ESTATE SALE TIP: Best rooms to search for hidden treasure

After standing in line for seemingly an eternity, you're finally inside the doors of the Estate Sale you have been waiting for all week. Your adrenaline is pumping. You have no idea where things will be. Everyone is rushing around you in different directions. The treasure hunt is on... but where should you look first?

"If I had to chart everything I've found that's been amazing and terrific it’s been in the patio, in the garage or in the cellar,” says Seattle, Washington auction manager, Mike McConnell (below.) He says it's because things that people don't use every day naturally end up somewhere off the beaten path.

And he should know.

Where to look for Estate Sale Finds to Flip for Profit | Oklahoma City Craigslist Garage Sales

SEATTLE — Pacific Galleries Auction Manager, Mike McConnell (KUOW Photo/Jeannie Yandel)

A veteran Estate Sale hunter who made his fortune flipping second-hand finds, for 15 years McConnell spent every weekend at estate sales, garage sales and yard sales in the Emerald City tracking down lost treasures and hidden gems that he later re-sold for handsome profits.

During a recent interview on NPR, McConnell talks about one estate sale in particular where he remembers finding a beautiful set of vintage chairs waiting in the basement to be re-upholstered. In the living room at the same estate sale? Totally comfortable, well-used contemporary recliners worth almost nothing.