Vacant home, owners passed away, may be in probate? How to make an offer?

[Emily Snapp]

I am a new investor, haven't even purchased my first property. I found a home in a great neighborhood that is vacant. The neighbor was out in the yard so I stopped and asked him about the house. He said it's been vacant for around a year, the elderly couple passed away. He said the kids keep the grass cut and thought the home might be in probate. Some of our counties records are online but not probate. How should I proceed? I'd like to find the owner and make an offer. The property is in Spartanburg South Carolina.

[Rick H.]

I think this about the 67th time that I recall someone posting this scenario on BP.

If you can't access your local county probate records online to sufficiently determine if the owner(s) of record have an open probate, you'll need to physically go to the court or pay someone else to do this for you. Search the records at the courthouse to determine if there is an open private on either party.

In the meantime, you need to determine if the owners are, in fact, deceased. You may be able to get that thru the social security death index. Or, check obits in local paper(s) for a period of time. If you find decedent, pull copy of death cert. as your starting point.