Why online marketplaces haven’t brought real estate sales to a standstill

IWell, house On a cul-de-sac in Arlington Heights, a nondescript suburb of modest 1950s homes northwest of Chicago, Deborah Fossett counts hundred-dollar bills. She holds each one up to the light and examines nine in total. Satisfied, she writes out a receipt and hands it to the customer who collects his purchase – an antique silver Tiffany cutlery. Similar sets are selling online for thousands of dollars, she tells him. But this one is missing some parts, and in any case everything in the house has to go, and it’s after two o’clock, so $900 is enough. He takes another look at his business and quickly leaves.

Ms. Fossett runs Chicago Estate Advisors, a company that sells everything in your home for you. Typically, clients are relatives of recently deceased former residents, but sometimes they are people who are simply downsizing or decluttering their home. Almost all of these activities take place in person and offline. Most companies that do this are small, like Ms. Fossett’s.