When dealing with probate real estate sales, you will feel more confident if you understand the reality of the situation. This confident understanding could mean the difference between maximizing the estate sale or not. While administering an estate, the goal is to allocate a deceased person’s property and identify assets and liabilities. Probate administration is a legal process that entails assessing a decedent’s assets and determining the distribution among the beneficiaries. The process is overseen in Probate Court.
With the many laws, steps, and actions required to ensure the probate process is successful, your best bet is to hire professional help for a smooth process. When it comes to real estate sales within probate, the services of The CREM Group are your best chance of maximizing all your Court-administered real estate sales in Los Angeles and Orange County.
The CREM Group provides clients with a combination of licensed attorneys and real estate brokers to safeguard and maximize all their real estate sales—residential and commercial, inside and outside of probate.
Here are some general probate tips:
GET AN ESTATE REPRESENTATIVE
An estate representative is an individual who supervises the estate. It could be someone named in the will or appointed by the Court. In case there is no will or no one mentioned in it—or the designated person is unwilling or unable to serve—the Court-appointed individual takes charge.
The estate representative gathers assets, pays the decedent’s debts, and ensures the beneficiaries get the inheritance according to the decedent’s wishes. To ensure everything runs smoothly, they might hire a probate attorney to run the legal aspects of the process. How do you find a good one? It is best to ask the Court for several recommendations and to seek referrals from colleagues and friends. The more people who know them and their work, the safer you are in hiring someone who will do the best job for you.
WHEN IS A HOME SOLD IN PROBATE COURT?
If the decedent instructs the selling of property in his or her will, the personal representative is responsible for fulfilling their wishes. If the interested parties wish otherwise, they must get the green light from a court order.
If there is no will or mention of the property, the representative is responsible for selling the property. Most of the time, selling the property is necessary to finance the decedent’s taxes, debts, and estate administration expenses.
The personal representative has to have the authority to make decisions. The probate authority comes from the Court during the issuing of administration letters. The letter indicates the identity of the personal representative and whether they have full or limited authority as accorded in the Act of Independent Administration of Estates.
SELLING PROBATE HOMES IN LOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTIEs
The following are five ways The CREM Group can help sell your probate real estate in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
- Real estate agent
- Private sale
- Public auction
- Private auction
- Trust department
USING A PROBATE REAL ESTATE AGENT IN LISTING THE HOME FOR SALE
In California, the representative doesn’t need to sell the property with the help of an agent. The personal representative is the seller in a probate real estate sale in the State. However, the Court has to confirm the sale unless the representative has full authority under the Independent Administration of Estate Act (IAEA).
Without full authority, the representative has to petition the Court for confirmation. It is prudent to seek help from a licensed probate real estate agent to ensure the sale goes through with no mistakes.
WHAT IS THE SALES PRICE FOR THE PROBATE HOME?
The property has to go for not less than 90% of the appraisal value determined within a year of the probate sale. The terms of the sale are subject to the Court’s approval and rules, which could vary from county to county.
WHAT ABOUT THE 10% DEPOSIT?
In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the representative decides whether you pay the 10% deposit or not. It is not in either county’s laws, so the personal representative holds the final say. However, the probate realtor can discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a lower deposit with the estate representative. Here’s the strategy: A lower deposit can attract more buyers with higher offers.
WHAT ABOUT A ‘NOTICE OF SALE’?
There will be no need for a ‘Notice of Sale’ if the will directs the sale of the property, gives authority for the representative to sell it, or if the estate representative has full authority subject to IAEA.
However, without the above directives, the Court requires a ‘Notice of Sale’ before the probate sale. The notice goes in a legal newspaper and informs the public about the estate sale.
COURT CONFIRMATION
Unless the representative has full authority subject to IAEA, the Court requires confirmation of sale. The personal representative has to petition the Court within 30 days of approving an offer.
In the hearing, new bidders get to try to purchase the property. The Court will then approve the sale to the first bidder or a new buyer, depending on who wins the auction.
THE CREM GROUP PROBATE REAL ESTATE SALES
The process runs smoothly with the help of experienced attorneys and real estate brokers. Call The CREM Group for probate real estate sales in Los Angeles and Orange County.