If you are hoping to find a trusted probate advisor that will walk with you through the entire process, I’d love to talk with you to find out how I can help you every step of the way.
From both professional and personal experience – as a matter of fact I am in a probate case currently myself – I understand the stress & complexity associated with your responsibilities at this time. It’s not easy. Managing an estate is an emotional and complicated task. Family conflict, repairs, market conditions, out-of-state heirs and financial constraints contribute to the challenge of selling an estate. The burden often creates a situation feels overwhelming.
When navigating the probate process, having the right professionals in your corner makes all the difference. Besides my team, I personally hold an Attorney’s License (I have an Estate Planning Practice and have Probate case experience) and a Real Estate Broker’s License (with Probate Certification), so I have the education, experience and knowledge to guide you through the entire process from A-Z.
-Stuart Simone, Certified Probate Realty Specialist
Probate Property Service is not just about Probate Real Estate sales, but Estate Solutions. As our name implies, we offer our clients Service and we can help with much more than just the sale of a property. Speaking of which, if the Court confirms that you a Personal Representative with “Full Authority under the IAEA” then you can begin selling the Property of the Estate immediately, under the general rule of “what’s good for the Estate.” Click here for more information on the California Probate Process. Our full service probate team is designed to address any challenges and keep you fully informed throughout all aspects of the process. When you list your property with Probate Property Service, you get a dependable partner at your side.
You’re dealing with unfamiliar new tasks and likely the loss of a loved one or dear friend, so our goal is to help you with these challenges. I head up a team of local professionals focused on helping settle probates and we provide value in several ways, such as:
(1) We are ready to make a CASH OFFER – today if necessary: If quick access to funds is needed to provide for immediate financial needs (medical, housing, education, etc.), we are willing and able to purchase the property “AS IS”, even with the personal property. We can pay closing costs and close on your timeline. Because it’s a direct sale, you don’t need to worry about the 6% Realtor commission or paperwork, and if you do decide to list the property, our cash offer will always be there as a fallback.
(2) If top dollar is more important to you than speed & convenience, we stand ready to List the property with EXP Realty and sell for top dollar, guaranteed. We offer more ways to sell than anybody, so it’s simply a question of finding out what the best choice is for you. We’ll get into more detail below.
(3) Dealing with personal property in need of removal: A huge problem in many probate sales is handling the personal possessions. We can ease this burden. The heirs can remove everything they wish and our Estate Sale team does the rest – selling and/or donating what’s left – leaving the house ready for cleaning and sale. See our article on How to Clean Out Probate Property.
(4) Advice and assistance regarding any necessary repairs/improvements: Our reliable contractor team can do any type of work from minor repairs to full renovations. Sometimes investing in the right repairs will allow it to sell for the best price and in the shortest amount of time, but of course it can also be sold just as it is.
(5) Cleaning Crew: This group specializes in getting houses ready for the next step. After the personal effects have been dealt with and any repairs have been made, they move quickly, inside and out, to make sure that the house looks its best and is ready for the next step.
(6) I can help with discussions with other stakeholders and attorneys: Another big problem in this process is communication – especially when multiple heirs have interests. I can shoulder some of this burden. As a licensed attorney with probate court experience, I can act as a buffer to smooth points of contention. I’ll also send bi-weekly updates to all parties letting everyone know exactly what’s happening. I can also be part of any meetings with attorneys to discuss legal issues.
If you’d like more information or to discuss any problems you’re having, please feel free to contact me at any time. I can be reached directly at (805) 702-8512. Our #1 objective is to “Provide Value First”. We’re here to help you in any way we can during this difficult time. Whether you are ready to sell or just need someone to answer your questions, please feel free to call any time.
In 2020 Selling Homes changed forever – technology is not a luxury, it is a necessity, and it has given us more ways to sell property than ever before.
Today, one size does NOT fit all! That’s why Probate Property Service gives you MORE WAYS TO SELL!
Our goal here at Probate Property Service is listening carefully to our clients and coming up with the best possible solution. Thanks to his extensive knowledge base as a Real Estate Attorney, Real Estate Investor and Broker Associate with eXp Realty, Stu Simone can and does go the extra mile to give you the client your maximum range of options and the comprehensive advice to help you make THE BEST choice to achieve your goals. That’s why we offer MORE WAYS TO SELL than anybody else, because selling the Traditional Method – Putting up For Sale Sign and Lockbox on the door, listing on the MLS, having Buyers inspect your home at all hours – is often not the best way to go in 2021. It’s not fast or easy – even if you accept an offer quickly, there are still mountains of paperwork and the entire appraisal inspection and loan approval process, and there is no possible way to know if you actually sold for top dollar. (There may have been a buyer who was just about to make a much better offer than the one you accepted… but just a little too late.)
Think about the condition of your property, how quickly you’d like to sell it, how much time you need to move out, how much hassle you’re willing to tolerate, and whether you are happy with a lower but instant all-cash payment or want to get top dollar guaranteed. Whatever your goals are, we have a solution for you.
The “Renovate & List Program” – where we remodel your home to make it perfectly updated for your local market at no upfront cost to you – is very likely to result in a top dollar sale. But the only way any home seller is guaranteed to be paid top dollar is with our ONLINE OFFERS platform where we have 100% transparent bidding online with a process that drives the price of your home up until the highest bidder wins the purchase. The Online Offers platform only takes 10-14 days from the listing date to decide on the buyer but unless you have an all-cash offer, the escrow process still needs to unfold. If you want to move FAST, Probate Property Service is proud to offer EXP Realty’s EXPRESS OFFERS System, where we submit your property to our exclusive marketplace of iBuyers (large and well-funded Real Estate Investment Companies), who will give you a bonafide All-Cash Offer in 2-5 days. They will close on your timeline – meaning you can wait to find your next home if you wish – but if you want to move quickly escrow can close in as little as a week. If you want to move VERY FAST, we can arrange an all-cash deal with a local investor or even Probate Property Service; besides being VERY FAST it’s also VERY EASY, as the paperwork is minimal.
Probate Property Service is proud to announce a groundbreaking new program we call “Cash Now, Move Later.” Click here to watch this one minute introduction video to grasp this unique and very timely concept. This would be great if some family members are still living in the property and want time to find a new home. With this program, you the executor/administrator sell the home to our lender who pays you CASH now, and the residents can still live in the property for one month to a year! When it’s time to move, PPS sells the property at top dollar, and if it sells for more than the appraised price, you are paid even more cash! Pretty remarkable. If you’re interested in this program (or any of the others), please call me or set up an appoint so I can explain it to you.
Besides time and money, you also need to consider the condition of the property. If it’s in bad shape – for example a common Probate situation where the home was basically vacant for a number of years, which would rate a “1” on the 1-10 scale – then not all options would be wise choices. For example, if the property is in bad shape, a traditional listing would be a bad fit, whereas a cash sale would be a good fit. This handy chart will help you identify the best method for selling the property. Then read on below to find out more about our top programs.
ONLINE OFFERS
Let’s talk about a whole new way of listing and selling a home. Partly as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Stu Simone, Rock Real Estate, eXp Realty and HomeBoss have worked together to create a selling plan like no other! It’s the 14-Day Online Offers System, which gives you FIVE ADVANTAGES over all other methods of home-selling:
(1) Worried about getting the highest possible price? We have the Solution! We sell your home on an Online Offer platform, which you can think of as the Real Estate version of ebay. The COMPETITIVE bidding and HARD DEADLINE give Buyers extra motivation to bid higher than they would in the traditional scenario. Then, you simply choose the highest bid! No more guessing on whether to accept an offer or not!
(2) Worried about paying too much commission? You’re not the only one! In this groundbreaking method, you the Seller do not pay the Buyer’s commission as you would in a traditional sale. (In Southern California, the seller usually pays 3% to the Seller’s agent and 2.5% to the Buyer’s agent… which makes no sense, right?) That’s right, with Online Offers we do things the right way. And if that’s not good enough, you may qualify for the Online Offers ZERO Commission program!
(3) Worried about Covid? No more strangers randomly visiting your home, disturbing your peace and privacy and possibly spreading the virus! Only one or two days of Open Houses* on a weekend of YOUR Choice, perhaps a few hours on another day for return visits, and that’s it! NO LOCKBOX!
*Only Pre-Qualified Buyers are allowed in by appointment only, so no looky-loos or nosey neighbors!
(4) Pressed for Time? Under this breakthrough system, we can sell your home in only 14 days!! Not 14 weeks! And you know you’ll be selling for top dollar.
(5) No downside. Unlike the traditional system, you are not obligated to accept any Online Offer! We can just have another auction, or try a different strategy. (But this rarely happens after competitive bidding.)
So there you go, for most Home Sellers, this new* method of selling homes is simply better than the old ways!
*Other than the fact that the bidding is done online, this is the same process that banks, courts and the government use to sell their properties. These institutions demand top-dollar and have the financial resources and power to sell property any way they choose.
Selling a Property with our exclusive 14-day ONLINE OFFERS System is a “no-brainer” for:
- PROBATE PROPERTIES – Trustees and Executors will LOVE this method because they can rest assured that they sold for the highest possible amount, and they won’t be hearing any complaints from the heirs!
- SELLERS WHO WANT TO SELL FOR THE HIGHEST PROSSIBLE PRICE – The fact is, an auction-type of open bidding system is the ONLY way to know that you have sold for Top Dollar. With any other method, you are only hoping that the offer you accept is the best one… there’s no way of knowing that a buyer was just about to make a better offer when you accepted and your property went “under contract.”
- COVID-19 TIMES – Everyone can breathe easier knowing they don’t need to place a Lockbox on their home and have dozens of strangers parading through their property at all hours.
EXPRESS OFFERS
But what if your property is in all honesty closer to the “before” photo than the “after” photo? If you sell the traditional way, your property will likely sit on the market a long time before you find a family willing to make an offer, and that offer will be low. And the property may not have what it takes for our 14-day Online Offers System. No worries!
Stu Simone of Probate Property Service is a Certified Agent for EXPRESS OFFERS, an exclusive marketplace of over 170 iBuyers that only Certified eXp Realty Agents and Brokers have access to. OK, what’s an iBuyer? iBuyers are large well-funded Real Estate Investing companies that purchase homes IN CASH to flip or to rent out. An iBuyer must buy at least 50 homes in cash each year to even qualify for our marketplace, so we are talking bigtime players like Wedgewood, OpenDoor, Zillow and OfferPad. These players are some of the largest customers of Home Depot and Lowe’s so they get volume discounts on materials, plus they are extremely efficient and renovating houses. if you are Selling a House – even it’s already listed and you already have an agent – we can get you a CASH OFFER from one or more iBuyers in 2-5 days and close your sale completely “AS IS” in a matter of DAYS! That’s what we mean by “Express Offers.”
Selling Property with EXPRESS OFFERS is perfect when:
- URGENCY TO SELL – For anyone who is under time pressures, such as you when you wish to avoid holding costs on a vacant house.
- PROPERTY IS A “FIXER” – With Express Offers, property is sold AS IS with no need for upgrades or marketing of any kind. If your property qualifies, we will get you Offers in as little as TWO DAYS flat and you can be closing and putting money in the bank is as little as a week!
- PROBATE PROPERTY – Trustees and Executors will LOVE this if they want to dispose of the property as fast as possible.
- BANKRUPCTY PROPERTY – Debtors, Trustees, Judges and Creditors will all LOVE this if they want to dispose of the property as fast as possible.
- COVID-19 TIMES – If you don’t want strangers in your home, this is for you! In order to submit for iBuyer Offers, only ONE PERSON comes to your house, and that’s me!
RENOVATE & LIST
For a “Fixer” property you can go in two different directions. If time and ease are the primary considerations, then an Express Offers sale (or selling to an Investor) is the way to go. But what if you aren’t in a hurry and you still want to get the maximum sales price? Then our Renovate Now, List Later program is the solution, because we have contractors fix, rehab and renovate your property so that the finished product is perfect to garner top dollar in your local market at that point in time. And here’s the kicker – you don’t pay a penny out of pocket! How cool to have a team of interior designers, landscapers and contractors come in and spruce up your property… and they don’t get paid until the sale closes. Our experts will help you decide how much you want to renovate, and from that point on they take care of the rest. And when they’re done, you know you’ll have a very desirable home to sell for top dollar!
Selling Property with our RENOVATE NOW, LIST LATER Program is perfect when:
- PROPERTY IS A “FIXER” – If you’re not in a hurry to sell and you want to sell for Top Dollar, then Renovate & List with us and let the contractors finance the renovation. You don’t pay anything out of pocket! Let the experts advise you on what should be done for your particular neighbor hood to maximize your return on investment.
- PROBATE PROPERTY – Trustees and Executors will LOVE this if they want to maximize the sale price. Combine this with Online Offers for the absolute highest selling price possible!
- BANKRUPCTY PROPERTY – Debtors, Trustees, Judges and Creditors will all like this if maximizing the sales price is the goal.
Where there’s a Will there’s a way — whatever selling solution works best for you, we can do it here at Probate Property Service.
The EXP Advantage
We are plugged in to the most innovative Realty Brokerage in the world, EXP, "The Amazon of Real Estate." We have direct lines to major iBuyers, mortgage lenders, CASH buyers, "pay later" renovation, and our unique residential Online Auction platform - nobody else can say that!
massive marketing
When you list with us, your property will have it's own 3D Tour Website, Aerial Video, and multiple posts all over social media, including videos and virtual open houses. We go all out for every client, every time. Oh yeah, and we pay for all that stuff!
List Your Property Risk Free
We have a Performance Guarantee with every Listing... because we are that confident. Icons in the Real Estate Business such as FortuneBuilders' Than Merrill and Tarek El Moussa of HGTV's "Flip Or Flop" fame are joining eXP Realty every day, and for good reason. They see the benefit!