Estate, probate & trust sales
Executors, administrators, trustees and heirs at law are usually grieving, frequently out of state, often dealing with a sibling who has opinions, and personally accountable if the sale is handled badly. I take the property off your plate and keep the record clean.
Free guides
When there’s a will: letters, the executor’s power to sell, and ancillary proceedings. With a flowchart.
Read the probate guide →Who can serve as administrator, who inherits, and how the sale gets authorized. With flowcharts.
Read the no-will guide →Who has the authority to sell, the options besides selling, and my seminar for families.
Read the parents’ home guide →You are not selling your own house. You are selling someone else’s, on behalf of people who may not agree with each other, under a duty that exposes you personally if you get it wrong. The standard is not “I got a decent price.” It is “I can show that I acted reasonably, and here is the documentation.”
On top of that, the practical mess is real. Nobody has the keys. There’s a tenant nobody knew about, or a cousin living in the basement. The deed has a name on it that doesn’t match anything. There are forty years of belongings inside. Two of the four heirs want to sell now and two want to wait. And you’re trying to manage all of it from Georgia.
I’ve been handling these since 2004. Most of what goes wrong is foreseeable, which means most of it is preventable.
Before anything else: has the court issued letters, and do they let you sell? Is the property in the estate or did it pass outside it? Are there restrictions? Your estate attorney answers this. I ask about it first, and the earlier we talk, the more time I can often help you save.
Locks, utilities, insurance status, occupancy. A photographic record of condition on day one. If someone is living there, we establish what their status actually is before, not after, we go to market.
What the property is worth as it stands, with the evidence behind the number. That is part of listing it. If you need a written value as of the date of death for basis or accounting purposes, that is a Retroactive Valuation, a separate service I offer.
Empty and paint, or sell as-is? I help you evaluate both paths and what each is likely to net after cost and carrying time. Sometimes as-is wins by a wide margin, and heirs are relieved to hear it.
Exposure appropriate to the property and the situation, with professional photography and floor plans where they fit. Who hears what, and when, depends on the situation and on the fiduciary’s duties.
What was done, and when, is documented as we go, so if anyone questions the sale later, the answer already exists.
Not without hiring me first. Investors tend to be sophisticated purchasers, and once you sign a contract, the leverage dynamic shifts dramatically. It’s not just a question of the price offered. It’s about making sure you actually get what you agreed to, whether it was the right thing to agree to, and how to keep from being held hostage and leveraged into closing a worse deal.
No. Sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes it’s money burned, and we’ll evaluate both paths. Either way, I have contacts and resources for cleanouts, repairs and maintenance, and I’ll shepherd you through everything.
Usually, yes. Many of my estate sellers live out of state. Signing can often be handled remotely, and I go to the property so you don’t have to.
Then everyone gets the same price analysis at the same time, with the evidence behind it. Disagreement usually turns out to be a disagreement about information, not about value. When it’s genuinely about value, at least the argument is now about something specific.
I prepare Retroactive Valuations, yes — and I’m one of the few people who will, because most appraisers either decline retroactive work or price it steeply. What I give you is a Fair Market Valuation prepared by a licensed broker, not an appraisal. It is a separate service I offer, apart from the sale.
Five minutes, and it answers most of the first call.
Death and real estate — what actually happens
Recorded on camera, not written down and edited by me.
Estate seller“I inherited a property and needed help”
Estate clientTwo-family in the Bronx
Estate sellerServing the NYC metro
Diallo took over the renovation and sale of our parents’ properties and carried through even past the final sale and continued making necessary contacts in order to finalize unforeseen administrative details.
Very considerate during a difficult time, prompt, courteous; the consummate professional… service is exemplary.
Diallo was SUPER proactive and very diligent. Made extra effort to keep ‘all’ parties informed. Can not improve on perfection.
Very professional and efficient. A pleasure to work with, even long distance.
Call me before you agree to anything — before the cash offer, before the cleanout, before you sign with anyone. I’d like to handle it for you, and if I’m not the right fit I’ll tell you who is.
Where it is, who has authority to sell, and whether letters have issued yet. I’ll tell you what the sequence looks like from here.
Would you rather just talk? Call 929-400-7653.
