All Forum Posts by: Lynnette E.

@Laura C. hopefully your house is under contract already.  If not, I have a suggestion for you.  

Most people ask a realtor to see property that they saw on the INTERNET, but the realtor will add extra properties on the house viewing trip to show buyers.

You want to make your house stand out as the add on house.  I do that when I want to sell fast by adding a 1% bonus commission to the selling realtor.  I have the listing realtor add a comment in the listing part for realtors that says "1% additional commission available to selling realtor on sale contract/ agreement accepted/fully executed between NOW and XXX date a few weeks later and closed by XXX date."

The 2.5 % commission is ok in the area, but 3% is also common and realtors will take folks to the houses that offer the 3%.  By making your commission to the selling agent 3.5% it puts you at the top of the list, not in the middle.

You might want to see what easements it has, might be the community storm water basin.

Neighboring property that is a pig sty, or industrial/commercial/church area, or a 'bad' area.  In the actual property any sign that  gang has claimed the property such as gang tagged graffiti in or on the house.  Anything in the house I might buy can be fixed...just have to have the correct price.

Thanks @Kim Heretick and @Wayne Brooks 

The Counties I am looking at do not have their records on line.  I was trying to figure out a way to see if it is a first or second loan by the % on the auction.com site, or by the open bid amount.

Some of the information is really hinting at the loan being a second, but they do not seem to STATE it is a second.  The auction.com title reports can be pretty poor.  

Thanks for your replies!

@David Decker  please not that the inheritance limits above are FEDERAL limits.  States have their own limits.  And some are very low.  Also the federal limit above is temporary under the Thump tax reform.  It goes to a much lower level in a few years.

Estate planning should last so make a decision on how to do this looking at your assets going up in value as you age.

And I can not help you with your actual question.  I know nothing about LLCs.

@Matt Kitchen welcome!

I'd change the door to the small bath, master bath, closet, and toilet room to pocket doors.  I'd also have the laundry closet and coat closet as bifold doors or some rolling folding door.

You kind of have a door nightmare going on.  Plus I hate so many door to walk around when they often are not used.  And I REALLY hate barn doors!  

I think that putting the coat closet by the door to the deck would make more sense than putting the small bath there.  Maybe rework the bath, washer room and coat closet to do that.  And a full size stacking washer and dryer may be more space efficient. 

So if the loan that was foreclosed on was AFTER the mid 1970's...and it would be as there are not 50 year loans in the US...the inspection on sale should have caught the cesspool and it should have been converted to septic when the last sale took place.  

I have not lived in AZ for many years, but when I did live there the building inspectors were on top of things.  Have you checked with the building inspector to see if they have a record of a septic system being put in?

Since you are not interested in doing the conversion, you should do a quick check with the building inspectors/code folks.  If they show a conversion then inspect the septic system and buy the house.  If the building inspector/code folks have no records then let your loan cancel on you to get your deposit back.

HUD really knows nothing. They are not lying, just they rely on paper others write.

@Matt Kitchen 

When  person dies their assets and debts go through a state or county regulated process prior to distribution.  Each State/County has a little different process.  This process is called probate.

So when someone says my XXx left me YYY in their will, it does not mean that the person will actually get that item.  That is because the person's debts must be paid off first.

The method that is set up to make sure that the debts are paid and that the assets are distributed is called probate.  So one files with the correct government office to 'open' probate.  In some places its the orphan's court, a probate court or chancellery court.  It changes by location.  Some places have lots of court oversight, some are more administrative oversight.  Once open, probate remains open until the final distribution of assets.

So, the court will appoint someone to over see the probate process.  It will generally require legal notices in the paper to ask for debts to be sent in.  It will notice potential heirs of the probate case.  It will oversee that the estate debts are paid off  as far as the assets will pay.  This may result in, say, medical debt payments taking the value of the house rather than an heir getting the house.  There is a priority system for what debts get paid first.  The administrator in the probate case will have the ability to sell assets, but the payment generally goes to the estate of the deceased person, not into the hands of the administrator.  Many courts have attorneys that oversee the process, some do not.

Generally if the debts can be paid and there are 'things' in a will that were to be passed on to specific people who want the actual asset then the asset --like a house--may be passed on to the person with a title change.  But if the person does not want the assets, the probate process can sell the asset and pass on the money.  

Once everything the person had is liquidated, the bills paid, and the assets that someone wanted and the money from selling the other things has been passed on to the beneficiaries then probate is closed.  If there is not enough money to pay the debts the probate process is how bills are legally denied payment.  The estate of the person may get an IRS bill for debt forgiveness.  And the probate process pays the final tax bill for the person and the person's estate prior to closing.

A probate case is considered open until the final distribution is made.

The main problem with buying a house for someone who inherited it and they did not do probate, or they started it--opened it--but did not like the oversight or process, then they just stop following the probate rules (sell stuff, pay bills, then distribute assets/money) and sell the assets as a real person and the money does not make it to the estate, then the sell may be considered fraudulent and reversed by the court overseeing the probate case.  So the money you paid is gone and you have a very expensive lesson.

When someone buys something at such a great discount, then its easy for the court to say, wow, something so wrong and this is not an innocent buyer, then they do not feel bad about reversing the fraudulent sell.

Someone not opening probate when someone dies is why there are homes that someone 'inherited' from a few generations back, but its still owned on record by grandma who died 50 years ago.  Then it is hard to fix the title, grandmas' heirs are...XXX....then the next generation of heirs are...YYY...and now there are 20 people who need to agree to sell the house.  The title is a mess to fix at that point.

@Joshua D.

The son, as the only child would be top of the chain to get CTA, but I would guess there is a struggle with the heirs.  Thus the fast and sneaky selling.  The son also was not the parent's first choice of an administrator for the will.  Hope probate was completed.  Copied this basic information from another site ... Note:

The Administration C.T.A. are special letters of administration you must petition for when the executor in the will refuses to act or cannot act due to death, incapacity or otherwise, or if the executor resigns or his letters testamentary are revoked by the Court. The C.T.A. portion means “Cum Testamento Annexo”. In plain English, “with the will annexed” or in even plainer terms, something added to the will. Consider the following example when Administration CTA is necessary:

Example 1: Adam’s will names his sister Janice as executor and his brother John as successor executor. At Adam’s death, Janice is no longer living and John is residing in a nursing home with dementia. What does this mean for the other beneficiaries in the will if there is no executor to file the will and administer the estate? A beneficiary in the will can now petition to court for administrator CTA letters.

Example 2: Adam’s will names his sister Janice as executor and his brother John as successor executor. At Adam’s death, Janice is no longer living and John is appointed as executor. Subsequently, it becomes apparent to the beneficiaries that John is not fit to be a fiduciary by his mismanagement and concealment of estate assets. Consequently, the beneficiaries are successful in their petition to remove John. The person or entity who succeeds John as a representative of the estate will have the title of an Administrator CTA.

Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act – SCPA § 1418

There are typically three situations when an Administrator C.T.A. can be appointed:

• First and foremost, the decedent has to have left behind a last will and testament.
  • The decedent did not name someone to be the executor of his estate;
  • The decedent named someone as the executor BUT that person passed away or cannot act due to incapacity, incarceration, felony conviction, unwillingness to act, etc;
  • The executor was subsequently removed by the court or he resigned.

Priority

Additionally, according to Surrogate’s Court Procedures Act Section 1418(1), there is a hierarchy of which individual is allowed to receive the Letters of Administration CTA in the following order:

(a) to a sole beneficiary or if he be dead to his fiduciary;

-this is when there is only beneficiary in the will who stands to inherit the deceased’s entire estate. If that beneficiary has died, then the executor or administrator (no will) of that beneficiary’s estate can became the Administrator CTA of the deceased’s estate.

(b) to one or more of the residuary beneficiaries or, if any be dead, to his fiduciary;

– if there is more than one beneficiary named in the will, the residuary beneficiary can petition to become the Administrator CTA. The residuary beneficiary is typically named in the paragraph in the will that says something along the lines of “I give all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate of whatsoever kind and wheresoever to…”

(c) if there is no eligible person entitled to letters under subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision who will accept, the court may issue letters to one or more of the persons interested in the estate or, if any be dead, to his fiduciary.

– any other beneficiary named in the will or a creditor of the estate can petition for Administration CTA letters.