3 Things You NEED to Know About Estate Sales

Tags: Home Buying, Toronto Homes, First Time Home Buyer, Bully Offer, Realtors, Home Buyers, Estate Sale

What is an estate sale?

An estate sale is when a homeowner has deceased and has a representative sell their home. The deceased may have entrusted an executor to administer the estate, and subsequently sell the home, or in some cases when there was no last will of testament, an executor is appointed. As an executor, there are some added steps to consider in selling an estate home.

Steps to prepare the house for sale:

1. Estate Clearing

The process of organizing and decluttering can be largely overwhelming, and so, a favorable way of tackling this task may be to break it down into parts. The first part would be to decide what items should be kept, and what needs to be distributed to respective beneficiaries. The second part would be to store items or pieces of furniture that perhaps hold sentimental value and the last part would be to donate and/or sell any unwanted items. There are services available that can help with some or all of these tasks if it proves to be too difficult.

2. Home Repairs

In some cases, it may be impending that some repairs be completed before the home is listed for sale. A home that is in better condition will undoubtedly sell quicker and for more money than a house that is in a state of dilapidation.

3. Probate

Probate is the judicial process that grants the formal approval of the will in court and the appointment of the executor. This process needs to be completed prior to the actual sale of the home and the transfer of title to the executor. The home can be listed whilst the probate process is taking place, as the process may take several months to complete. In this case, the seller and buyer would have to agree that an extended closing date may be required to accommodate the probate process if necessary. Alternatively, the parties may enter into an escrow agreement that allows the buyers to move in on the closing date, but not take ownership until the process is complete.

Taking everything into account, estate sales are not as direct as other property sales and require flexibility on timelines for the parties involved. Buyers and sellers should also be aware of necessary terms and conditions that should be added to the agreement to facilitate an estate sale.

Written by: