Seller Died Halfway Through Buying House - Can I Rent It During Probate?

sal_III

Start looking for a new property to buy, this one will be a long shot.

pinkteapot

chronowerx_gt wrote: »

I'm currently waiting to exchange contracts on the house I'm selling. In all honesty, I don't want to jeopardise the sale of my house and for personal reasons, I want to move out of there ASAP.

Complete on your sale and go into rented - if there are suitable rental houses for you in your area. You can then see what happens with this house, or choose to view other houses and start over. Buying from rented is great compared to being in a chain!

Norman_Castle

chronowerx_gt wrote: »

I say December because I'm going to have to move back in with my parents for a little while and anything past December is going to start becoming painful.

That's why if it could take a year, it may be worth me looking at another property even though this one is perfect and at a good price.

You've got the option of moving to your parents. Look at other properties while waiting for this one.

NeverTooLate

We were in a similar position this year. We sold our house and were prepared to move into rented accommodation as we were moving to a new area and wanted to get a feel for it before buying.


Shortly after we had received the offer on our house, the perfect property came up for sale and we made an offer straight away. It was a probate property, the owner having died in December 2018.


We were warned that probate had only just been applied for (this was in July) and that it could be some time before exchange. However probate was granted in mid July.


We were completing on our sale in early August so asked the executors of the estate (one of whom was a solictor) if we could rent until completion - they were happy to agree to that.


In the end it wasn't necessary as by some miracle our solicitor managed to do all the conveyancing in 3 weeks and the sale and purchase completed on the same day.


2 things come out of this - not all probate applications take a very long time, and sometimes the executors will let you rent until the sale completes.


I would advise that you go and live with your parents until probate is granted, then ask about renting.

G_M

The husband doesnot need to own the property. The property is now (or soon will be) in the hands of an Administrator (not Executer as there is no will).


That would probably be the husband himself if he applies for the role, though being overseas would make it hard for him to undertake the job. He might apply and then employ a local solicitor to do most/allof the work.


But whoever is Administrator could sell the property once Probate is granted. Letting it to a potential buyer in the meantime though would be most unwise and contrary to an Administrator's duty to manage the Estate responsibly.

Tom99

If the husband agrees you can move in I can't see any downside from your point of view only his.

getmore4less

The seller had no will or children. She did however have a husband

You need to understand this is not a "probate sale" in the strict sense as that ONLY applies to estate with a will and named executors that are acting.

Executors get their powers from the will.
If not acting as an executor they get their powers from the grant of administration.

Probate is used(wrongly) generically to cover all estates where a grant is been sought.

given the situation it is probably unlikely that it would be a problem for whoever is taking on the administration role to allow occupation either under a rental agreement or licence to occupy as a caretaker/housesitter before a grant is issued.
(even though generally not a recommended practice)


It would take another interested party to complain and take the the administrator to court

chronowerx_gt

getmore4less wrote: »

You need to understand this is not a "probate sale" in the strict sense as that ONLY applies to estate with a will and named executors that are acting.

Executors get their powers from the will.
If not acting as an executor they get their powers from the grant of administration.

Probate is used(wrongly) generically to cover all estates where a grant is been sought.

given the situation it is probably unlikely that it would be a problem for whoever is taking on the administration role to allow occupation either under a rental agreement or licence to occupy as a caretaker/housesitter before a grant is issued.
(even though generally not a recommended practice)


It would take another interested party to complain and take the the administrator to court

Thanks for the reply. So just to clarify, since I have pretty much no idea with the legal terms and procedures surrounding this 'sale', the husband is actually applying for a grant of administration in order to be able to do anything with the house?

Or is he already classed as the administrator since he is the one dealing with the solicitors? In that case, if he is already administrator, he can rent the property to me can't he?

NutWorld

Lets try and make things simple, so excuse the direct langauge.

Lady owned a house. You hoped to buy it, but you have not done so.
Owner is now dead, so it cannot be sold, as a dead person cannot agree anything.

You have a buyer for your house lined up, but they could pull out as I trust no exchange of contract on that has occurred either. Similarly, you are under no obligation to sell. But you can if you want, and then you will need to find somewhere else to live (I'm assuming your lined up buyer has no wish to enter into business as a landlord).

Regarding the house currently owned by a deceased person, as I said she cannot agree anything as she is dead, and that includes letting her property out.

You say she has a husband who live overseas. Do I infer they were estranged?
Either way, he cannot legally let the property as it's not his (yet), nor have the approval of the owner to do so..
Moreover, if he's overseas, he'll need someone in the UK to act as an agent.
You don't want to habe to be ringing up someone in Moldova, or wherever he currently resides, if the roof falls in or the water tank bursts, etc.
No professional letting agent is going to provide a letting service to someone regarding a property they currently do not own or have the the legal agreement of the lawful owner to let.

So either stay put until the house comes on the market again (which may not be for many years yet), or sell up and look for somewhere else to live, either via purchase or rental.

NutWorld

NeverTooLate wrote: »

We were in a similar position this year. We sold our house and were prepared to move into rented accommodation as we were moving to a new area and wanted to get a feel for it before buying.


Shortly after we had received the offer on our house, the perfect property came up for sale and we made an offer straight away. It was a probate property, the owner having died in December 2018.


We were warned that probate had only just been applied for (this was in July) and that it could be some time before exchange. However probate was granted in mid July.


We were completing on our sale in early August so asked the executors of the estate (one of whom was a solictor) if we could rent until completion - they were happy to agree to that.


In the end it wasn't necessary as by some miracle our solicitor managed to do all the conveyancing in 3 weeks and the sale and purchase completed on the same day.


2 things come out of this - not all probate applications take a very long time, and sometimes the executors will let you rent until the sale completes.


I would advise that you go and live with your parents until probate is granted, then ask about renting.

I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding your post.

You say the property owner died in December 2018, and the property was offered for sale in July 2019, despite probate not having been garnted? Who was offering the house for sale? And how was it being offered (e.g. via an estate agent?)

You also say the probate was only applied for in July 2019, and claim it was granted by mid July 2019? That is contrary to what everyone else has suggested regarding how long probate takes to get granted, and something I too am struggling to believe.

And you imply you offered, were accepted, exchanged contracts and completed in about 2 weeks???
(Mid July - early August 2019)

I know you read the odd, exceptional report of someone having bought a house the same day, but that is generally marketing speel, and ignores the fact that all the preliminary work was done upfront, and that everyone was lined up to get exchange and completion done in the same day.

Even if you were to buy at auction, where you still usually have the possibility to view earlier, get surveys done, finances arranged, etc, you are still given 28 days to complete from when the hammer falls ... and most find that tight to achieve.