Maybe estate sale dealers could help locate some. We have about seven or eight regular estate sale dealers around my area. They all know each other, and how each other does business. Maybe the dealers could help with this.

I've heard some of these type sales, but always after the fact. It's a good concept though.

heya csg!
I love your alias, wish I had thought of that.
when you say estate sales dealer, do you mean a real estate agent?
They are not very helpful, they get snippy once they realise you are 'wasting' their time..
Anybody else with any good leads? Or better yet, a real estate agent that GARDENS? surely we must have a couple of 'em here?
No?...
klk

Not realtors, but the people who handle household estate sales. They come into the homes after the grandparents have passed on, price everything, and run a three day sale. Like a rummage sale, but it's actually inside the house. And almost always when an elderly couple has passed on. Many families use this, especially if they are out of state, as they don't have to price everything themselves, sit and run a sale. (usually the family takes the few pieces of Grandma's things they want first. But how much of Grandma's stuff can one move into their own home? So, the rest gets sold.) The estate sale dealers work off a percentage of sales. Oh, and bring some pocket money with you. Some of my favorite gardening tools have been purchased inexpensively at estate sales ;-)

You'll find their ads in the rummage sale sections of the papers. Just go to one of the sales, (Not the first day, they are too busy then, and afternoon is usually a less busy time) and strike up a conversation. Some may be aware of an estate sale dealer doing this. I knew one fellow in my town that mentioned he might do this, but he went out of business, and I lost contact with him.

Very frequently, (in fact almost always,) the home that an estate sale is being held at will be up for sale itself, if not alredy listed. Some of those very homes might be slated for demolition, or extensive remodel. While at sales, I've heard folks offering to purchase old windows, cabinetry, built-in appliances that were not offered for sale, but it was somehow mentioned the home was to be going under a renovation. (The most memorable, a 1950's pink wall oven and gas cook top, in excellent condition. The potential purchaser was soo excited about her find!! And, I believe she probably got it.)

And January to April seems to be a strong time of year for estate sales. Winter holidays unfortunately bring lots of funerals.

I would agree that real estate agent would probably get testy about this. They are looking for big sales comissions. The estate sale dealers are the ones who will work for nickels (Those nickels add up, and it's the thrill of the hunt with recycling types ;-)

I hope you find some leads on this. Good idea!
cantstop

(Thanks for the good thoughts about the name. Another cute one I saw some one use was gottagarden. Too true!)

I think you are talking about pre-demolition auctions. Sometimes, they are tearing down the whole house and it's all for sale. Check with any auctioneers in your area.

I go to auctions all the time and never though of the plants in the yard. I am going to start asking because most of these auctions are at really old homes. What a great idea.

Another tip re: estate sales -- check back the day the sale closes to see what gardening stuff didn't sell. I went to an estate sale a few months ago. The deceased was apparently quite into container gardening; they were selling a bunch of huge plastic pots, some planted with roses and herbs, along with a couple dozen smaller clay pots and assorted other gardening stuff. The prices seemed a little high, so I didn't buy. I called the person running the sale right before it closed to see if the garden stuff had sold. It hadn't, so I asked if she'd give me a discount. She said to come by the next day when they were cleaning up. I ended up getting a whole pickup truck load of pots and containers, plus a big storage bin for... $15. The people who run estate sales can load up antiques, etc., and sell them at their next sale, but I don't think they want to bother with a bunch of gardening stuff. She seemed happy to have someone haul it away.

Another way to find these kinds of things is on your local freecycle or craigslist.com listing. Our local branch of ADPSR also posts some demolition sales. Around here we have several places that sell used building materials, and they sometimes advertise demolition sales as well -- maybe look on the yellow pages under salvage or used building materials.

Sorry to bump up such an old post... I'm new and looking around and wanted to add my two-cents.

As Habitat Gardener mentioned, a lot of places sell used bldg materials. One big easy one to look up is Habitat for Humanity. A lot of HH groups also do demolition jobs, saving everything they can, which goes to the Habitat ReStore and is sold cheap cheap cheap. I would call the local HH chapter and find out when/where on demolition jobs and what do they do with the yard and plants? I bet someone there could help you out.

Went to an estate sale as mentioned above and bought four tomatoe cages made from very heavy duty fencing in 3' diameter circles. Cost? One buck for four! yippee My hubby was so proud...