Evaluating the Property
In order to help you set an accurate price for your property, it is important for me to inspect the property. Whether it is a house, condo, apartment building or commercial property, it is important to inspect it inside and out. It doesn’t matter if it is good or poor condition, if there is someone living there, or if 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.
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Preparing the Trust Property for Sale
Many of the houses that I evaluate for trustees are full of furniture and belongings. Sometimes the owner never tossed out anything. Very often the property is in dire need repairs.
If you are a trustee 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 other family members competing over furniture or valuables it can make it harder.
Fortunately there is a sane way to go about. Let’s take a fairly typical case where you are the trustee of your parent’s trust. You have the power 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 them selves.
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.
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. The most common items I suggest 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
Important note: Some times there may not be money available for any repairs. In that event, we just have to sell the property as-is. You will probably not realize as much money out of the sale but sometimes that is how it goes.
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 other 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.
One last 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.
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.
By the way, 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.
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The Sales Process
Actually at this point the hard part is over. Many of my trustee clients have told me that sorting through a parent’s stuff and deciding what to do with everything is harder than the actual sale of the property. Since we are blessed with a strong seller’s market here in Southern California, most trust sales that I handle sell in less than 14 days with an average escrow period of 45 days.
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 trustee of such-and-such trust. Everything else is basically the same. 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 this has helped you understand the process that I use to help my trustee clients sell property. I have helped many trustees 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 at I am here to help!
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