California probate leads

[Garrette Becker]

Iv been doing some reaearch on probate leads and was wondering if you are able to wholesale probate real estate. I read online that the probate court has to approve all real estate transactions

“Most probates in California are handled under the state’s Independent Administration of Estates Act, which lets the executor take care of most matters without having to get permission from the probate court. (Cal. Probate Code § 10400 and following.) The executor can usually sell estate property, pay taxes, and approve or reject claims from creditors without court supervision. Certain other acts—for example, selling real estate—require court approval.“

I’m just interested in knowing if I’m able to do anything with the executor of the property and how long a deal could take when dealing with probate leads for wholesaling purposes. 

[Marcy Moyer]

Garrette,

Probate sales in California, even under the AIEA, do require some time and and some court supervision. The estate myst have an appraisal by a probate referee and the sale must not be less than 10% of the appraised value or it will have to go to court for approval. The other hurdle is that after an offer is accepted by the Administrator a Notice of Proposed Action is sent out to all the heirs for their approval. If they believe that the Administrator can get a better offer they can object to the sale and it will go to court for court confirmation. 

The timeline for the sale depends on where you are in the process. First a person who is willing to Administer the estate has to go to court and get appointed. The time that takes is based on how back up the court is.

If there is an administrator then he or she needs the court to appoint the referee and he/she needs to appraise the property which can take a month or 2 depending on how busy the office is.

If there is an administrator and there is an appraisal then the Administrator can accept an offer. Once an offer is accepted the heirs have up to 45 days to object or not and the buyer needs to put a 10% deposit down.

If the heirs do not object you can close right away.

If the contingencies on the property have been removed and the heirs object to the offer and the home goes to court for confirmation it can take 2 to 3 months in northern California to get a court date. If you drop out during this waiting period you will lose your 10% deposit. I don't know the waiting period for a court date in Southern Ca., but I assume it is similar.

So the process can take 6-8 months or it can take 1 month depending on where you are in the process.