{"id":6875,"date":"2024-10-03T04:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=6875"},"modified":"2025-12-01T02:57:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T10:57:04","slug":"selling-probate-real-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/selling-probate-real-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Common Mistakes People Make Selling Probate Real Estate (And How to Avoid Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Selling probate real estate<\/a> is a different ball game than a traditional home sale. If a decedent\u2019s estate has property you intend to sell during probate, buckle up for a long ride with bumps, twists, and turns you didn\u2019t see coming \u2014 unless you\u2019ve got a good grasp on how this process works.<\/p>\n

Probate is a legal process overseen by the court, where beneficiaries receive the financial and physical assets bequeathed to them in a will, and the estate’s debts are settled. The whole point of probate is to prevent fraud after someone dies, so you can bet the court will keep a close eye on what\u2019s typically an estate\u2019s largest asset: the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n \"homelight\n <\/div>\n \n

Work With a Top Probate Agent<\/h3>\n

Top-performing agents sell homes faster and for more money than average agents. When selling a house in probate, maximizing the home sale can best serve the estate’s interests.<\/p>\n \n

\n Find Agent<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Each state has its own probate laws, but universally, probate entails detailed regulations on paperwork, timelines, deadlines, and a specific order of procedures that must be followed.<\/p>\n

Avoid these mistakes below to prevent delays and problems that could crop up along the way in the sale of your probate property.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Mistake #1: Hiring inexperienced professionals to represent you during the probate process<\/h2>\n

In life, you get by with a little help from your friends.<\/p>\n

Navigating the sale of a home during probate requires a lot of help from a seasoned probate attorney<\/a> and carefully choosing a real estate agent<\/a> who understands\u00a0local probate regulations and procedures. Both professionals are essential for a successful process. Whether you were named as the executor in the will<\/a> or the court appointed you as such, you\u2019ll need to partner up with a dream team to get this house sold.<\/p>\n

A probate attorney assembles necessary court documents, prepares and submits the probate petition, and speaks on your behalf before the overseeing judge. They also assist in managing life insurance proceeds, resolving income tax matters, and serve as your overall advisor throughout the probate proceedings.<\/p>\n

Your real estate agent will usher you through the nitty-gritty details of the real estate transaction, including special contracts and documentation specific to your locale\u2019s probate regulations. A real estate\u00a0agent <\/a>also acts in an advisory role and helps to manage competing interests to guarantee a successful sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good real estate agent selling probate needs to be able to conduct themselves in a manner that is sensitive and respectful to the family, but with the ultimate goal of getting the property sold in the most cost-effective way,\u201d says Jeremy Wages<\/a>, a top-selling Texas agent with The Rhodes Team<\/a> who specializes in probate sales.<\/p>\n

If you pick the wrong agent, you\u2019ll run into extra stressful situations that a true professional could diffuse \u2014 for instance, in the one sale Wages handled, about 30 people were involved, and one of the deceased\u2019s children tried to hire an inexperienced agent who encouraged them to do all sorts of unnecessary fixes when selling a house<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just said, \u2018Let\u2019s look at: What is it going to cost to do it?\u2019\u201d Wages said. \u201cHow much time is involved in the process? Does this really make sense? When it was all said and done, it wasn\u2019t worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Repairs also get complicated as the executor must determine if they are authorized to use estate assets to fund them.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Wages successfully resumed the sale and ensured the family still earned money from the house. \u201cWe had to bridge the gap and work through all the different personalities. You need a realtor with experience dealing with probate and understanding the process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selling probate real estate is a different ball game than a traditional sale \u2014 follow the detailed rules of the court, or you\u2019ll face issues and delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":45112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[326,319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inheritance","category-selling-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSelling Probate Real Estate? Dodge These 4 Common Mistakes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Selling probate real estate is a different ball game than a traditional sale \u2014 follow the detailed rules of the court, or you\u2019ll face issues and delays.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/selling-probate-real-estate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Common Mistakes People Make Selling Probate Real Estate (And How to Avoid Them)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Selling probate real estate is a different ball game than a traditional sale \u2014 follow the detailed rules of the court, or you\u2019ll face issues and delays.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/selling-probate-real-estate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-03T11:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T10:57:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Untitled-design-2024-06-28T234251.816-min.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Billock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jenniferbillock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Billock\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Selling Probate Real Estate? 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