My Brothers Estate

[Sigarms]

You can benchmark the value of your guns at

Guns For Sale | Buy Guns Online | GunBroker.com

GunsAmerica - Buy Guns and Sell Guns Online

From my own experiences, gunsamerica always seemed on the high side for buy price, and for some reason, they seemed to be a PITA to join, as I never looked back after joining gunbroker.

 

[ArlyA]

When determining the price of a gun for sale...

Cheap way - go to gunbroker, see what the average opening bid of the gun is. Average out the prices vs age and condition vs what you have, and determine a sell price set on how fast you want to sell it. If the average price you find is $1500 on what you have, you need to include shipping, FFL and gunbroker fee.

Sometimes you can find some real deals on gunbroker with someone wanting to unload something, and sometimes the prices aren't that great vs something new you could buy anywhere.

Because my FIL's gun was a unique older lever action rifle where prices vary greatly depending on the condition, I took it to a gun shop who specializes in valuing guns. See below for written appraisal

View attachment 768990


At the end of the day, something is only worth what someone is actually willing to pay for it.

I think you could spend the rest of your life checking on something condition and what that product might be worth today.. If it was like 6 guns its doable but dozens..... Seems like your time is worth something.

 

[Sigarms]

I think you could spend the rest of your life checking on something condition and what that product might be worth today.. If it was like 6 guns its doable but dozens..... Seems like your time is worth something.

Honestly, from my own experience, it becomes a side hobby where you don't lose money or perhaps you can make a little money

Some guys trade and sell auto and tractor parts, no different than guns.

I've got more guns than I know what to do with. The unwritten rule with my wife now is when one comes in, one goes out (you can only keep so many safes in the house before your wife knows whats up).

The key with anything is don't buy nor sell when you HAVE to. Buy when you have to, you may pay to much due to a rushed decision. Sell when you have to because you need the money bad, you sell at a lower price for a quick sale where as if you would have waited a little longer, may have gotten a lot more.

Note to young married guys looking at a good gun safe. Always get a safe at least 2 times bigger than you think you need. Sell the larger gun safe to to your wife on protecting home valuables other than guns as a good family investment. Sooner or later, the guns will overrun the family valuables in the first safe, and just shrug to your wife that you don't know where the guns are coming from taking up more space, but perhaps it might be a good idea for another safe to store more home valuables because the first safe is running out of room for whatever reason. Repeat as needed.

 

[newbury]

<snip> And it never became a known asset of his estate. At least it didn't, to the second wife.

And now you've put it on the web.

 

[Sigarms]

And now you'v put it on the web.

Having no clue how many years ago that was (although it was mentioned that it took 15 years to get rid of them all), nor no names given and it the guns have been taken care of, I believe it's probably a moot point by now

 

[ArlyA]

I think Eddie wll be working many, many hours to get rid of items in this estate. I'd guess he's not looking to start up any new hobby at this time.

 

[JasperFrank]

Statute of Limitations is a beautiful thing. I was very surprised when, the Lawyer, told me that I should FOREVER keep certain home and business liability insurance documents. This took time for me to get my head around. As some of the policies had not been renewed for many decades. I thought all these documents were now meaningless. Turns out that they were not meaningless. If someone filed a claim against the estate, because of something discovered that can be established to have occurred when the policy was active, the lawyer said he could still get the policy to pay out, if the company was still around, or even it had been bought up. And that that lasts forever. I'm no longer on the deeds to anything related to that estate, yet one brother still is, and I am in the Chain of Title of several, long ago, sold properties. So there is a box, filed away, of nothing but old insurance policies.

 

[Jstpssng]

I would suggest to Eddie that he has enough on his plate without messing around with the firearms he doesn't want. Find a gun dealer or three, get your best offer, collect a check and be done with it. When selling on Gunbroker or any other site you still will need to pay fees to sell each gun unless you are a licensed, insured dealer.

 

[Jstpssng]

Gun Broker is the real deal. Locally, we have online auction houses that sell firearms. They always seem to get fair market value. Even single shot and bolt action shotguns fetch a decent price. I'm guessing it's someone purchasing a "gun of their youth" or a barn gun.

I'm in agreement on a locksmith for the gun safe.

I've been burned on Gunbroker the last two times I bought there... the items were nowhere near in the condition described. (My fault for bidding on As-is.) Then last fall I was shopping for a Contender... at the time TCwas in limbo so I was unable to find new prices. There were two on Gunbroker for around $600 plus fees and shipping so when I found one locally for $600 I bought it. He must have gotten his price from the same place because this spring I had it appraised and I got burned again... it's worth about 1/2 that.

 

[civilian]

Eddie, about the gun safe. Have a real locksmith that knows safes open it. I know of one that could not be opened by the owners, and their younger dependents. Could not be precise enough with the tumbler dial. A locksmith was able to call the manufacturer, tell them the info needed about that safe and they told him where to drill a hole and hit something. He was then able to open the safe and replace the lock with a new digital lock system. Much better than a grinder. An intact safe could be worth as much as a gun or two. Jon

 

[Torvy]

I'm in the market for a long gun or two. Our place is probably an hour or so away.

 

[airbiscuit]

Here is an example of an online auction and the kinds of prices they get. I think dealers won't offer you as much as you could get on an online auction. (scroll down and check several pages)

Guns Ammo Knives Combined Estate Online Auction | Asset Marketing Pros, LLC

 

[Sigarms]

I've been burned on Gunbroker the last two times I bought there... the items were nowhere near in the condition described. (My fault for bidding on As-is.) Then last fall I was shopping for a Contender... at the time TCwas in limbo so I was unable to find new prices. There were two on Gunbroker for around $600 plus fees and shipping so when I found one locally for $600 I bought it. He must have gotten his price from the same place because this spring I had it appraised and I got burned again... it's worth about 1/2 that.

I believe you pointed out your own mistake. "As-is" in the honest term for you most likely won't like it.

I take pics of the worst ares of the firearm and point that out. Whenever you look at pics of firearms with the lighting, you can always pic the best photos or worst photos of the gun. Try to get a good pic, but include anything that would show marks/scratches... Also, as long as the gun doesn't leave the FFL of the buyer, gun can be returned no questions asked as long as they pay for shipping the gun back to my FFL and they pay the transfer fee. I've got a A+ rating as a sell with a decent amount of transactions

In hindsight, if Eddie has a crapload of guns to deal with, added helping his parents with the estate, I would probably agree to try to sell to a auction house that can buy everything with one check. May not get the overall sell price, but just be done with it.

However, depending on what Eddie's brother has, I'd look at more than just what Eddie would want to keep himself. Think about all the kids in the family. I'm certain some kids would love to be able to keep a rifle or pistol from their uncle down the road. Keeping some of the guns for future generations of the family would be worth it IMO. For myself, the guns that have the most value in my life are those that were given to me by my father or uncles.

 

[Hay Dude]

Actually, since Eddie isn't listed as the executor of his brothers Estate, nor would he inherit anything, keeping track of expenses on his end is kind of a moot point and would accomplish nothing.

Now that said, I have no doubt that what Eddie does and tells his mother he does is "Gold", if there is money in the estate to be paid to Eddie for his services, his mother will pay him. Thing is, not all families are the same.

That's not legal, but love and understanding that you're doing the right thing for the person you love.

Thing is, I'm guessing most people here on this forum are not eyeballs in debt, and they have enough assets to cover what debt they owe.

When my aunt died basically penniless(no assets) and I was the executor of her estate, I lived 484 miles out of state. It was a 8 hour drive one way, more than a couple of trips on my end (with my truck in a couple of instances to move things). Because our family was so large, I still got questioned on my expenses (and yes, I filed everything with the lawyer). Honestly, being her executor was the biggest PITA life experiences I've had dealing with family, but at the end of the day, it was a learning experience about people and I didn't mind because my aunt loved and trusted me, and it's the least I could do for her since she was no longer with us.

My dad, selling his sisters "family home" got questioned as well on his expenses from family being he was the executor because there were back taxes and legal fees on the home that ran over 10k over a 40 year period. When my dad died, I found the paperwork on the home. Interesting reading, at least 1" thick. I never knew he kept the paperwork.

GET A LAYWER

Or better yet: Get an accountant (especially if you have a trusted one).

When dad died, mom was still 100% healthy and just needed our help getting things taken care of. It was of course hard on all of us, but mom was strong through it all and we just stuck together.

BUT, when mom died, the work was 10x harder. We have a family accountant. He’s like part of our businesses we all owned over the decades. When mom got cancer, she called him and asked HIM to handle her estate.

BEST decision she could have made. Lawyers wanted to steal 25% to handle it. Our accountant, with a little help from me and my brothers & sisters, did everything for about $5,000.
It all went smooth as glass. I found out from our accountant that most lawyers have accountants do all the gov paperwork filings, tax planning, etc anyway.

If you know a good accountant, he/she can do it all for you at much less cost.

 

[D2Cat]

A will means nothing as long as his heart is still beating. Talk to a lawyer who specializes in senior issues.

That is a foolish statement! When does a will mean something? You sure can't write one if your heart isn't beating. Perhaps you mean it has no effect, but it sure does mean something. Anyone with a will had desires of handling affairs after passing!

 

[Jstpssng]

I believe you pointed out your own mistake. "As-is" in the honest term for you most likely won't like it.

That might not be quite the right term. They were “no returns”, which means the same thing. My .410 in particular was nowhere near as described. My comment really has nothing to do with Eddie and his brother’s guns though.

 

[airbiscuit]

I've purchased half a dozen firearms on Gun Broker. Each was a satisfactory transaction.

 

[JJT]

I've purchased half a dozen firearms on Gun Broker. Each was a satisfactory transaction.

Same here, no issues, fast and easy transfers.

 

[Sigarms]

That might not be quite the right term. They were “no returns”, which means the same thing. My .410 in particular was nowhere near as described. My comment really has nothing to do with Eddie and his brother’s guns though.

"No returns" or "as is" per a sales description equates to "buyer beware" IMO. IMO "buyer beware" basically means to me that there is a sucker born every minute. "A sucker born every minute" basically equates to me that there are unscrupulous people in our world.

The issue I have as a seller of a product is I'm not out to knowingly screw a potential buyer if I know there is something wrong with what I'm selling. I'm going to guess that you may go by that same philosophy. I mean, if you intentionally know you're selling something with a defect or lie on the description of the item you're selling, how do you sleep with yourself at night knowing you mislead people into buying from you so you can make money?

Anyone who has a A+ rating on gunbroker should treat you fair as you'd expect to be treated IMO.

Now... Armslist is a whole different world in selling guns over the internet You want stupid people, Armslist is the place. So many potential scams its really amazing.

I'm going to guess that Eddie will give us a pass on getting off track.

 

[Jstpssng]

Now I’m really starting from the topic. Yet I have refused to sell a truck because the potential buyer didn’t understand that just because he could drive it home didn’t mean it wouldn’t need TLC.