I guess I should say that The Probate House is almost officially ours…we’ve signed the closing docs and wired our funds, and are just waiting for the seller to sign the docs as well…
In the realm of real estate transactions, this may have been the simplest we’ve ever done. While it took a while between the first time we saw the property and the time we got a signed agreement from the seller, the closing process was completed in less than a week.
We turned the contract in to our closing attorney this past Monday, and they were able to complete the entire process (including pulling title) in less than 48 hours. We received the closing documents via email today (we’re out of town for the week), wired the funds, and FedEx’ed the signed and notarized docs back to the attorney this afternoon.
The seller will sign the docs tomorrow (Friday), and assuming we can figure out a way to get the keys from her, the property will be ours…all in less than 5 days from signed contract to close…
The next step is to figure out what to do with this property. While we could probably make a good bit of money by immediately wholesaling it to another investor, I think we’re going to do some minor rehab (remove the trash, remediate some mold, repair some exterior siding/trim, paint, carpet, etc) and then either sell it to an investor or find an owner occupant who is looking for a house they can move into and improve at their own pace.
We’ll examine our options over the weekend, and if we decide to do some rehab, we’ll likely start next week. I’ll also post some pictures next week when we get back home…
The beauty of motivated sellers. Plenty more of those in the probate realm. Glad to hear this one went smoothly.
Can’t wait to hear what your options are. What kind of neighborhood? What is the ARV? What did you pay?(sorry, typing out loud-do not answer).
I do have a serious question: Do you make these decisions on your own? Who is part of your decision team ?
Congrats!
Isn’t it a breath of fresh air to do a non-REO deal where they can actually get the title work done and have everything ready to close in less than five years?
I just did one last week (non-REO), that closed in 4 days! 🙂
Awesome, congrats! I’ll look forward to hearing about what you decide to do with this house (and why).
Jason,
You might want to give us all step by step instructions on buying probate property for those of us that have never done it.
Jennifer
Jennifer –
In this case, the deal just fell in our laps. Our closing attorney was at a garage sale, and the person running it was the daughter of the home-owner who had passed away. She told our closing attorney that she was looking to sell the house as well (when it got through probate), and he called us. We stopped by the garage sale and spoke with the woman, and she agreed to call us when probate was settled.
A couple months later, she called, and within a few days, we had the property purchased. As easy as it gets!