Probate Sales

Many Buyers who work with Team Whitney encounter probate sales during their home search.

In probate sales, the terms Executor and Administrator are both used instead of the term “Seller”.  An estate will have an Executor if that person was appointed in the will of the deceased property owner to manage the estate.  If there is no will and the court appoints a person to manage someone’s else’s estate, then they are given the title of Administrator.   

Many of our Buyers ask if they can utilize financing to purchase probate sales.  Our team needs to research each property individually, as some probate sales will work with any type of financing, some have a minimum 10% down payment requirement, and others require all cash.    

If you are a Buyer purchasing a probate sale, it is very important to do a thorough job during the inspection period.  Our team always recommends a physical inspection, a termite inspection, and a sewer camera inspection.  Many times, the Administrator or Executor has not lived at the property, and the prior owner is now deceased, so we highly recommend for you to do very good due diligence on the condition of the property.              

There are two types of probate sales.  One is without court confirmation, and one is with court confirmation. 

If court confirmation is not required, then a Buyer can make an offer to the Administrator or Executor of the estate.  If the Administrator or Executor accepts the Buyer’s offer, then escrow will open, and the parties can proceed with a normal 30-day or so escrow period, just like a standard sale.

If court confirmation is required, an accepted offer does not necessarily mean the Buyer with the accepted offer will ultimately be the Buyer closing the transaction.  Once the offer is accepted, the Buyer will go through their inspection period, obtain the appraisal and loan approval, and remove all contingencies.  After all contingencies are removed, the estate will petition for a court date.  Usually the court date will be 5-8 weeks out, depending on the court’s schedule.  At court, another Buyer can outbid the current Buyer on the subject property.  A Buyer cannot be outbid by just a small amount of money though.  The first minimum overbid is 5% plus $500 over the accepted offer price.  For example, if an accepted offer price was $750,000, the first minimum overbid would be $788,000.  The Buyer who is successful in court will be the Buyer who can proceed to close escrow.  Many times, other Buyers do not show up to overbid, as the minimum overbid is substantially more than the current Buyer’s accepted offer price. 

For any further questions, please contact Danielle Whitney Moore with Team Whitney (Keller Williams Realty L.A. Harbor) at (310) 987-9103.