Help! I have a house in Dallas Fort Worth in an estate that is in probate. Should I sell it?
First and foremost, I’m Megan Johnson. I’m a Dallas Fort Worth area Realtor that specializes in helping owners of inherited properties as well as Executors and Administrators of an estate in a probate proceeding sell the home or investment property of the estate. Essentially, I help people sell the homes of their loved ones, friends and family members after they’ve passed. I came to recognize the need for this specialization after dealing with a loss in my own family in a town that my husband and I didn’t live in.
For us, the home was left vacant and while we had an elder family member try his best to look after the home, it was ultimately ransacked by looters, sentimental belongings were taken and the home was vandalized. All of this while we live hundreds of miles away. Additionally, the home required repairs to make it appeal to a renter, it required ongoing maintenance to keep it off the city’s radar, and we didn’t know a Realtor in the area to tell us how much it was worth to even think about selling it.
This is the type of scenario that my team and I seek to help my clients avoid. I act as are your trusted Realtor partner to represent your best interests. My team and I do the heavy lifting like meeting with service personnel, removing remaining belongings from the home, coordinating maintenance and repairs and anything else needed to get the home into its best showing condition. My goal is to get the house sold to benefit the next generation and to pave the way to new and next chapters. This is what I love to do. I remove the burden from you as much as possible. If you need some help or if you need access to other service providers in the Dallas Fort Worth area, please give me a call. We work with probate attorneys, junk haul and removal companies, maid service providers and other service personnel to attend to a home. We act as your boots on the ground to serve your best interests to get you and your family comfortable on to your next chapter. Give us a call. My team and I would love to help. This is what we do. It would be my pleasure to serve you.
Now that I’ve gotten my spiel out of the way, the question is whether or not you should sell the property? This is where a good Realtor can also help counsel you. Sometimes it makes sense to hold it, sometimes it makes sense to sell it, sometimes it makes sense to rehab it and sell it. It all depends on your appetite for being a landlord or a real estate investor. Let’s consider each decision separately:
Hold onto the Property in Probate
If you don’t mind being a landlord, that is finding tenants, collecting rents and making sure they come in on time, keeping up with ongoing maintenance of the property, and continuing to pay expenses associated with taxes and upkeep, then holding may be for you. Another consideration is finding a local property manager to manage the property for you and typically paying them 10% of monthly rent as the property management fee. They will take care of the administrative tasks for you but you will still be in charge of all other expenses associated with the property. Additionally, there is the trust factor. You will need to find someone (or a company) that is reputable and is doing what they promise to do. If you are out of town or state, make sure to carefully vet whomever you choose and get referrals if desired.
Sell the Property in Probate
I’m an advocate for selling if there is a mortgage on the property that you cannot maintain on your own. For example, if you decide to become a landlord in the above, but you cannot afford to have the property sit vacant for one or two months, because you cannot pay the mortgage on the property in addition to your personal mortgage and/or living expenses then you will be putting yourself in a situation to be real estate poor every time you switch tenants my friend. Of course this can also be the case if left vacant before deciding to sell the home and during the selling period until closing. Do not be someone who drains precious dollars from the estate to pay a mortgage because of inaction. Either way, put the asset to work or exit as quickly as possible. Sometimes, executors are left with the asset which sucks away resources because they can’t (or won’t) let go of the house or simply choose not to act, resulting in foreclosure and lost equity and resources for anyone who could stand to benefit. Most people typically have nieces and nephews who may want to go to college.
If the home has a mortgage that cannot be carried by any individuals involved, no one wants to be a landlord, and/or beneficiaries of the estate or the estate needs all available funds distributed then sell. There is should be no guilt in disposing of the asset to acquire or share resources from the assets left by loved ones. Think of it this way - everyone wants to leave a legacy. A legacy is what the prior generation contributes to the next generation. Typically, vacant homes that require constant money and care are more liability than legacy. This is where new chapters can be born for the next generation.
Rehab and Sell the Property in Probate
Rehabbing and selling the property can also make sense due to the fact that sometimes, a neighborhood has completely transitioned around the home in the estate, leaving plenty of upside and equity for a renovation. Working with your Realtor to determine the after-repair value of the property is generally a good idea to establish budget parameters for the renovation and to double-check after-repair assumptions. At Megan K Johnson Real Estate, we work with rehab contractors who specialize in helping average homeowners maximize their investment through renovation. Give us a call so we can help you assess this option.
Overall, we pride ourselves on being good stewards of the profit potential of properties left behind by loved ones in estates, trusts, and in the probate process. If you find yourself in this predicament, CALL US. We are happy to provide opinions, likely selling ranges, Seller’s net proceeds estimates, and general honesty about the condition of the home and the market.
