How do you come to terms with selling off some of your cars/stuff?

Well....the inevitable has finally come. The building that houses the "hobby shop" that me, my brother and my Dad have been sharing has finally been sold.

We'll have to move out soon...or be faced with rent payments we cannot afford. My Dad has been renting shop space there since 1972 (almost 36 years, YIKES). Needless to say, there is quite an ac***ulation of stuff.

What I'm having trouble with is facing the fact that we'll have to cut loose a lot of stuff that we've grown used to over the years. Some of it probably should have been "purged" years ago, but you know how it comes in handy to keep extra stuff around incase you need it.

It's looking like we might need to reduce our inventory of project cars and ***ociated parts. Just having trouble accepting the thought that they are worth a lot more money to us, than to anybody else.

How do you guys come to terms with selling off your goodies without getting too depressed?

 

I've been hit with this problem 3 times in my Life so far. I've managed to get around it each time without selling down. Sure some stuff will go just because it don't matter any more. Where there's a will there is a way. 40' container box's are cheep and mobil. You'll be surprised what all you can fit in them.They are also easy to re-sell.
Food for thought.
Good luck, The Wizzard

 

i think of all the cash i'll have to dream with.

 

I sold a lot of stuff for a down payment and just bought a place with huge shops. I'd do it again. Housing deals are out there right now, plus GOOD car stuff is going for good money to help get a place.

What good are cars & tools with no permanent home?

 

My favorite way is to immediately spend the money on something I want/need more than the old goodies.

No it doesn't work that well.

 

I'd first sort out the stuff designated for individual ongoing projects. At the same time I would be sorting out the items that I would sell and the stuff that is just junk such as the part of a 53 pickup hood that I have used for patch panels and the buckets of rusty bolts that haven't even been looked at for 25 years.
Plus some of the stuff you sell might go to pay for pieces to finish a project or two ahead of schedule.
I'm in the big middle of that right now. I figure that I will have to move in the next few years and am starting to get rid of the "I might have a use for it someday" stuff.
At least here in the PNW those shipping containers go pretty reasonable. About the cost of a 12 x 12 shed kit from Home Depot. they are dry and secure and I have seen at least one turned into a pretty nice shop. A bit narrow to work on a car but nice to work in and store goodies in.

 

I got a "courtesy notice" from the city last week informing me that I needed to be courtious to my neighbours by getting rid of my junk. I sold 2 vintage motorcycles and an old VW van this week. I guess they were projects that didn't motivate me anymore or I would have worked on them sometime in the last ten years. Anyway, the cash is nice but I've been pretty bummed out about watching them all leave. Plus, I had to cram so much stuff in my garage that I don't have any room to work. I usually work on stuff outside when the weathers nice, so I'll just wait till spring when the citys off my back to roll my projects back outside. Then I'll fire up the compressor, grinder etc and really be f'n courtious to my neighbors! Payback's gonna be a ***** to whoever complained to the city!

There, I feel a little better now.

 

Don't know what to tell you, I just sold two of my favorites, one I had for 17 years, yeah that ****ed..just take a lot of pictures.I did with my kids, seems to have helped some and you won't ever HAVE to get rid of the pics. Priority is a *****!!

 

WOW, 36 years of rent payments. It's a shame the building wasn't purchased with a 30 year morgage way back then. Perhaps the 3 of you can go in on purchasing something suitable and use it as an investment. It's certainly a buyers market right now.

 

Go around and put realistic price tags on all the stuff you either have to part with or think you might be able to part with, then add it up. Then imagine what you might do with the cash. When you see what the stuff is worth, it may make it a little less painful to sell.

 

I'm kinda of a neat freak. Anything I have, if I don't use it in a year, goes. Only to friends that can use it, with the stipulation that if they don't use it, I get it back. I hate having clutter around the garage.

 

Think of it like you are not the owner. Just the caretaker if you will. The caretaker that will get paid for watching over the stuff. It hurts to get rid of it, but it sometimes hurts worse to drag things out. It could feel like a burden has been lifted. I personally don't like change too much, so I know how you feel.

 

I ran into an older guy yesterday that has a similar predicament..
3 acres of cars and parts, and the county up his *** about it. He HAS to get rid of alot or all of it.

I asked him how much for this car, or that stuff..

All I got was "I need this for that, or I'm gonna fix that one up soon"
the guy has 50+ cars, and TONS of parts ****tered about.

I bet he loses it all.

You guys are not in such a bad spot, but you will have to liquidate as well, or move it all.
No need for a fire sale, but if you don't need it right now or very soon, or just "found it" after so many years in storage, then sell it.

 

Streamline.....It seems the more stuff you have.....the more so-called friends you get.....sell some of the stuff and loose some of the so-called friends.....you get more done!.....Having the right friends and less stuff.....priceless.....All I am really trying to say is you will adapt, so be happy with what you will end up with.....eccept for the co-called friends. LOL

 

not to be a ****,,but thats the first thing that came to my head too...

 

i have a 5 year plan. if i havent used it after 5 years i dont really need it. about the rent deal, pay attention here all you young guys, the only difference between rent and owning is the down payment, the monthly cost usually are about the same. 35 years of paying rent and ending up with nothing. what a shame.

 

the old house we lived at,,,we rented for a year,,,then we bought it,,,our down payment was pretty much nothing...

,,then ,our house payment was less than our rent,,,

 

I am kind of in the same boat myself now, but basically you just knuckle down and start getting rid of stuff one way or the other. Start by getting rid of true **** you know you should have thrown away (or s****ped) a long time ago of then work your way into the sort of decent stuff. Give actual decent enough stuff (not junk) to friends first for free or real cheap if they want it. Then sell what might be worth the effort after that. keep the rest. If you don't have an actual plan for something, probably needs to go. Good luck.

 

rent vs. buy

Sometimes when you rent a space like that, you only are renting part of the building, not the whole thing. And if the owner has had the building for a long time and it was paid off long ago, they may have been renting it way under market value. It does pay to own in the long term if you can for sure. But, raw industrial space around the SF area rents for $1/sf min. for the most part and that is if you can find it. To buy it however can be immensely more expensive, especially when you consider the sizable down payment and giant tax increase you will need to cover verses the likely far lower rate the seller was paying before - reality 101 CA. Around here, a 3-5000 sf building is going to run you $3-6K per month, but is probably worth $1M or more depending on specific location/condition. $3-6K doesn't quite make the mortgage payments on that, especially when adding in taxes per year at around $15K.

But still, good to buy if you can and can get a good deal and can actually afford it.

 

yeah,,but S.F. is like one of the most expensive places to live in the US...so you're apples to oranges,,,but thanks for the info though.

 

As for the rent...

We've occupied one rental unit out of a total of ten for the building, so buying was never really an option. My Dad ran it as a Body & Fender Shop full time from 1972 until about 1980, then part time from 80 to about 91. The rent was too low to give it up when he closed the business and by then my brother and I were of the age that we wanted a place to mess around with our project cars and race cars, so we've been splitting the rent ever since...less than $100 per month for each of us, with heat included.

I'm going to miss the place...not only because it was a place to keep a lot of stuff, but because it was cool to be able to get together with my Dad and my brother and work on projects together with tools, equipment and supplies that we all shared.

 

True and a fair point, but similar in other major urban areas. And to a degree, it is a bit relative. I am sure raw ****py industrial space doesn't run $1/sf to rent or $1M to buy in less expensive areas - maybe $.50/sf and $500K or $.30/sf and $300K. People's income and living expenses are also relative because of the practical laws of economics. I haven't checked other places for comparison. But also, getting a mortgage for commercial property can be a lot more difficult and the down payments are typically expected to be much more than for residential property. As I said, I actually am in the same boat and have been looking at both options for a new space.

Now, if you happen to live in an area with more work space than there is demand, then you can probably get a pretty good deal on buying something like that. That is probably the bigger difference than relative cost. Around here, that kind of stuff is in high demand to be bought, torn down and then redeveloped into something far more expensive. In Flint, they might be giving it away.

 

Sorry, as much as I love cars, I don't get emotionally attached to them. I've done that a few times and regretted it. Now I just like working on them, resurrecting some, and hotrodding others.....

 

Ooooohhhh! Just noticed-getting close to post number 666. Isn't there some kind of HAMB plaque for that?

 

organize everything, put all parts,etc. with the cars they go with, then prioraitize the list of what you have left.
parts; sell to fund the cars your keeping.
cars that you might fix someday;sell them too.
if it's junk...enuf said.
you'll be bummed at first, but money has a way of fixing that

 

I own a lot of rare and wonderful stuff much of it one-off which means when gone it doesn't get replaced. But I own it! It doesn't own me.....OH IT HAS TRIED!!!!! and come close but I own it......

If I have to sell something cause I want something else I do it.

If I find someone that's a better home for something they own it.

There are things I miss. People I miss. Times I miss. But the world continues to unfold in front of us. There is a new adventure everyday!

Don't let you stuff own you............................................................

 

I think about what other **** I can buy with the money from what I sold.... usually doesn't take long to make up my mind -

 

its getting like that at with my sheds and garages (got **** at my moms, my own place and my dad's garage). a bunch of it is ending up on craigslist. though unlike some of you, i dont need some of my stuff (like the dog house to a 60s rambler) at all lol.

 

I'm doing the same thing, I started last Fall. I can't bring my self to throw stuff away that somebody might want or need so I'm grouping my "clearance" items by categories of what friend or relative might be able to use them and when the pile is finished I call them up and tell them what I have to get rid of. When they ask how much I tell them, "You load it, you haul it and it's your's just come get it." In most cases it's gone in an hour. Yeah I miss out on some ready cash but people remember things like that, the ones I know do anyway, and somewhere down the road I'll need something and one of them will come up with it.

 

liquidated a ton of parts

motocross bikes and gear

outdoor gear(kayaks and bikes)

before my move last year

felt good to know some one else was using the stuff

and Im hurt ALOT less with out dirtbikes and ****