Friday, January 18, 2008

Anatomy of a probate real estate sale

Unlike the majority of real estate transactions, in a probate sale the estate is accepting a bid and the accepted offer is that one that is confirmed in court. This can be a very confusing concept to buyers and their agents. We at the Sanborn Team spend a great deal of time counseling both buyers and their agents on how a probate real estate sale takes place.

With a probate sale, a bid is accepted and a court date is set. The attorney who represents the estate prepares a petition for the court and the court sets the actual hearing date. Once the hearing date has been set, the Sanborn Team publicly announces the sale of the real estate property through the multiple listing service, Realtor.com, local publications and our our website http://www.sanbornteam.com/ to allow for any other interested parties to bid on the house.

The court date is usually within 6-8 weeks of the accepted offer, but the time does vary and there are no hard and fast rules. For example in downtown Los Angeles the probate sales are held every day. In the regional courts the days of sales vary. At the court, the sale of the property is announced and at that time there is an opportunity for any interested party to come and bid on the property.

The initial overbid is determined by the Probate Code, but subsequent bids are set by the judge. Any buyer who overbids on the real estate will be purchasing the property under the same terms and conditions as the original buyer. Once there is an overbid the real estate is sold in an auction with all interested parties being able to bid. When a final bid has been reached the judge announces that the property has been sold. The final bidder needs to provide the court with their exact vesting (how they will be holding titile). From that point on the buyer needs to close the escrow and they will be the proud owners of their new home.

If you have questions about purchasing Real Estate through a probate proceeding please call
The Sanborn Team at 310-777-2858 or visit our web sites http://www.sanbornteam.com/
where we work on taking the challenge out of purchasing real estate through a probate proceeding.