He Inherited a House and Had No Money to Fix It

Hey, it’s Dave Knight with the Dave Knight Real Estate Team, and we love being a real estate resource to people.

When someone loses a parent and inherits the house, they don’t really inherit a house. They inherit a job nobody trained them for. The property needs paint, cleaning, and repairs. The court needs paperwork filed in a specific order. And there’s usually no cash sitting around to handle any of it.

That’s exactly where one of our clients found himself, and it turned into one of our favorite sales we’ve ever done.

Can you take us back to the moment you first heard about this situation?

This client had lost his mom. He was the sole beneficiary of the property, and he needed help selling it through probate. He’d been referred to us through the attorney handling the estate. The house was about 45 minutes from our office, but the attorney knew we could help him. He’d been named the administrator of the estate, which meant the sale had to go through the court, and he had never sold a property before in his life.

What was at risk for your client if this didn’t get resolved?

The house was in rough condition, and that really hurts the value. It needed paint, it needed cleaning, it needed touch-up work. But his problem was that he didn’t have any resources. Not a tight budget. No resources at all. Which meant the estate was pointed straight at a sale price well below what the property was actually worth, and every dollar lost there was a dollar out of his pocket as the beneficiary.

Walk us through what you did. What was your first move?

We supported him first by practically just giving him the resources. We loaned him the money at no interest. We fronted the cost of the work, and then we oversaw the painting, the cleaning, and the touch-up work ourselves, so the property got into showable condition and showed a lot better. Those are the same things any seller should be doing to prepare a home for sale, except in his case, somebody had to write the check first.

Then we educated him on the probate process, how it worked, and what it entailed. He didn’t know any of it, and there’s no reason he should have.

Was there a moment when you thought this might not work out?

The biggest obstacle was that he had to move out of the property before it was sold. So we got him transitioned out, and by then, he’d relocated out of state. His sale had court confirmation, which meant he had to physically appear at the court proceeding, where other buyers could show up and overbid. So we paid for his plane ticket to come back, and we guided him through the whole thing. Teaching him how it was all going to work, and then actually helping him do everything he needed to do as the administrator.

Tell us about the moment it all came together. What was your client’s reaction?

It went to court, and nobody overbid, because we had already sold it at a high price. We closed the deal. We got reimbursed every dollar we’d loaned him, he was already settled in his new place out of state, and a lot of problems got solved simply because someone gave him the resources to get the house ready and walked him through a process he’d never seen before.

He was very happy. Most of our transactions end with us giving the client a hug at the end. We get really involved in helping to serve them, my whole staff loves on them and gives them that great service, and we end up building long relationships. Clients from years ago still stay in communication with us and keep using us as a resource, even after they move out of state.

Has a probate sale ever gotten more complicated than that?

We did another one where the beneficiary had been living in the home for years and it was full of a lifetime of belongings. She had nowhere else to go, and the estate couldn’t move forward while she remained in possession. Buyers won’t take on a property where the occupant can’t leave before closing, and she couldn’t manage that move on her own.

So we fronted the cost to relocate her. We bought her a mobile home with our own cash and moved her into it, with court approval and a professional fiduciary involved. Again, no interest, no extra charge. We just did it to solve the problem. We got the property vacant, cleaned it out, and sold it for maximum value, which raised the amount every beneficiary received.

What does this story say about what it really takes to have the right agent in your corner?

Most agents don’t know how to sell through probate. There are two ways it happens. One is full authority, which looks a lot like a standard sale, except that once you’re in escrow, a notice of proposed action goes out to all the beneficiaries stating the terms. They either sign off on it, or after a couple of weeks, not signing is considered consent. The other is a court-confirmed sale, which goes in front of a judge and opens the door for other buyers to show up and overbid.

Most agents don’t understand the process, which can mess up several elements. You have to understand it well enough that your paperwork matches what actually needs to happen.

Here’s what we’ve found. Real estate transactions can be very complicated and difficult, or they can be straightforward. The challenge is that when a smooth process suddenly gets bumpy, having somebody who knows how to work through those challenges and guide you through them is essential. You don’t need an agent who knows a lot about the trust and probate process until you have a need for them to understand it. And then when you have that need, it’s important that they do.

What I want you to do next if this story resonates with you.

Maybe it’s a probate sale. Maybe it’s a trust sale where you don’t know exactly what needs to be done. Maybe you’re the successor trustee on a property, or a family member died and you’re about to become the administrator of the estate. That’s where we come in as trust and probate specialists to guide you through exactly what has to happen for you to move forward with the sale. And when an obstacle comes down to money nobody has on hand, that’s a conversation worth having early rather than late.

We love being a real estate resource to people, and complicated sales like these are some of our favorites. Every situation is different, so talk with the attorney handling the estate about what applies to yours. Call or text me at 626-408-2890, email me at daveknight@kw.com, or visit daveknightteam.com.

Make it a great day!