Hey everyone, this is Scott Johnson with Pitt Home Buyers. Today I’m actually coming at you from Bath North Carolina. I did have to come out here to meet with a client. We usually don’t come out this far, but in some cases, we can, so what I wanted…
Well, the situation I wanted to talk to you about today is called probate. Now, if you’re not familiar with the term, “probate” it is essentially the process that a property… When someone passes away, their belongings, and their ownership of those belongings, go through probate, and their ownership gets transferred to their heirs.
A lot of times, people will actually write up a will and testament, which is a very important thing to do if you haven’t done so yet, because then it lays out the groundwork for who is going to receive what, and makes the whole process easier.
But a lot of the clients that we work with, their families, they actually inherit these things without a will being in place. So what happens is heirs have to get together, decide who’s going to manage the estate and work with the probate attorney to get everything figured out. It can be a real mess, especially if there is a house involved.
A property on County Home Road in Ayden, North Carolina, that we’ve been following up with on a regular basis, all of the nine heirs want to do something completely different with the property. Some of them want to clean it up and rent it out, or fix it up and rent it out because it’s literally dilapidated now; it’s getting worse, the roof is falling in. The other ones want to tear it down and put a trailer there. The last I spoke to the “executor,” I guess; I don’t think she’s really the executor, but the last time I spoke with her, she said, “Yes, we are actually getting quotes now for bush hogging the property, because trees are everywhere.” That was literally nine months ago and nothing has happened; I pass it every day on my way home. Don’t let this happen to you.
If you had a loved one pass, and you know you’re going to be going through the probate process with that property, reach out to us, because a lot of things can happen, especially if there’s a loan still on the property. Then, all of a sudden, you and your heirs are on the hook for that loan. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but when someone passes away and gives you a property, that loan goes right along with it; it gets transferred into your name. It can be a very, very sticky situation, but what we can do is, we’re able to give you a cash offer for that property, or, in some cases, take over the loan and take ownership of it that way.
There’s a lot of options, and listing with a real estate agent is one, too. One thing we do is we provide a 360-degree look at your options, because not only are we going to give you a cash offer, we are also going to get comparables, as well as a listing offer from a highly ranked rated real estate agent in the area. So guys, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
Again, if you know that you’re going to be going through the probate process, it just helps to know your options, and we are here to help you with that. Thanks so much, and have a great day.