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Kathleen Daniels, Probate Real Estate Agent in Santa Clara County receives frequent calls from an executor, administrator, and/or successor trustee, also referred to as an estate representative or representative of an estate, who do not understand the importance of hiring a trained and experienced Probate Real Estate Agent.
What Questions to Ask a Probate Real Estate Agent?
In probate and trust estates, most people don’t know what questions to ask. This is not an issue if they hire an experienced Probate Real Estate Agent, also referred to as a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist, or CPRES, who does know what questions to ask!
Beware of self-appointed “probate agents” that do not have training and experience. There are far too many self-appointed gurus and experts. Do your homework and vetting. Ask questions. Ask about their training. Ask for credentials and certifications. Ask for testimonials or past client recommendations.
98% of our probate and successor trustee clients are in their role for the very first time and freely admit, “I do not know what I am doing.”
As far as probate real estate services are concerned, we do!
There are no “stupid” questions as far as we are concerned. It is the questions we do not ask that can come back and bite us in the backside. We never Ass-u-me anything.
There are always exceptions in life. We explain to our clients why we do not represent buyers on our listings. Our focus is representing our clients exclusively. In 20-plus years of selling probate real estate, there have been a few times when the seller needed an off-market sale. We sold a Fire Damaged San Jose Probate Property Off-Market. The estate representative lived out of state, the home was boarded up after the fire and had been abandoned for years.
Probate Real Estate Agent | Working with Investors
A week rarely goes by without a call, email, or text message from someone (Investors) looking for off-market opportunities. Frequently the caller ID shows a private, unknown, or otherwise blocked number. Why do we receive so many of these calls, because the perception is a probate real estate agent is more likely to have off-market opportunities.
The calls typically go something like this:
I am actually giving you a call to see if you have any off-market properties available. We are looking for something that is probably kind of a fixer, and it has to be off-market.
Anything under $3M in Santa Clara County. If you have something that might be a fit, we would be happy to have you represent us as an agent and also list it for us once we are finished with the project on the backend.
If you have something that might match this description, please give me a call. I would love to chat. [Read: Let’s Make a Deal]
My phone number is [phone intentionally omitted].
Kathleen Daniels Explains Off-Market Strategies
“We would be happy to have you represent us as an agent and also list it for us once we are finished with the project on the backend.”
Cha-ching. Cha-Ching for the probate real estate agent or any realtor for that matter. If a seller makes an informed decision, eyes wide open, and the seller does not have any issues with the probate real estate agent selling the estate home off-market, then we certainly have no issues with it.
The potentially multi-million dollar question is: Did the seller have all the information and fully understand how off-market real estate sales work?
We know from experience, that offers to represent the buyer on an off-market property when we also represent the seller, come with the expectation the home will be sold for less than market value. The “hook” is the promise to list the home again when the upgrading and renovations are complete.
The true Winner here is with the buyer and the Probate Real Estate Agent.
- The buyer because they purchased below market and did not have to compete with other buyers willing to pay more. That is why it has to be off-market.
- The agent potentially doubles their income by representing both the buyer and the seller.
- The agent again for the opportunity to list the home when renovations are complete. This presumes the agent was wise enough to engage an attorney to “paper the offer” to hold the buyer accountable to the offer. You see, if it is not in writing, good luck enforcing it.
Who potentially is the Bigger Loser? The seller. We say potentially because we do not have all the facts and information on all off-market real estate sales. Yet we do how that game is played and why Investors seek off-market properties.
We did represent one client who initially planned to list the home on the Multiple Listing Service. After a long-drawn-out eviction process involving a sheriff eviction, they did not want to deal with the massive hoarding situation, trashing out, cleaning up, and asked if we could sell it just as it is.
As you can well imagine, finding a buyer was not challenging. The buyer was delighted with the opportunity. The seller was more than happy with the sale price we negotiated and how we managed the entire process.
We believe unless there are special circumstances with a seller, it is always best to market a home on the Multiple Listing Sevice and let buyers compete. Competition drives the price up and the sellers are assured of the highest and best price. Probate real estate sales are no exception. Unless the sale is off-market we believe screaming hot deals buying a probate home in Santa Clara County is a myth!
Santa Clara County Probate Real Estate Agent
Are we the direct answer to everything probate real estate? With our years of experience in probate real estate combined with many years of experience as a probate paralegal, Kathleen Daniels has just about seen it all … until another unique situation presents itself. If she does not know the answers or how to appropriately manage a situation, we ask our legal resources. We will not ass-u-me anything.
Many of the homes we list come with complex issues.
More Reasons to Hire Probate Certified Agent Kathleen Daniels.
Why Hire a Santa Clara County Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist
Why Hire a Probate Realtor in Santa Clara County
While our focus as a probate real estate agent, also knowns as a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist (CPRES) is helping an executor or other estate representative in Santa Clara County, we have successfully helped people by referring them to an experienced agent in the area of need. If we cannot help you directly we will do our best to find someone who can. Contact Kathleen Daniels to get the help you need.