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Best way to sell a probate hoosie?

WIAWSNB
Posts: 1,439 Forumite

Hi.
A friend is an executor of an estate, of which part is the deceased's house. It's an ordinary terraced house in an ordinary street in an ordinary town, and with a value probably in the £220+k range. It does need updating, but is a perfectly habitable house as it is.
Probate has been granted.
Folk have been telling her to auction the house, and that may well be the easiest way. However, as executor, she has a fiduciary duty to the estate to manage it correctly and to achieve the best outcome. And, she is herself the residuary beneficiary, so entitled to whatever is left over.
My take is that the house is a house like any other house on that street, and with no onward chain, so has a standard value that the 'probate' label shouldn't affect. So she should market it via an agent like any other house - this should achieve the best price.
Thoughts? Pros and cons?
Ta.
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Comments
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Yes, if there's nothing particularly wrong with it then just sell in the conventional manner. Though if she's the only beneficiary affected by the price achieved then it's entirely up to her.1
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user1977 said:Yes, if there's nothing particularly wrong with it then just sell in the conventional manner. Though if she's the only beneficiary affected by the price achieved then it's entirely up to her.Thanks.Yes, the other beneficiaries have fixed sums, so as the residuary she'll have what's left over. So selling conventionally will most likely achieve the best outcome?
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WIAWSNB said:user1977 said:Yes, if there's nothing particularly wrong with it then just sell in the conventional manner. Though if she's the only beneficiary affected by the price achieved then it's entirely up to her.Yes, the other beneficiaries have fixed sums, so as the residuary she'll have what's left over. So selling conventionally will most likely achieve the best outcome?5
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A probate property is only problematic when it's marketed before probate is granted so potential buyers have no idea when they'll be able to complete. As that's not the case here the sale should progress as any other property would - possibly more easily as the estate is motivated to sell and the house is at the top of whatever chain already exists so shouldn't be responsible for any delays.2
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Bought 2 probate houses via the ‘normal’ route. It didn’t put me off and there was no chain. I think the risk, to a buyer that I came across, are delays / unknown time line if probate isn’t granted yet and the sellers not being able to answer questions or provide documents as they weren’t the owners. No reason to go to auction if the house is in decent condition just because it’s probate imo.2
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She may worry about owning the house, especially through the winter. Insurance will probably exclude damage from burst pipes, although that can be mitigated by draining the system. I’m not sure it’s entirely true, but there’s a perception that auctioning is a faster process. So, she may think she’ll be shot of the responsibility sooner if she goes the auction route.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?1
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My neighbour's house was sold by auction. Like the house in question, it was habitable but definitely needed modernisation but nothing structural.
When she died, her sons (both executors and sole beneficiaries) didn't want to have to do the work, live in the house or become landlords so thy went for a quick auction sale.
One of the sons is a barrister so I wouldn't expect there to be anything illegal in what they did.
Incidentally, I don't think it's true that it's impossible to get a mortgage on a habitable house sold by auction. Many people do this to avoid chains.1 -
I sold my dads house a couple of years ago after probate. We sold our house last year. Selling the probate house was definitely easier. We just cleared the property and gave it a good clean. Fortunately, my dad kept all the paperwork in one place. Might be worth getting the gas and electrics certified if there's no paperwork, helps make the sale smoother and they aren't expensive.
We had the house about 12 months from death to sale, and insured it as an empty property. Everything was covered although we had to inspect the house regularly. We did turn the water off anyway.1 -
Thanks everyone - much appreciated.I should hopefully be able to check the house over myself soon, so she can then make a decision based on its condition. We can also check on it regularly to comply with the insurance cover.I see no reason to not sell it conventionally.Cheers.1
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WIAWSNB said:Thanks everyone - much appreciated.I should hopefully be able to check the house over myself soon, so she can then make a decision based on its condition. We can also check on it regularly to comply with the insurance cover.I see no reason to not sell it conventionally.Cheers.
If she's the only residual beneficiary then as long as there is enough money to pay out the other bequests then she's the only one who would be affected by the price sold so she may find that selling quickly for a slightly lower price is more advantageous than hanging on for a better price while the bills stack up.
THere is no need to do anything to the house other than essential maintenance unless advised to by the estate agents - any improvements that mean the house sells for more than the probate value would potentally result in a CGT bill for the estate.
Keeping an eye on an empty property over winter is not fun......2
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