 |
 |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
 |
|||||||||
|
1 a : the process of proving in a court of competent jurisdiction (as a probate court) that an instrument is the valid last will and testament of a deceased person; broadly : the process of administering an estate b : the judicial determination that a will is valid 2 : the officially authenticated copy of a probated will tes·ta·tor 1: a person who dies leaving a will ex·ec·u·tor 1: a person named by a testator to execute or carry out the instructions in a will ad·min·i·stra·tor 1 : a person appointed by a probate court to manage the distribution of the assets in the estate of a person who has died without leaving a valid will or leaving a will that does not name an executor able or willing to perform Remember, an executor was appointed by the deceased person in the will to handle the dissolution of the estate upon death. An administrator is appointed by the probate court to distribute the estate’s assets because the person died without a will. This can be a family member, a friend, or a court appointed person or entity. Are you an executor or an administrator of an estate? Does the estate include real estate that needs to be sold? This section will help you understand the steps to a smooth sale of a probate property. Being an administrator or executor can be difficult and emotional. There are arrangements to be made, family to contact, and an estate to be settled. Often there are belongings to be divided and real estate to be sold. Selling a probate property can be difficult and time consuming. Perhaps you live in another state. Maybe the property is still full of furniture and mementos. Maybe the home is in poor condition and needs repairs. Perhaps you have a job or family and don’t have the time to coordinate everything. As an experienced Realtor for over eighteen years, I’ve helped many administrators or executors sell property. Let me show you the steps to get through the process and get your property sold. Before we start though, there is something else you need to know about probate sales. There are two types of probate sales that you can choose: One is the “Probate Court Confirmation” process and the other is the “California Independent Administration of Estates Act”. The Probate Court Confirmation process basically requires the property to be sold with an overbid process. Once the probate property has an offer on it, the court requires that other buyers have a right to overbid and purchase the property. There is a court date set and other buyers can come in make “overbids” on the property. This process takes more time and energy. It sometimes dissuades buyers from making bids on a property because they don’t want to be in a bidding war. The California Independent Administration of Estates Act process differs in that the executor or administrator of the estate has the right to list and sell the property more or less like a normal sale. There is no court overbid required. As the administrator or executor, you generally have the choice to pick what process you use. Please consult with the probate attorney handling the estate. |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Whether it is a house, condo, apartment building or commercial property, it is important for me to inspect it inside and out. It doesn’t matter if it is good or poor condition, if there is someone living there, or of it is still full of furniture and belongings. If possible I would like to meet you at the property. If it is not possible because you live to far away, I’ll go on my own. After I have inspected the property and taken some digital photos, I will go back to my office and prepare a comparable market analysis to determine the value of the property. I will also make a list of recommended repairs. Like I said, even though you may have a court-ordered appraisal, that valuation may be quite different than my valuation. As an experienced broker for 19 years, I have found many times my valuation will be much higher than the appraisers. The appraiser is usually conservative in valuing a probate propert |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
If you are an administrator or an executor responsible for selling the property, getting it ready to sell can be a daunting task. It’s even harder if you have a full time job and a family to care for or don’t live in the immediate area. And if there are siblings or family members competing over furniture or valuables it can make it even harder. Fortunately there is a sane way to go about. Let’s take a fairly typical case where you are the executor of your parent’s estate. You have been granted the power by the court to sell the property, make decisions, and write checks. You don’t live near the property and you just want to get the property sold quickly and for as much money possible. Let’s assume that the property still has the furniture and personal belongings. It needs carpet, paint, some yard care, and a few minor repairs. Let’s also assume you have a couple of siblings who are not decision makers but are entitled to 1/3 each of the proceeds. The first thing you need to do is to decide who gets what furniture and belongings. I suggest, if possible, that the siblings get together at some point to divvy up all of the furniture, appliances, mementos, pictures, etc. Spend a weekend at the property and decide who gets what. Once that is decided, you just need to figure out how to ship the stuff. Either hire movers if there are big furniture pieces, or just let everyone rent trucks or move the stuff themselves. Once the important stuff is divvied up and gone, you have two options. One is to donate the remainder of the belongings to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or any charity of your choice. I work with many and can make some good recommendations. They will come by and take any items that can be cleaned up and resold at their thrift shops. Check out the Auction Express website. The other option is to use a firm here in Los Angeles called Auction Express. This Internet Company will come to the property, look over the remaining items, and give you an estimate of their value. They will then inventory everything, haul them away, take digital pictures, and place them for sale on Ebay. After they sell they will send you a check minus their fee. It is very efficient and an extremely easy way to sell the remaining items in the property. Check out the Auction Express website. After you have either donated to a charity or sold the items via Auction Express, everything else in the house is generally considered trash. At this point I will have my trash hauler come in and haul everything else to the dump. If there is stuff in the yard or garage, they will be hauled away as well. If there are any hazardous or toxic chemicals, paints, etc, he will take them to the city authorized toxic drop off location. Now the property is finally vacant and ready for the painters or workman to get busy. Important note: Many times there may not be money available for any sort of repairs. In that event, we just have to sell the property as-is without any repairs. You will probably not realize as much money out of the sale but sometimes that is how it goes. If there are funds available, the most common things we do are interior painting, flooring, yard work, and any obvious repairs (such as a plumbing or roofing leak). If the property has hardwood floors, we usually get them sanded and refinished. If there is carpet we replace it unless it can be cleaned. The yard usually needs some trimming and watering. I work with many good contractors, painters, handymen, plumbers, gardeners and I can help find someone good to help repair your property. Click on the following link for a list of repairs that I can help you coordinate. Property Repair List One important thing about fixing up the property: I’ll only suggest repairs that will improve the sales price of the property. For example, I won’t ask you to do hardwood floor repairs for a house that is a tear-down. I’ll usually try to get you at least two bids for any project that I recommend. I’ll collect the written bids and then fax them to you for review. Once you decide on whom to go with I will coordinate all of the workers and get them access to the property. You won’t ever need to go back to the property again if you choose not to. One last thing, I usually recommend that we get the property professionally cleaned after all the work is completed. It is a nice finishing touch and will help the property sell faster and for a better price. At this point, the property is ready for sale. We should have already decided on a price and it’s time to get the property listed in the MLS computer and get the sign up. One last thing, I don’t charge anything for getting you the bids or coordinating the workman. I do this as part of my service to and commitment to you. I really want to earn your business. |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Basically at this point I market the property like any other listing. The only difference is that you will be signing all of contracts and paperwork as the executor or the administrator of such-and-such estate. Everything else is basically the same unless you have chosen the Probate Court Confirmation Process. Then we will have to go to court for the overbid process. (You can probably tell that brokers prefer the Independent Administrators Act process. It is also easier on you, unless you enjoy going to court!) If you want to know the actual details of how I market your property, click on the link to go to the marketing section on my other website: www.derrickruiz.com. Derrick’s real estate marketing plan Once I have a written offer in hand, I will fax it to you and we will discuss it. We may need to counter the offer with either a better price or terms. I also work closely with your attorney to keep him or her in the loop. Once we have an acceptable agreement, I will open escrow and the escrow process begins. At this point, my staff and I will handle all of the details during escrow. Like I said, I also stay in close contact with your attorney throughout the process and frequently update him or her with what is happening. I hope this has helped you understand the process that I use to help my probate clients sell property. I have helped many administrator and executors over the years. I have had great feedback from clients as well as their attorneys. If I can help you in any way, please feel free to call or email me with any questions. I can be reached on my cell at (310)308-3174 or my office at (310)398-5244 or email me at Derrick@derrickruiz.com . I'm here to help! |
||||||||||
|
TOP OF PAGE |
||||||||||
|
Disclaimer |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
