Advice for buying a Probate House?

Connoisseurus_Rex

We're first time buyers and in the area we're looking, a lot of properties are probate. Naturally the "chain-free" aspect is appealing but I'm getting the feeling it's not quite that simple. Obviously most are very dated and require a lot of work but that doesn't put us off (providing they're not priced like said work has already been done).

I wanted to hear your experiences of buying probate properties and any advice you'd give us, tips, questions to ask etc.

EssexHebridean

If it is new to the market, and probate has only recently been applied for, then that could cause a delay to proceedings as it is currently taking in the region of 6 months in many cases for the grant to be issued, I think. 

Bear in mid that sellers selling on a probate sale basis will not be able to give detailed answers to many of the usual questions on the property information form - and it is acceptable that they cannot do this, so you may find the paperwork features a lot of "not known" answers. 

As you have already identified, there can be a lot of advantages to buying a probate property - the fact that often you will view it empty means you can get a clearer idea of size and layout, and it makes it tougher for the seller to hide various things that otherwise might be stuck away behind various items of furniture. (Beware the whole place being freshly painted though - while it *might* be innocent, it also might be a good way of covering up damp!) Quite often the sellers are also keen to get the sale through as they want to get the estate settled.

Also - don't assume that a property which is being sold empty of all furniture or even still furnished but clearly recently vacated by an older person is definitely a probate sale - some will likely have resulted from the former occupant moving to sheltered accommodation or similar - and again, those can often feature a determination to get things moving quickly as the proceeds of the sale are required for paying care home fees! 

p00hsticks

Assuming we are talking England or Wales, and you know the basic details of the deceased you can use this site to check if probate has actually been granted.  
Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The executors need the grant to be able to complete the sale but will often market it prior to getting it, and as the process takes as long as a bit of string this is where the delays can come in....

Grizebeck

We have just recently completed on a probate purchase
Probate was applied for on the 6th of July
Granted on the 14th October
Took a week for the firm dealing with the probate to get it over to the executors solicitors and then over to ours
We completed 2 days later

Its really important (as said above) to find out if they have probate OR if its been applied for and to manage your expectations time wise as you may have no idea if its a complicated case
Applications can take anywhere upwards up of 14 weeks and the waits are getting longer, do not be surprised if probate takes 6 months (unless granted etc)
So factor that into any mortgage application

lookstraightahead

We sold a probate property - we knew everything about it as my husband grew up in it. It's important to find out how probate is going / whether it's been granted yet, and whether it's likely to be straightforward (ie o it one or two decision makers ). When people are due money it can make their decision-making a bit greedy sometimes (or the opposite)

user1977

The other potential complication (though only in a minority of cases) is if there a bunch of beneficiaries whose consensus is needed (or at least desired by the executors) to the price offered (and any later negotiation).

prettyandfluffy

We bought a probate property in 2021, it was very straightforward.  The only problematic part was that the executor was a solicitor who declined to answer the questions on the Property Information Form.  We did all the research and legwork to satisfy ourselves and then asked the executor to answer "don't know" to each question and instructed our solicitor that we were happy with that.  This was our 4th house purchase so we were not newbies to the process which probably helped.

Grizebeck

Yes we knew our property information form would be blank and both forms were quite literally sent empty 

Bigphil1474

I sold a probate property in July as executor , and we've unfortunately got another one to sell now where probate has just been granted with solicitor as executor. In my experience, it is unusual for a house to be for sale before probate is granted, but obviously some may be. If probate has been granted, try and find out how many executors. I was joint executor  with one other person, and there were 3 other beneficiaries. The two of us executors kept everyone informed about offers but we accepted an offer based on what we thought, not what the beneficiaries were wanting. Fortunately, they didn't interfere. Main thing is they tend to be empty properties, a bit dated, but can still be good buys. The first house just needed a decor refresh down stairs, the second one will need a full makeover, but both were well looked after homes by someone who had lived there a long time.