This is the first piece of advice we give clients when they ask us “where do we start getting rid of the contents of a house.” This story from AOL.com tells of a lucky find that could be worth a quarter million dollars! The heir had no idea of the value. Granted, finds like these […]
View PostMy client’s husband was pulling up the old carpet late one night while rehabbing their 1950s home when something sparkly caught his eye. “I got you something”, he said. She called me to ask if it could be “real”. I inspected the piece and confirmed that it was in fact a gold, diamond and sapphire […]
View PostToday’s record cold temperatures across most of the nation sparked our recollections of how people stayed warm during winter cold spells before the invention of super insulation for homes and high efficiency furnaces. “Pot Belly” small cast iron stoves were often placed in rooms as a source of heat and as a warming surface for […]
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The Pantone Color Institute, Carlstadt, N.J., has been the global color authority and provider of professional color standards for the design industries for more than 50 years. Pantone charts future color direction and studies how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions. For the past 14 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has […]
View PostThis post summarizes a Wall Street Journal article, December 15, 2012, by Andrea Coombes. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that baby boomers and elder Americans say personal keepsakes, family stories and last wishes are more important to their legacy than money. Most baby boomers (86%) and Americans aged 72 and older (74%) said family […]
View PostProblem: I recently appraised a ring containing two old European cut round diamonds from the early 1900s, a .87 ct and a .56 ct. Both were so severely chipped they were deemed uninsurable by the insurance provider. The client asked, “What can I do with these?” Solution: We recut both diamonds into modern brilliant cut […]
View PostTalk about a coincidence. We sold a small desk yesterday to a couple to use as a homework desk for their young son. They had traveled about 60 miles in the freezing rain from NW Indiana to pick it up. Several hours later I received a phone call from the father. As they were unloading the desk […]
View PostTHE ENDOWMENT EFFECT Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and U.C. San Diego have recently documented a behavioral bias that we observe frequently in the property liquidation industry. The perception of an item’s value increases from the mere basis of owning it. This is known as the “Endowment Effect.” Historical economic theory proposes that […]
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