsold goods in writing before the sale: donation to a charity that will collect, consignment of the few pieces worth waiting on, and disposal or recycling of the rest. Clearing is labour, so it is normally a line item rather than something absorbed into commission. Ask specifically who pays for the disposal bin or haul-away, and whether the unit or house is left broom-clean — a strata council may require proof of this before releasing a move-out deposit.