Operation Cleanout to Move Out!

The spring Real Estate market has bloomed. Whether a seller takes their time preparing their home for sale or waits till the last minute, it is difficult to deal with a house full of years of accumulated content as part of the moving process. That is where a clean-out service can help.

Marty McDermott and Robyn Yearwood, owners of Warwick’s fun upbeat antique showroom, Retro Modern Antique, are always asked, “How do I get rid of a house full of stuff” or “I am downsizing and my kids don’t want my stuff.”

Marty McDermott and Robyn Yearwood, owners of Warwick’s Retro Modern Antiques.
Marty McDermott and Robyn Yearwood, owners of Warwick’s Retro Modern Antiques.

This dynamic duo has created a niche with a company called Operation Cleanout. They look at a complete household or estate and strategically assess the following:

  • What is of value?
  • Who is the buyer for the items?
  • What gets donated and what goes to the great big recycling center in the sky?

Marty says, “Our onsite project teams take the emotion out and sort based on fair market value, not sentiment. We always hear how homeowners take so much time to sort and disseminate the items then become emotionally overwhelmed. We empty houses every day and have industry resources and best practices that make a monumental project look easy.”

Robyn admits, “Every household has challenges and we go with the flow and have to tweak our plan as we go based on the needs of the clients.”

Operation cleanout offers “broom clean” service to households in NJ and NY. Robyn says, “75% of our client’s take advantage of our full service ”Broom Clean Program”. After an onsite appointment we create a plan for each household based on the contents.”

The three typical scenarios are:

  1. They pay you for the household contents. Some homes are filled with great treasures. They offer a buyout for those treasures and the cost to empty the house is offset by the value of the treasures.
  2. The items are about what it cost to empty the property. In this case, the cost to process all the items in the home, between movers, labor, cleaning and donating and the value of the household items is equal to the contents value. The house is emptied at no cost and the team takes the contents as payment for the cleanout and removal.
  3. There are only a few treasures that can help offset the cost of the cleanout, therefore the client pays a fee for the removal of all items rendering the property emptied.
Marty McDermott and Robyn Yearwood, owners of Warwick’s Retro Modern Antiques.
Marty McDermott and Robyn Yearwood, owners of Warwick’s Retro Modern Antiques.

Marty says, “The cleanout process can be dirty and requires a lot of moving, organizing and outside resources, but the hunt for fun treasure is what makes the business so exciting. We offer other services and happy to pick and buy a few items and let you do the cleanout. In addition, when the contents and the location of the household warrant, we can also do onsite estate sales.”

Imagine the fun and interesting treasures that land on the showroom floor at Retro Modern Antiques, 331 Route 94 S, Warwick. Follow the online showroom on Instagram and Facebook. They are always sharing cool items for sale.

Recently, my staging clients hired Operation Cleanout once their house sold and will be featured in an upcoming column. House emptied in a day – problem solved!