Owatonna woman helps with estate, moving sales

While most people think about estate sales in connection with expensive homes and end-of-life, Jennifer Robertson says they can be done any time.

And the Owatonna resident is ready to help you with yours.

Robertson put her career on hold while raising and homeschooling her 14 children, 13 of whom are adopted.

“I really love, love being a mom,” she said, adding her children are now grown. “It seems like this is a different season of life when I can do what I enjoy without taking away from the children.”

Robertson has done work in interior design and decorated for many large events while living in California. But working with a local man who had lost his wife after a 60-year marriage opened a new career path for her.

Having been widowed at a young age and with a young daughter, Robertson could understand the man’s situation.

“It’s painful to have people sort through your stuff,” she said. “I think there’s a bond you form with people when you’ve lost a spouse.”

The man’s wife had amassed a huge collection of milk glass, which is valuable to collectors. To help make it easier for him to sell the items, Robertson took them to her house. She said people whose lives the woman had touched wanted mementoes, but “it’s painful to watch people sort through your stuff.”

Launching a business

Robertson found that she enjoyed the work and helping her client.

“I really love helping people have some dignity in that moment of loss,” she said, “but there is also something really fun for me in that process.”

That job led to another client who was moving to assisted living, but the children weren’t local. Robertson also helped clean up a home where a hoarder had lived. The conditions were “very unsanitary”, she said, but she still found value in some pieces.

When Robertson decided to launch an estate sale business, she started talking to people to get business tips. Some told her that she had a shop, she would make a lot more money for her customers.

That’s how 11 Maple Lane was born. Robertson set up the shop in what was her home’s large garage and workshop. The walls are lined with antiques and items repurposed into beautiful home décor.

Some of Robertson’s customers are crafters looking for items like drawer faces, doorknobs, barn wood, old windows. She recently worked with someone who was having a house torn down and was able to salvage some of those items.

Robertson’s contracts call for a 30/70 split with the customer plus a storage fee when items must be taken off the property.

“Obviously, I’m very motivated to get them the maximum amount and find anything that can make money,” she said. “I really enjoy selling antiques. Old canning jars are valuable… I can put those in my shop and get what they’re getting at antique stores.”

Stories add value

What Robertson values most, though, is the stories behind the items she sells. She has a few interior design clients and sometimes sees items she knows they might like. Her customers always appreciate knowing those stories, and they add value, she said.

“Going through all your things is very personal,” she said. “I’m always surprised that people trust me and let me into their space. The things they’re willing to share with me surprise me.”

She’s also surprised by how people value their own items. “Coming from a home décor perspective, a lot of things people consider trash really are valuable.”

Also, Robertson said, “It’s nice if people have collections to do the estate sale in their homes. The connection lends more valuable to the item. It’s better for the customer to keep them together.”

More common than sales, Robertson said, are “buyouts”.

“They just need the property emptied,” she said, “so I make an offer on everything. The offer is lower than what they would get at a sale but obviously, I’m taking the risk. I immediately get things removed and into storage.”

Along with liquidations, Robertson’s Integrity Estate Services can help people with downsizing and simplifying, as well as foreclosures and cleaning out properties. She has made presentations to area real estate agents about the service, because “sometimes you just need to have someone come in and clean.”

The business can also step in when a family is dealing with a situation where they’ve lost a parent. Robertson can act as executor, “which removes family members from issues that might create conflict.”

“Having lived through loss, I understand the situations people live through,” she said.

With 14 children, Robertson has plenty of help. She said her father also lends a hand with minor repairs.

“I would like to move to the country where I can spread out a bit and have a separate building on the property,” she said. “I would like the business to grow.”

To get in touch with Robertson, call 507-461-6996 or write to integrityestateservice@gmail.com.

11 Maple Lane

1151 Mineral Springs Rd.

Open limited hours and by appointment.

Upcoming sale weekends: Oct. 27-29, Nov. 3-5, Nov. 17-19, Nov. 25-26, Dec. 1-3, Dec. 8-10, Dec. 15-17.

Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.