Probate Question

So here is the deal, I have a person that is going through probate that is just wanting to dump the property. It is located in Kansas, where the real estate market is going pretty well, but the average price per home is around 120k.

Anyways, I have a property that is worth around 40-55k, and I offered him 15.7k for it and was looking to just wholesale the property to another investor. Well I hear back from the guy who is from Oklahoma and he says that he is pretty much fine with the price, but he said “the governor in “your state” will only take 29.1k.”

I’m confused, so how does the governor have any stake on how much the house is worth and why does it matter to him? Anyone have any idea what is going on here, and if there is a way I can get someone out to the house to do a BPO or check out the property in person?

Please Help,

Justin

If the property is in probate, perhaps there are creditors who have made claims against the deceased’s estate. The probate court needs $29100 from the sale of the property to satisfy creditors, clear probate, and pass clear title.

Just my guess.

Well according to the executor, which is one of the sons, he is saying that there is no mortgage or liens, and all he wants is enough money to pay for the funeral.

Unless he is completely lying to me, then I still don’t have any clue why he would say the “governor of our fine state” will only take 29.1k.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Justin

You are speaking to a man who speaks in tongues. I run into many crazies just like him.

If you believe the national television advertising from an association for retired people, the average cost of a funeral is $6K. Why not offer $9K and see what sort of counter offer you get?

Unless the property was held in trust with the son as beneficiary, the property will most likely have to go through probate. If you have to sweeten the deal, you can offer to pay the probate costs for the property (assuming they ballpark at $3K plus attorney fee).

Creditors don’t have to be secured creditors. Just because there are no liens on the property does not mean there are no outstanding bills or debts to be paid by the estate. Credit card issuers, hospital, nursing home, bank which made a personal loan to the deceased, and funeral home are examples of potential unsecured creditors.

Saying “one of the sons” is the executor of the estate, suggests there are more children that are potential heirs of the estate. If there is a will, who gets the property? If equally shared by all children, then all heirs will have to be a party to your purchase agreement.

Remember a half interest in a property that you can never sell is worth a lot less than half of the value of the property. When there are multiple heirs, there may also be a dispute over selling the property and for how much. You might be able to purchase the more desperate heir’s individual interests in the property in separate deals for a lot less than each would have received if they all cooperated in the sale.

Time to get a Kansas probate attorney to give you constructive feedback on how you should proceed with this deal.

As Dave T said,

Lets say there is a house with a will or no will and it is to be split up equally between all of the relatives. There are 20 of them total and you ran the numbers and figured you would be willing to buy it for 25K. Some of them want to sell, others want to move into it, others want to hold it for rental property, etc. Find the desperate one that wants to sell and offer them $1,250 or their share. You are now an owner. Then, depending on your state, force the house to sale. If one owner of a house in VA wants to sell than the property has to be sold and each and every one of the owners, including yourself, has to agree on the sale price.

If they don’t agree on your price to buy they must find another buyer. In this case you must agree to the sale price which you would ensure covers your legal fees and your initial cash outlay.

Sneaky, A little dirty considering the death of a loved one, but definitely falls into the realm of creative real estate deals.