Locking In An Interest Rate On A Probate Sale

Dear Phyllis,
My son recently found a home he loved, but it was
a probate sale requiring court confirmation. He
had to wait a little over four weeks for the
court confirmation hearing, and no one outbid
him. He used the lender recommended by
his Realtor, and the lender locked his interest
rate for 30 days. Unfortunately, the rate expired
before closing, and he had to relock at a higher
rate.

The lender explained that they couldn’t order
loan documents until they received the final
recorded court order. Since I see you have
experience with probate sales, I wanted to ask:
what is the typical procedure or best practice
for locking in an interest rate on a probate sale?
Thank you for your time and insight.
— Claudia

Dear Claudia,
When a probate sale requires court
confirmation, the process doesn’t end once
the judge approves the sale in court. After
the hearing, the court must issue and record
the formal confirmation order—a step that
typically takes three to six weeks, with four
weeks being the average in Los Angeles County.
Only once that recorded court order is received
can the title company and lender proceed with
final loan documents and closing preparations.
An experienced lender should be familiar with
this timeline, as court-confirmed probate sales
are common in California. They should delay
locking the interest rate until the confirmation
order is recorded or choose a longer lock period
to accommodate the expected delay. Locking
too early—before the confirmation order is
received—creates a risk that the lock will expire
before the loan can close, resulting in higher
rates or additional fees for the buyer.

In this case, the lender should have accounted
for the probate timeline and structured the rate
lock accordingly to protect the buyer from losing
the rate. When choosing a Realtor and a lender
in a probate transaction it is critical that both
are experienced in probate sales.

Phyllis