Santa Clara Ca Pre-Sale Dry Rot Bath Repair Turns Is Not That Simple

I am currently getting a Santa Clara Probate sale ready for market. However, for a variety of reasons the Personal Representative has decided to let the Santa Clara Probate Process finish up before putting the home on the market. As a result, she has now inherited the home outright and so the rules have changed some.

This means that she can now do repairs on the house without putting the Santa Clara estate in jeopardy of increased liability. The previous owner was almost 100 years old when he died and there is a lot of differed maintenance. 

Both bathrooms were completely filled with dry rot, besides being old, ugly, and dirty. She made the decision that it was worth having the termite company come in and get rid of the dry rot, replace the fixtures, and re tile the bath rooms before selling this Santa Clara home. That seems very straight forward right?

The termite company came into this Santa Clara Probate home before sale and removed everything in the original baths, put in new shower valves, and then called the city in for an inspection.  The Santa Clara city building inspector came to the house and said the work was fine, but in order to final the permit the contractor had to hard-wire the house for smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Just putting them on the walls was not enough. He wanted them all hardwired together. Plus, he wanted motion sensor detectors in the light switches in both bathrooms. Neither the contractor nor the owner of the termite company had ever had to do this before, and they rip up bathrooms every day.

However, as the expression goes, you "Can't fight City Hall." If the Santa Clara Building inspector says all the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors have to be hardwired and the light switches have to be motion sensor-ed then it will get done. 

The electrical panel is old, has fuses, and needs to be replaced. My client decided she was not going to do it for fear they would ask her rebuild the chimney in order to get a permit to replace the electrical panel. Some cans of worms are not worth opening.

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

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

I found the Most Unusual Thing At My Santa Clara Probate Listing

As a Santa Clara Realtor who specializes in Probate Sales I have found many unusual things left at house that were not wanted or noticed by the heirs. Since I offer to clean out and stage the Probate Homes I sell I get to deal with al the junk that is left behind.

You see when someone dies an estimate of the value of the personal items is given to the court. After that the items that were left to specific people are distributed. These are usually the things of monetary or sentimental value like jewelry, artwork, or good furniture. Sometimes there is no will, or no specific designation, so any valuables will be sold and the money added to the money that will eventually be divided amongst the heirs. This can be done by an estate seller, a garage sale, or an auction house.

What is left is trash, things to recycle, and things to donate. This is where I come in. I bring in my crew and we recycle metal, paper, cans, old appliances, anything that can be recycled, donate anything that Goodwill or Saint Vincent DePaul will take, and trash the rest. After that I get the home painted, make sure the flooring is fresh, and fully stage the house.

We look at every item to make sure it really is worthless and that there is no money in a pocket or under a mattress. We have found some unusual things, but what we found at my latest Santa Clara Probate Sale is a first for me, someone's ashes. This person died in 1951 and we had no idea whose they were. The owner of the home was 100 when he died, and his closest relative who is the Personal Representativeof this Santa Clara Probate home is a much younger cousin and had no idea who the ashes belonged to.

After speaking with a neighbor we discovered that the ashes belonged to the owners son. They had been living in NYC in 1951 when their 5-year-old son was hit by a bus and killed. Our 100-year-old owner had kept the ashes with him for 62 years. My client, the younger cousin has taken the ashes so the two can be buried together. I was so happy to be able to do this for the family.

It is very satisfying to take a probate home from trash filled to cleaned up, painted, and fully staged in order to increase the value for the heirs, which is what I do. But it is even more satisfying to help a family preserve memories and wishes.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Santa Clara in Probate please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

BRE 01191194

640-619-9284

Request Pay Off Early In A Santa Clara Probate Sale In Foreclosure

It is a common occurrence in the Silicon Valley for homes that are in Probate to also go into default. For many older home owners there is scant cash in the bank, they may still have a mortgage, and without a trust a home goes to Probate. When that happens the bills, including the mortgage do not get paid until a Personal Representative is appointed by the court. This can be a lengthy process if there is a disagreement amongst heirs as to who should be in charge. Unfortunately that is a very common occurrence in Santa Clara probate sales.

So while the relatives are arguing over who rules the Santa Clara Probate roost, the mortgage does not get paid and the lender starts the foreclosure process.

Once at least three payments are missed a Notice of Default may be filed on the Santa Clara Probate Sale. This notice will give you three months to cure the default. If the owned money on the Santa Clara Probate home is not paid during that three month period a Notice of Trustee Sale can be filed and the Santa Clara Probate home can be sold three weeks after that.

The attorney for the Santa Clara Probate home can go to court and get an order to temporarily stop the foreclosure process while the estate is being settled, but this takes some time as well.

Because the inventory is so low and the demand for homes is so high in Santa Clara, most Santa Clara Probate Sale homes can be sold and ownership transferred during the Notice of Default period. The defaulted loan on the Santa Clara Probate home can be paid off, and the rest of the equity used to pay the other bills and then distributed to the heirs.

Sounds simple, but sometimes it isn't. Once a loan on a Santa Clara Probate sale goes into default it is transferred to the loss mitigation department. Sometimes that is the equivalent of going into a black hole. These departments are overwhelmed and under staffed. It can take many weeks to get pay off information from them. In a traditional sale the title company will order pay off information less than a week before closing which is more than enough time to determine exactly how much is owed by the seller to pay off their loan.

In a Santa Clara Probate sale when the loan is in default it can take many weeks to get the pay off information. The title company should start the pay off demand as soon as there is a contract. That way, maybe 30 days later they will have the figures to pay off the loan.

If it is a short escrow period for the Santa Clara Probate Sale it is possible that everyone might be ready to close and there is still no pay off demand from the lender. When this happens, the escrow can still close and title can be transferred, but the money can not be distributed until the mortgage is payed off, and the estate will have to pay for a mortgage on a home it no longer owns until the bank gets its money.

So if you are involved in a Santa Clara Probate Sale and there is no money to pay the mortgage make sure that the process is started right away to get the pay off demand for the loan or the estate will be paying on the loan after the escrow is closed.

If you have any questions about Probate Sales in Santa Clara or San Mateo County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
D.R.E. 01191194
650-619-9285