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When seeking legal assistance for probate, you may need help understanding probate real estate sales. As part of the probate process, the executor may need to sell some property to manage an estate with outstanding debts.
Multiple strategies are available to handle this process, whether you’re selling a house, a treasured collection, or a few personal items.
Who Has Involvement in a Probate Real Estate Sale?
Even if you are in charge of the probate process, you probably cannot initiate the real estate sale on your own. You need multiple people on board with the process to comply with probate court laws. Your local probate court may have its own rules you need to follow, too, so make sure you understand them first.
The following are some of the people who might have involvement in your probate real estate sale:
- Estate executor: The estate executor or administrator has legal authority over deciding what to do with the decedent’s assets. However, the executor may not be able to initiate real estate sales alone.
- Attorney: If the executor hires a probate attorney to help with the process, the attorney can advise on the required steps.
- Real estate agent: If the property is a home, you may want to hire a real estate agent. The agent can generate a property appraisal based on market conditions. If desired, the agent will market the property for sale and handle the negotiations and closing process.
- Auction house: If you are selling personal property or a collection as part of the probate real estate sale, you may want to contract with an auction house. This type of professional entity can find buyers who are interested in the particular pieces of property in the estate.
- Probate judge: Depending on your local probate laws, the judge in the case may need to sign off on any real estate sales that surpass a certain financial threshold.
Any buyer of real estate or personal property typically needs cash or funds from a loan in hand. The probate court does not provide credit to buyers.
How To Maximize Proceeds in a Probate Real Estate Sale
Often, hiring professionals to help with the process of selling property that is part of a decedent’s estate can speed up the process and yield a fair value.
The executor of the decedent’s estate is often a family member or friend. This person may not have experience selling real estate or handling other legal matters. A probate attorney and a probate real estate agent can help tremendously in this situation.
The attorney ensures that the process follows state laws required during the probate process. The real estate agent gives you a great chance at maximizing the proceeds from the sale.
A real estate agent can provide advice on whether making upgrades and repairs to the home would generate a desired return on investment. The agent may believe that selling the property in its current condition would speed up the process. However, to maximize profits, the agent might recommend performing upgrades. The heirs could work with the executor and probate attorney to decide which strategy they want to follow.
Is a Probate Real Estate Home Sale Different From Other Home Sales?
Selling a home as part of the probate process can differ slightly from selling a house when preparing to move. It potentially involves multiple people in the decision process, which can lengthen the time required. Even if the negotiations are successful, the probate judge could reject the deal, forcing you to start again.
It’s also possible that the beneficiaries could dispute the home sale agreement. For example, they may feel that the probate real estate agent undervalued the home. The judge may take the heirs’ feelings into account when deciding whether to approve the sale. A proper appraisal process can head off this potential issue.
The proceeds would be part of the estate upon completion of the sale. At the end of the probate process, the executor would perform a beneficiary distribution of the home sale proceeds — along with the value of the entire estate — to the heirs.
Do Situations Exist Where the Executor Doesn’t Need To Sell the Home?
It’s possible that the executor of the estate will not need to sell the home to meet the obligations of the probate process.
- The decedent’s will may state that the home cannot go up for sale, as it must go to one of the heirs. If so, the executor may need to sell other property to create necessary liquid assets.
- The estate may already have enough liquid assets, negating the need to sell any property.
- If the executor cannot sell the property at a price that reflects its true value, the executor may need to try another option to raise liquidity.
- The probate judge might determine that selling the home is not in the interest of the estate.
A probate attorney can advise the executor whether selling the home is necessary to complete the probate process and, if not, what other options might exist.
Rockport Can Help With the Probate Process
Selling probate real estate is one of the common steps in the probate process. If you’re concerned about your finances while waiting for the home sale to go through probate, Rockpoint Probate Funding is ready to help. Rockport offers services like pre-settlement funding, which you can apply to receive while waiting for an inheritance.
For a free consultation about your situation, call us today at (888) 263-8588.
