Probate and Trust Property Sale Case Study
The Challenge
Lucie Wyatt passed away leaving her 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom Escondido, CA home to her daughter Carolyn Knudsen who lives in Big Bear, CA and her son, James Wyatt who lives in Placerville, CA. Their attorney Dennis Hasty suggested that they speak with a Real Estate Broker to determine their options and he recommended Kim Ward, and expert in probate and trust property sales, with Horizon Real Estate.
Carolyn and her husband Bernie first spoke with Kim in March 2011. They were considering keeping the property and renting it to their nephew from Texas. They shared that they were choosing to complete the probate process and have the property transferred into the names of James and Carolyn prior to selling. They anticipated that the probate would be complete mid January 2012.
The Strategy
As planned, Carolyn and Bernie scheduled an Initial Consultation appointment with Kim in mid-January 2012. Carolyn’s brother James was experiencing health issues and it would be difficult for him to deal with the upwards of 100 documents throughout the transaction requiring his initials and signatures. Kim suggested and assisted with having a specific power of attorney document prepared giving Carolyn the power to make decisions on James’ behalf.
The Results
The specific power of attorney made the process simpler. Kim introduced the sellers to an antique dealer and once the specialty items were purchased, Kim then introduced them to a buy out company for the remaining personal items. Carolyn and Bernie were very happy with the ease of emptying the house. Kim then scheduled the house to be cleaned prior to putting it on the market.
Priced at $259,000, an offer was negotiated within 10 days. The house sold for $265,000 and the sellers assisted with $5,000 of the buyers closing costs.
A bit of a glitch occurred at the buyer’s inspection; the furnace was inoperable. Naturally, the buyers requested a replacement with a seller expense of $2,500. Kim went into action negotiating for her clients. She succeeded! The seller expense towards a new furnace was negotiated to $1,100 saving them $1,400. Bernie, Carolyn and James are outrageously happy with the results!
