How To Do A Probate Wholesale Deal Step By Step
Investing In Probate Real Estate
Probate real estate investing is by far the most profitable niche in real estate wholesaling. They are the most profitable because the sellers are usually always motivated.
I’ve heard of spreads as high as $70,000 on one deal. Once you grasp your mind around that, I’ll show you how to get set up in probate real estate and become the to go to guy or gal in your area.
One of these deals starts with you getting leads. Getting probate leads for your real estate investing business involves 2 methods.
- By going down to your local courthouse and asking for the latest probate files. These should be in the office where they keep all the records or in the actual probate office. Best to give them a call if your not sure
- Is by looking in your local newspaper for the probates section. I don’t think this section is in all newspapers but check them out. You may get lucky.
Your next move is to get all info on the probate case as far as the deceased persons name and their last known address, their heirs to the estate and their information and finally the lawyers name and contact information.
With this, you can either work together with a title office (best if you’ve done some business with them before) or go searching online in public records to find all the info on if they actually owned the property out right. If the property is free and clear you now have a goldmine lead.
In part 1 we talked about the steps getting the motivated leads for a successful probate deal. I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many words on one post so I decided to break it up into 2 parts.
After getting all the info you need from public records, its now time to contact the heirs to the estate. Best way to contact them is by using the standard letter for probate real estate investing. You don’t want to send just any old letter or you may come off wrong because do remember that they just lost a loved one. This letter will be sensitive but get to the point that you want to buy the home of the deceased that may be available.
Once you send this letter off, expect to get a response rate of about 10% to 20%. This can be increased by doing a follow up but it generally takes from 2 weeks to a month to receive a call. Don’t send follow up after follow up because remember; we are dealing with a death in the family.
Now that they’ve contacted you, you find out a number of things:
- How motivated they are to sell
- Is the property free and clear (also want to find out if any known liens or back taxes)
- How much repair is needed to bring the property up to today’s standards
- How much they want for it and if you pay cash, how much they will take for it (2 very different things)
Once all parties come to an agreement, you get them to sign an as is purchase and sale agreement contract.
If you already have a cash buyer that is interested in properties like this one, then you already have a done deal. Other wise you need to use techniques that i teach on my blog to find and line up some cash buyers.
Get your buyer to sign another as is purchase and sale agreement contract with you as the seller and an assignment contract and collect your $2,000 non-refundable deposit (check please) made out to either your company or your title company.
Now you take all this to the title office and if all title work comes up clear, you just come pick up a check once your end buyer closes on the property and you’ve just completed a successful probate deal in your real estate investing journey.
If you want to take invest in probate properties, check out my Super Probate Profits eCourse which I’m giving away for free.
One Response to “How To Do A Probate Wholesale Deal Step By Step”
Chris on March 1, 2011
I have never heard of probate real estate. These seems like a brilliant idea during this economy. What are the risks to doing this?