When the solicitor is the executor of a persons will, how do they decide how to sell the house to?

ljm_88

I have found this question to difficult to google, so I am hoping there is someone with some expertise on here who may be able to help.  
We have been trying to buy a house in areas that are highly in demand because of good school catchments.  We have been looking for a year and missed out on quite a few properties.  We are in the best position we possibly can be in, we have sold our house and living in temporary accommodation with an agreement in principle and proof of deposit ready to go.  
A house has come up that we plan to offer on, however have learned today that the decision will be made by the executor which is the deceased owners solicitor.  There's no sentimentality of who the solicitor will choose to sell the house to, aside from being the highest offer, what else will the solicitor take into account? 
Thank you.

davidmcn

Much the same way as any other seller would. They'll almost certainly have taken advice from estate agents or surveyors on the market value (and may already have had to get a professional valuation for the purposes of probate).

AdrianC

They have a legal responsibility to get the best sale possible.

Mostly, the decision will be financial - the highest offer.
Where there are two similar-amount offers, a lower offer may be preferred if that buyer is in a position to complete more quickly and easily.

They may also take any known wishes or preferences of the deceased into account...

ljm_88

Thank you @davidmcn and @AdrianC.  In this instance it is going to 'best and final' so we will obviously aim to be the highest but it is extremely difficult to predict.  

@davidmcn I didn't realise they sometimes get professional evaluations for probates.  In this circumstance the house has been put on very low at the request of one of the beneficiaries (according to the estate agent anyway).  Offers have already gone 100k over that amount.  What the solicitors will make of that when the offers roll in, I don't know!!

@AdrianC you make an interesting point about taking the deceased wishes or preferences into account.  I am assuming these additional instructions would have to be passed to the estate agent in order to collect the additional information, otherwise how would the solicitor be able to execute them?

davidmcn

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

AdrianC

ljm_88 said:

@AdrianC you make an interesting point about taking the deceased wishes or preferences into account.  I am assuming these additional instructions would have to be passed to the estate agent in order to collect the additional information, otherwise how would the solicitor be able to execute them?

How long is a piece of string...? Perhaps the deceased hated BtL investors. Perhaps the deceased loathed their neighbour and knew they hated small dogs, so would love the place to go to a chihuahua breeder... Ultimately, treat this vendor like any other. You cannot know their preferences or intentions.

davidmcn said:

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

The deceased may have communicated those preferences to their solicitor themselves, of course, before their death - either directly or via a note. And, yes, the family may have said "Oooh, yes, Auntie Ethel always liked..."

davidmcn

AdrianC said:

ljm_88 said:

@AdrianC you make an interesting point about taking the deceased wishes or preferences into account.  I am assuming these additional instructions would have to be passed to the estate agent in order to collect the additional information, otherwise how would the solicitor be able to execute them?

How long is a piece of string...? Perhaps the deceased hated BtL investors. Perhaps the deceased loathed their neighbour and knew they hated small dogs, so would love the place to go to a chihuahua breeder... Ultimately, treat this vendor like any other. You cannot know their preferences or intentions.

davidmcn said:

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

The deceased may have communicated those preferences to their solicitor themselves, of course, before their death - either directly or via a note. And, yes, the family may have said "Oooh, yes, Auntie Ethel always liked..."

The only time I've encountered something along those lines was when we had to sidestep the racist preferences of a beneficiary...

ljm_88

davidmcn said:

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

Thank you.  This makes complete sense to me.  The estate agent I spoke to mentioned that it is entirely up to the solicitor, but I can't imagine the beneficiary would be ignored in the process.  Is it commonplace for a solicitor to check with a beneficiary before deciding, for example if two offers are almost identical? 

ljm_88

davidmcn said:

AdrianC said:

ljm_88 said:

@AdrianC you make an interesting point about taking the deceased wishes or preferences into account.  I am assuming these additional instructions would have to be passed to the estate agent in order to collect the additional information, otherwise how would the solicitor be able to execute them?

How long is a piece of string...? Perhaps the deceased hated BtL investors. Perhaps the deceased loathed their neighbour and knew they hated small dogs, so would love the place to go to a chihuahua breeder... Ultimately, treat this vendor like any other. You cannot know their preferences or intentions.

davidmcn said:

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

The deceased may have communicated those preferences to their solicitor themselves, of course, before their death - either directly or via a note. And, yes, the family may have said "Oooh, yes, Auntie Ethel always liked..."

The only time I've encountered something along those lines was when we had to sidestep the racist preferences of a beneficiary...

eesh!!

AdrianC

davidmcn said:

AdrianC said:
And, yes, the family may have said "Oooh, yes, Auntie Ethel always liked..."

The only time I've encountered something along those lines was when we had to sidestep the racist preferences of a beneficiary...

I was trying very hard not to even contemplate that scenario...

ljm_88

AdrianC said:

ljm_88 said:

@AdrianC you make an interesting point about taking the deceased wishes or preferences into account.  I am assuming these additional instructions would have to be passed to the estate agent in order to collect the additional information, otherwise how would the solicitor be able to execute them?

How long is a piece of string...? Perhaps the deceased hated BtL investors. Perhaps the deceased loathed their neighbour and knew they hated small dogs, so would love the place to go to a chihuahua breeder... Ultimately, treat this vendor like any other. You cannot know their preferences or intentions.

davidmcn said:

In practice even a professional executor is going to be led by the beneficiaries' preferences (as it's them who would be suing the executor if they got it wrong!). I can't recall any cases where the deceased had "preferences" about how a property was to be sold on the open market.

The deceased may have communicated those preferences to their solicitor themselves, of course, before their death - either directly or via a note. And, yes, the family may have said "Oooh, yes, Auntie Ethel always liked..."

Thanks, I think I understand.  I think I was thinking in a formal sense.  But of course there will always be some informal preferences that are either enacted by the estate agents / beneficiary / solicitor from previous conversations.  In which case we could never anticipate what decision they may make!