Tips for buying Probate Property with Court Confirmation

Tips for buying Probate Property with Court Confirmation.

Probate properties requiring Court Confirmation are often sold below market value but can take 5 months to several years to complete the process. Purchasing probate properties with Court Confirmation can be confusing. We went ahead and put a list of steps to help investors and potential home buyers throughout this process.

1. Contact your real estate agent.

The executor of the estate will hire a real estate company to handle the sale of the property. Make sure to be clear with your agent about how much you are willing to spend. Agent Prolific has an extensive probate listings page and will gladly guide you throughout the entire process.

2. Make an offer.

You can make an offer on the probate property at any time. However, sometimes there can be  specific requirements for probate properties that are not typically required for regular real estate – For Instance:

• You must give a deposit of 10% of the offer price.
• The representative of the estate may accept or give a counter offer.
• Even if your offer is accepted, it is only a provisional acceptance until the probate court confirms ( if the probate requires court confirmation)

3. Ask for an inspection.

If your offer is accepted, ask to have a home inspection. Family members selling a property do not know all of the problems with the property. Trust us, you will want to inspect the home to get a better understanding of potential problems.

• It is important to note that probate property sales are “as is.”

4. Move forward after the offer is accepted.

Once the seller accepts your offer the attorney for the estate applies for a court date so that the sale can be confirmed.

5. Attend court hearing.

In order for the sale to be confirmed, you must attend a court hearing, along with any other potential buyers. The court will identify the property you made an offer on and then conduct an auction style bidding process. If there are no other bidders, most likely the court will confirm your offer.

6. Outbid other buyers.

If there are other interested parties, the court will begin raising the price of the property until a final bidder is left.

7. Finalize the purchase.

Once a bidder is set as the purchaser, they have to show that they have the financing to continue forward with the purchase of the property. Once confirmed the buyer will sign a contract with the estate court.

• All funds would be transferred to the estate, and the buyer would become the new property owner.
• This process may take about 30-45 days from the court hearing