As a real estate agent, I have some flexibility in my schedule so it’s been awhile since I have had to wake @ 5:30 in the morning, shower, dress and commute. Several weeks ago, Lisa and I attended probate court in Los Angeles; court starts @ 8:30 AM and if you have driven downtown LA recently you are aware of the traffic.

In March of last year, I was contacted by a probate attorney to potentially list this shack home in Tujunga.  I completed a market assessment and listed it for $82,000.  The lot is a tad under 4,000 sq ft. and Lisa found a buyer who agreed to pay $59,000, the offer was accepted and escrow opened.  

Sometimes probate properties are sold similar to a traditional sale, an offer is accepted, escrow is opened and escrow closes. This particular probate was subject to court confirmation.  The court must ratify the sale and other buyers may come to court to overbid the initial offer. 

There is a formula for computing the  first overbid.  The amount of our first overbid was $62,450.  If another buyer wanted to come to court and bid that amount, then the buyer Lisa was in escrow with no longer had a claim to the real estate.

If no one overbids, the court ratifies the sale and escrow closes. 



If someone accepts the first overbid, bidding continues; the judge determines the increments. Our judge set the second bid to be at $65,000 and then in additional increments of $5,000. 

In addition to the buyer who was in escrow, there were three other bidders.  It was auction style and the property was bid to $90,000 with the original $59,000 buyer agreeing to increase his price to $90,000.  The court ratified the original buyer at the new $90,000 purchase price.

And with any luck, Lisa and I will close escrow in a month. One year after my first contact with the attorney. 

Typically real estate commissions are negotiable but commissions in probate are capped @ 5%.  Lisa and I split the 5%, 2 ½% to the listing side and 2 ½ %  to the buying side and then of course our broker takes their cut. And if anyone is calculating our commission for one year’s worth of work it is laughable.

I will be interested to see how this buyer turns this property into something saleable; will keep you posted.

Related Post: California Probate Process Explained

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