Probate With Court Confirmation

Dear Phyllis,
I have been a fan of your real
estate advice for years. My late
brother never had a trust or
will and was a hoarder. I have
been tasked with managing
the sale of his Canoga Park
home. I spent months going
through the contents verifying
that we were not going to dump
anything valuable. I listed
the home with a local Realtor
who conveniently lives in the
neighborhood. This home is a
major fixer and additionally
a lot of things don’t work,
such as the heater and the
stove. The attorney I hired
set the probate up requiring
court confirmation. It’s been
two months, and we have not
received even one offer.
My Realtor claims that
requiring a 10% escrow
deposit is scaring away
investors. He explained that
investors don’t want to tie up
this much money waiting for
probate court to confirm a sale
or worse be outbid. He said that
the escrow deposit could easily
be tied up for three months.
Do you think this could be the
reason the home is not selling?
— Mark

Dear Mark,
Yes, the 10% escrow deposit
could absolutely be a major
reason the home isn’t getting
offers, especially in a court-
confirmation probate sale.

Most investors want to move
quickly. Probate sales with
court confirmation are slow
and uncertain. Investors don’t
like tying up large sums – like
a 10% deposit — for months
without a guaranteed sale.
Even if an investor opens
escrow, someone else can show
up at the court hearing and
outbid them. In that case,
the original buyer gets their
deposit back — but their money
was tied up for months while
missing other investment
opportunities.

You mentioned the home is a
major fixer with non-working
systems. This already limits
your buyer pool to mostly
cash investors. Adding a high
deposit and a long, risky
process makes it even less
appealing.

To improve your chances,
ask the attorney whether
court confirmation can be
avoided. You might be able
to switch to the Independent
Administration of Estates Act
(IAEA), which allows the sale
to proceed without court delays
and gives you more flexibility.
Also, consider lowering the
escrow deposit requirement.

While a 10% deposit may be
recommended it’s not required.
Reducing it to a more common
3% could make the property
more appealing to investors
who are currently hesitant to
tie up large amounts of money.

Best of luck to you on a
speedy sale and closing.
Phyllis