Member Details

Mary Sudar Appraisals and Estate Sales was founded in 1984, almost immediately after Mary^s graduation from the Tacoma^s University of Puget Sound in with an honors degree in Art History and French.

With a longstanding interest in art, antiques, material culture and history, and wanting to find a way to put her academic training to practical use, Mary decided to pursue professional accreditation through the American Society of Appraisers, the premier multi-disciplinary international appraisal organization.  After many hours of additional coursework, hands-on study in museums and classrooms, and successful completion of a battery of examinations, Mary received her designation as an Accredited Senior Appraiser.  Her parallel employment in the public library^s reference department also honed her research skills.

About that time, as a complementary service to her appraisal work and at the request of many of her clients, Mary began offering estate sale management services.  Her appraisal and research skills and ability to determine appropriate values for a given market proved to be key to the success of that service.

Mary strongly believes in educating the public in general and her clients in particular about the estate sale process, what to expect from an estate sale manager and what standards to hold them to, and whether an estate sale is an appropriate sales venue.   One of the first steps in the estate sale process is an on-site meeting so both the client and Mary can thoroughly discuss the project and her services.  The only wrong question is the unasked one and an educated client expects, and receives, greater things from the professionals they retain.

What began as a family business nearly 3 decades ago has grown to become one of the most recognized professional personal property appraisal and estate sale management firms in the area.  From an initial core staff of three back in 1984 - Mary and her parents - the firm has grown to include nearly a dozen staff members with expertise in diverse yet complementary areas ranging from interior design and decoration to library science and research to security services, skilled in staging, organizing and working with the public.  These talented colleagues, many of whom have worked with her for well over a decade, have  been vital to the success of Sudar Estate Sales.  But we still consider ourselves a family, working with individuals and sympathetic to their situations and needs.  All of this helps set Mary Sudar Appraisals and Estate Sales apart from her competitors.