Estate Representative Protects a Father’s Legacy
Attorney Doug Murphy introduced his client Rita Hess to me because she was going to be appointed as Administrator of her children’s father’s estate. The decedent, Rita’s ex-husband had been living in the San Diego area east of North Park and the house needed sold to settle the estate.
Towards the end of June 2013, Rita and her husband JT met with me to tour the house. We discussed the details of preparing, marketing and selling the San Diego real estate. During our Initial Consultation Rita and JT shared that they wanted to do some repairs to the house so that they could get the highest price and best terms of sale.
In August, Rita was court-appointed as the personal representative of the estate. Rita received her Letters of Administration and the family got to work. They repaired some windows, painted inside and out, installed flooring, new lighting, cleaned up the garage and more. Rita’s mother is a retired landscaper and she volunteered to tackle the yard. The results were remarkable; the house was ready. The Horizon Real Estate team arrived at the house and staged the house to sell with furniture, pictures, beds and bedding. The marketing began September 9th.
A few weeks later an offer was negotiated. When the buyer completed his inspection, some issues came up. The house was originally built in 1936; the licensed home inspector’s report referred to the foundation, roof, the furnace and plumbing waste line as defective. The buyer submitted invoices totaling over $23,000 for the recommended repairs.
Days of negotiation resulted in a $10,000 seller paid credit to the buyer. A classic case of win-win because on October 25th the buyer has his new home, Rita is happy with the sale and Attorney Doug Murphy can complete his work towards closing the probate.
