Selling a probate property

[crumblecrimble]

Hello 👋 My DF and DM both died very recently, and now I have the task of selling their home. Honestly I don't want to sell it, but there are other beneficiaries to consider and there's no other practical option.

I've sold my own home before (Scotland), but it wasn't in England so dealing with the English system is already feeling overwhelming.

Probate hasn't been granted yet, or even applied for, but I did have six valuations done and I have instructed an estate agent. The EA has advised waiting until the probate application is in before I start marketing, does that sound right? Or should I wait until it's been granted? Will it piss a buyer off if probate takes longer than expected to be granted?

I'm also not sure what to do with the house contents. I've been advised to leave furniture and artwork for viewings, to make it feel more homely for people - but then when will I have a chance to sell everything!? And what if I do find a buyer so start to sell everything, but then I'm gazumped or gazundered (whatever the term is) by the buyer and then I have to put it back on the market all empty?

I'm finding all the decision making at the moment very difficult, how does anyone do this?

Had similar situation to you a year ago - all done now and house has sold so may have some insight..
Probate took 6 months!! We went through solicitors who were pretty crap and slow but don't think the timeline is unusual. Property we were selling was in a desirable location so we sold via word of mouth in the end but when we approached EA for valuation they proposed just floating a single photo to guage/stir up interest during the probate period, don't know if that would work for you?
We didn't have much of value in the house but what we did have was sold on eBay/Facebook over a period of about a month (although you would need to be living near the property to facilitate this); the rest we paid a house clearance company who did the whole lot in less than a day for £1.5k (4 bed house).
Hope this helps!

Sorry for your loss

I am buying a house now that is a probate sale. I like the fact that it is empty of furniture and would prefer it if there were no carpets or curtains as those will be binned as soon as I move in.

Not able to advise on private but not long bought house. There is a lot of clearing of the cupboards etc that can be done before which will make it a lot more straightforward when you sell. I would go at your pace depending how you are coping . You may find it cleansing to do big sort or easier to do it in stages. It's good to have some furniture in to stage the house as many people find it hard to imagine without.

We bought a probate property last year. The executors started to market the property before probate was granted, all worked out fine, probate was already applied for and was through within 3mths, didn’t hold anything up for our chain.

@crumblecrimbleI did this very recently.

I'd advise running the sale and the probate side by side: both take several months, and it's far better to be a long way down the probate process by the time people are ready to exchange. In my case probate came through about a month or so before exchange.

With furniture, take the things you need then get a clearance firm. Make sure all valuables/sentimental items are taken well before any viewings. I also took a favoured rose from the garden as a living momento.
WARNING- be very clear what's going to be staying when you fill in the TA10, fixtures and fittings form. I filled it in fairly soon after the funeral, forgot what I'd put, and certain items were taken that I'd said were staying...

You'll probably find it easy to sell, and with a committed buyer, as it's chain free. Not a guarantee, but more likely. And if they do try any funny business, tell the buyer to jog on! The EA is working for you, so should be of use.

it's a crappy thing to have to do at the best of times, and when you're dealing with grief it's the worst.

We’ve done it. You can do a lot of clearing without taking all the furniture out - contents of cupboards, bits and pieces.

When we were doing my mother’s (not probate, she’d had to move to a care home because of dementia) a SiL had the bright idea of advertising an Open Afternoon on the local Freecycle. It was amazing what people came and took away - even e.g. old saucepans, which we wouldn’t have thought good enough for the charity shop.

We just put it all in the sitting room and they helped themselves. .

Saved us a few car-loads to the tip/charity shop.

Having done a probate sale too, IMO it’s actually harder when the person’s still alive - you feel as if you’re throwing their life away. I did, anyway. 😥