Updated August 2026
What Are the Contents of a House Actually Worth?
No Vancouver Island clearing or estate-sale operator publishes a price, in Qualicum Beach, in Nanaimo or anywhere else, so this guide publishes cost drivers rather than a dollar range. The one number that is settled is what an estate sale company charges: 25 to 45 percent of gross sales, most commonly 45 percent.
The honest answer to what a house of contents is worth is that it depends on what is in it, and that nobody can tell from the outside. What can be set out clearly is what moves the number.
Household contents are everything in a property that is not part of the building — furniture, appliances, tools, machinery, jewellery, collections and ordinary domestic goods.
| Driver | Why it moves the number |
|---|---|
| Era and condition of the furniture | Some periods have a resale market; a great deal of ordinary furniture does not. |
| Tools and machinery | A working shop is often the highest-value part of a rural property. |
| Jewellery and precious metals | Small volume, disproportionate value, and the category most worth appraising first. |
| Deliberately assembled collections | Assembled with intent usually means saleable; accumulated by accident usually does not. |
| Whether a buyer exists locally | Value only becomes money where there is somewhere for the item to go. |
Why no local operator publishes a price
Every Vancouver Island clearing and estate-sale operator checked publishes no price at all. The closest any comes is a volume model priced by fraction of a trailer load, with no figures attached. That is not evasiveness so much as an accurate reflection of the work: two houses of identical floor area can differ by an order of magnitude in what is inside them.
The cost drivers that actually matter
Volume is the first: how much is physically there. Then how much of it is worth selling, because sale proceeds offset the cost of the work. Then access — stairs, elevators, narrow streets and driveways a truck cannot reach. Then outbuildings, which on acreage frequently hold more than the house does. And finally distance to the disposal and donation sites, which is a real cost on rural properties.
| Measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Commission range | 25% – 45% of gross sales |
| Most common commission | 45% |
Figures: EstateSales.org industry survey.
Estate sale commissions
Where an estate sale company runs a sale, it works on commission against gross proceeds. The range is 25 to 45 percent, and 45 percent is the most common. The commission comes off the sale, not out of the estate separately, so what matters is the net after it.
The probate fees that are exact
In contrast to everything above, the statutory costs of a probate application in British Columbia are published and precise: a $200 court filing fee, waived for estates under $25,000, and probate fees on gross asset value of nil below $25,000, $6 per $1,000 between $25,001 and $50,000, and $14 per $1,000 above $50,000, under the Probate Fee Act.
How to get an actual number
The only way to price a specific property is to walk it. What follows a walk-through is a written scope and a written price, with what is expected to sell identified separately so the estate can see both sides of the ledger.
For what this looks like in practice, see selling the contents.
Related: selling the contents · the executor's guide · downsizing moves · Nanaimo
For a written scope and price on a specific property, send the details and a walk-through can be arranged.
Clearing and preparing the contents of a family home, across Vancouver Island.
Nothing has to be sorted, identified or valued first. Send whatever is known and a walk-through can be arranged.