By Living Room Realty, January 22, 2022
If you end as a personal representative for an estate, you will likely be taking on several duties to wrap up the estate. Oftentimes you are thrown into those duties unprepared and in a state of both mental and physical exhaustion. Everything can seem overwhelming, especially dealing with real property. In fact, even for those planning on selling, preparing to sell a house can take a great deal of time and effort. Additionally, real property ending up in an estate often suffers from deferred maintenance, missed mortgage payments, reverse mortgage, deferred property taxes, etc. A real estate professional can be a great help in gathering information and guiding you as you prepare the house for sale. They should be brought in early to create a plan that begins with preparing the house to marketing and selling the house. They can give advice about what needs to be done to get top dollar from the sale of the house and what can be left for the new owners to take care of. Real estate professionals can also recommend local professionals to get the house ready for market. I have worked with several probates over the years and find the biggest mistake made by personal representatives is waiting too long to call a real estate agent and trying to do too much themselves. Much of the early work can be taken off your shoulders or broken down into more manageable pieces. Your real estate agent is there to help you every step of the way. If you become a personal representative, please reach out early and get the help you need from local experts.
