Never a Dull Moment In A San Jose Probate Sale

As a San Jose Probate Real Estate Agent I have seen many things happens in transactions, but this one was a first for me.

I listed a cute home in Alum Rock for a family whose parents had both recently passed. The parents left a will but they did not have a trust. Since the estate was not in a trust the assets of the estate need to go through Probate before they can be distributed to the children of the couple who passed.

One child was named Personal Representative of the estate. That is, since the parents are not here to distribute their estate, a personal representative is appointed by the Probate Court to make sure the debts are paid, the taxes are filed, the assets are sold, and the money is distributed in the way the parents specified they wanted it to be done in their will. If there was no will then the estate would be distributed the way the State of California has determined it should be done when there is no will.

When the oldest son was named Personal Representative it also allowed him to sell his parent's house under the Independent Administrations of Estates Act. That means he has the right to accept an offer on the home, and as long as none of the other heirs object the house can be sold without further court approval or an overbid auction at court. If the Personal Representative does not have full authority to sell a home then once an offer is accepted it goes to court where another buyer can try to purchase the home by over bidding the first accepted offer.

I listed the home, got a great offer, and escrow was opened. Everything was fine until the underwriter saw the file. He said he needed proof the son was authorized to the sell the house. We gave him the Letters of Testamentary which say the son is the Personal Representative for the estate and has full authority to sell the house. The underwriter said that is not good enough. There was nothing on the Letters that specifically said he could sell the probate house in Alum Rock. The title report says the house belongs to the parents. The Letters say the son has the right to act as the parents.  In every Probate sale I have done in the last 18 years this has been enough for the underwriter. In every Probate sale my escrow officers has done in the last 30 years this was enough for the underwriter. But not this one.

I solved the problem by getting the original Petition to Administer the estate from the court files. this document has the name of the Personal Representative and the address of the property so that worked. Just another San Jose Probate challenge met.

If you have any questions about buying or selling homes in Probate please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Why Do I Have to Wait So Long To Make An Offer on a San Jose Probate?

The San Jose real estate market is hot. Homes go on the market and are sold a few days later, usually with multiple offers. They will often be open over a week-end and then offers will be presented on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. But if the home is a San Jose probate sale, it often takes longer. Why is that?

The answer is not always the same, and some San Jose probate sales will sell quickly, but most go through a process that is longer than the typical traditional resale. The main reason is that the Personal Representative for the San Jose Probate sale either needs to take the home to court for confirmation, or is trying to avoid taking the home to court for confirmation.

Here is how it works:

Court Confirmation Required:

The administrator of the estate is not given full authority by the Probate Court to sell the home. He or she can arrange for the home to go on MLS and can accept an offer, but that offer must be taken to Probate Court and at that time, other potential buyers have the opportunity to make non contingent offers on the home at a higher price than the original accepted offer. This way, the court can prove to all heirs that the home had full exposure to the market and is being sold at the highest price and best terms possible. None of the heirs can say everything was not done to get the most for the house.

Court Confirmation May Not Be Required

The Personal Representative of the San Jose Probate sale has full authority to sell the home. He or she can hire a real estate agent, accept an offer, and then send out a Notice of Proposed Action. A Notice of Proposed Action tells the heirs that the home is going to be sold for the accepted amount and they have a specific time period to object if they do not think the sale should go through. If there are no objections to the San Jose Probate sale, it will go through. If there are, the San Jose Probate home must go through the same court confirmation process as above. It is much easier for the Personal Representative for a 

San Jose Probate sale to prove the offer is the best they will get by having full exposure of the house to the open market. It is very difficult to prove in court that 4 days on the market is full exposure. I always have my San Jose Probate sales on the market for 2 week-ends of open houses before offers are reviewed. I have done this in good markets and bad, and have yet to get an objection on the Notice of Proposed Action.

So if you are selling a San Jose Probate home, it is safer to have the home on the market for a longer than average marketing time to help prevent objections. If you are buying a San Jose probate home be happy that you have some extra time to make this big decision.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a Probate home in San Jose please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

DRE 01191194

650-619-9285

How To Clean Out a San Jose Home Before a Probate Sale

There is nothing I enjoy more than helping a family sell a San Jose home left to heirs through probate. I know, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, but I am who I am. Over the years I have developed a system to sell San Jose homes in probate and it works really well!

 1. Look at a home and see if there are valuables that are worth selling in the San Jose home in probate. Many homes are left with enormous amounts of personal property, sometimes with value and sometimes not. For example crappy cars have value, but beautiful over stuffed furniture does not.

2. If there is something of value to sell I usually recommend calling an auction house to come and take over the job of selling the personal property they believe will sell. I like DGW, but there are others. They sell the property at auction, deduct their percentage and fees, and send a check to the heirs.

3. The next step is to separate the recyclable items and find places to recycle. There are people who take metal, The Ecunemical Hunger Project will take clothes, and the County of Santa Clara will come to take the paint.

4. Next are items that can be donated. Organizations like Goodwill and Saint Vincent De Paul will take some furniture.

5. After everything that can be sold, donated, or recycled is gone then call the haulers. I like Junk King. Since it costs money to haul away trash I only do it after all other ways of disposing of unwanted property have been exhausted.

6. Once the home is free of personal property and debris, the process of making it look as good as possible for sale can begin.

So, if you have a home in San Jose to be sold through Probate and it is filled with stuff, it may seem overwhelming. Many people who lived through the depression maintained the habit of never throwing anything out. If you are the personal representative for the estate of a home in Probate in San Jose you may feel overwhelmed. But if you use a system (or hire me and let me organize the sale of your San Jose home in Probate ), it becomes a much less daunting task.

If you have any questions about Selling a San Jose home in Probate please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194