House purchase when the owner has died

Dessa2012

How would I go about buying a house when the owner has died? I understand we’d need to approach the executor and wait for probate etc, but the deceased has no family and her whole estate will be going to charity... the executor is a neighbour who was unaware she was the executor until a letter came through the door!

NB the lady who has died is our neighbour, who’s only contact was us and one friend.

elsien

The executor may wish to renounce their executorship unless they've already started work. Some charities are notorious for wanting to maximise the amount they get and if there's nothing in it for the executor it's probably stress they could do without if the charity is peering over their shoulder checking things are not being sold off cheap.
You can either approach the executor or wait for it to go on the open market - either way they're going to need to get the best price for it that they can.
 

lees80

Ask the neighbour (executor) what is being done with the house, she will know and have a copy of the will. Tell her you want to buy it and go from there?

TonyMMM

I would start by speaking to the executor and making your interest known - IF they are going to deal with the estate (they may decline) then they would the ones selling the property, if that is what the will says is to happen.
Note that the executor is bound to act in the best interests of the estate, and charities are very efficient at checking that the full value of their legacies has been realised, so any sale will be at market value.

AdrianC

 elsien said:

Some charities are notorious for wanting to maximise the amount they get

You say that like it's a bad thing... It's actually their legal duty to maximise the income arising from the bequest.

If I was the neighbour, I'd be relinquishing the executorship asap. There's no benefit to them, but a load of hassle. The deceased was bloody unfair to nominate them in those circumstances, imho.

If you really want to buy the property, you've got two choices. You can wait until it comes on the market with an EA, and then effectively regard it as a repo sale - where you're open to gazump right up until exchange. Or you can contact the charity directly, and say "Look, I'm happy to pay an effective market value, but I'm willing to save you a lot of marketing hassle and cost." - then be unsurprised if that approach gets rejected.

If the executor chooses to stay in place, and handle the sale directly, they can expect to be queried by the beneficiary charity as to whether maximum value was extracted. Selling it to a friend at sub-market-value will be viewed very dimly, because it's money the charity should be receiving to use for their purpose - which was the deceased's intention, after all...

Flugelhorn

I think it is  very unfair on the neighbour - they are going to piggy in the middle, you wanting the house at a good price and the charity wanting as much money as poss. I would suggest nominated exec tells the charity to get on with themselves - you can let the charity know you are interested in the property and that may save them estate agents fees.

elsien

AdrianC said:

 elsien said:

Some charities are notorious for wanting to maximise the amount they get

You say that like it's a bad thing... It's actually their legal duty to maximise the income arising from the bequest.

If I was the neighbour, I'd be relinquishing the executorship asap. There's no benefit to them, but a load of hassle. The deceased was bloody unfair to nominate them in those circumstances, imho.

If you really want to buy the property, you've got two choices. You can wait until it comes on the market with an EA, and then effectively regard it as a repo sale - where you're open to gazump right up until exchange. Or you can contact the charity directly, and say "Look, I'm happy to pay an effective market value, but I'm willing to save you a lot of marketing hassle and cost." - then be unsurprised if that approach gets rejected.

If the executor chooses to stay in place, and handle the sale directly, they can expect to be queried by the beneficiary charity as to whether maximum value was extracted. Selling it to a friend at sub-market-value will be viewed very dimly, because it's money the charity should be receiving to use for their purpose - which was the deceased's intention, after all...

I don't think it's a bad thing that they're doing it. My quibble is more the way that they put the pressure on in practice when families are grieving. This is the reason that although I am leaving money to charity in my will, I am  not telling the charities concerned beforehand, to give my executors some breathing space.

TonyMMM

I'd be surprised if the property has been left to a charity - more likely the executor is required to realise the value of the estate and pass that on, but it depends on the wording of the will.

oldbikebloke

TonyMMM said:

I'd be surprised if the property has been left to a charity - more likely the executor is required to realise the value of the estate and pass that on, but it depends on the wording of the will.

does not alter the legal duty of the executor to act in the best interest of the estate which is of course to maximise the money due to the charity. Nor does it alter the fact the charity has a duty to get the max from the estate.
Neither will happen if the OP tries to buy below market value thinking they can get in first for a "deal"

AdrianC

TonyMMM said:

I'd be surprised if the property has been left to a charity - more likely the executor is required to realise the value of the estate and pass that on, but it depends on the wording of the will.

It sounds as if the deceased left the entire estate to the charity. So, no, they probably didn't specifically name-check the property - but the value released by the sale of that property is an integral part of the estate.

If that is the case, then the neighbour would be mad to get involved in the sale, assuming they don't relinquish the executorship.

FreeBear

elsien said: I don't think it's a bad thing that they're doing it. My quibble is more the way that they put the pressure on in practice when families are grieving. This is the reason that although I am leaving money to charity in my will, I am  not telling the charities concerned beforehand, to give my executors some breathing space.

There are teams that pay daily visits to the relevant records office to read through every will that has been granted probate. They then notify the charities (that are paying for the service) of what they are in line to receive - A grubby little venture that eats in to charitable bequests in my opinion.