Real Estate

The only real estate that is a part of "probate" is real estate owned and titled in the decedent's name alone.   Property held by joint tenants with the rights-of-survivorship or by tenants-by-the-entirety (husband and wife) pass to the survivor upon one's death by operation of law.   If the real estate is owned by tenants-in-common, then one-half of the real estate is included in the decedent's estate.

Real estate needs to be valued or appraised as of the date of death with the fair market value.  The value of the real estate would be its fair market value less the mortgage or any other liens or encumbrances against it.  If your property has a mortgage, payments should be made to avoid a foreclosure action and the real estate should be sold promptly.

Management of real estate during administration is important.  Locks should be changed to secure the property immediately.   Clean up of property will keep the Board of Health from citing the property for health violations, which could include hanging gutters, rubbish, tall grass, broken windows, etc.   This could cause problems for the estate if there is not cash available in the estate to obey the citation.   Call the Mayor's Action Committee to find out when heavy trash pick-up is and the personal representative can place two large items out for trash pick up which could save the estate dump charges.

If you are busy and don't have time to check on the properties in an estate, then hire a property manager.   One attorney I knew had real estate that was rented.  The tenants moved out, heat was turned off, and the pipes burst.   In additional to the loss of rents, the burst pipes ruined the wood floors and caused a water bill over $1,000.  By getting control of your property and keeping control, the estate can profit from rental property or be managed toward getting it on the market sooner.  This saves on real estate taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance.  A personal representative has a duty to get the most profit for the estate.   There have been cases where the court has ruled a family member who moves into the house or was living in the house may have to pay rent after a certain period of time  if the house is not going to be sold soon.

Kline Properties, Inc. is a real estate company providing brokerage and property management services.  Some of the services that you might need provided by Kline Properties are as follows:

• Broker's Price Opinion of the real estate
• Listing, marketing and selling real estate
• Change Locks/Secure the home                                                                 
• Grass Cutting/Lawn services
• Clean up, Repairs, Painting or Updates
• Rental Property Management

Kline Properties, Inc. was worked with me and other attorneys and  has experience in selling real estate in estates and guardianships.  Broker, Steve Kline, has sold homes for numerous estates and other clients. 

Two examples are:  (1) There was a house owned by a decedent which was almost sold by the son for $60,000 before Kline Properties became involved.  With oversight of Kline Properties approximately $2,000 was spent for removing the trash,  cleaning and painting the house, which thereafter sold for $84,900.   (2) In another estate the decedent's home was estimated by another realtor be worth approximately $85,000.   By spending a cost of $3,000 the house was cleaned, trash/junk removed, minor repairs and painting was done subsequently bringing a sales price of $109,900 with the oversight of Kline Properties, Inc. 

If you have rental property within an estate or guardianship Kline Properties also provides rental property management.   This allows the estate to continue to collect rent and has a third party maintaining the repairs without the high costs of legal time.

Note:    It was not customary for an estate to expend funds to fix up a house in the past.  Attorneys do not have the time or often the estate does not have funds to spend in improving a home prior to sale.  What was the result?  A big profit for the investor who purchased the house, added carpet and paint and then made an instant large profit.  We help you keep that profit within the estate.

All houses are assessed on a case to case basis.  If there is equity in the home and Kline Properties is the listing broker, often Kline Properties can delay billing the estate for costs of repairs or cleaning until closing.  Visit the Kline Properties website.