Jim Rutkowski
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How Do You Market to a Probate List?
It’s been said that knowledge is power. Armed with an accurate probate list, you can identify properties that are under the radar. Yet it’s the application of that knowledge that is more powerful. We not only equip you with probate leads, but give you the tools and insights to make the data actionable. Since a probate list captures the information on the Personal Representative, heirs and the attorney, who should you reach out to? This is the rudimentary question that needs to be answered before you start an outreach campaign, so let’s start with an overview of the parties. Personal RepresentativeFor sure, you…
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Time Table When Contacting Probate Leads
Traditionally, agents and investors seek the newest real estate probate leads and the timeliness of them are mission critical. My hard-won experience, however, has shown that it is not helpful to think in terms of freshness. Everyone has varying time frames when they are motivated to sell the probate, trust or inherited property. Older probate leads can be even more responsive and in fact, many real estate professionals prefer an older list of probate filings. Why?The reality is, every situation is different and there are different circumstances that trigger the motivation to sell. When it comes to Probate Investing – some…
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Difference Between Probate Leads & Inheritance Lists
The biggest distinction is that when working probate leads, you can get through to the executor of the estate (decision maker), while inheritance leads can get you in front of heirs that may have no influence into what happens to the property.Armed with probate leads, you can start a conversation with the executor/administrator that has been appointed by the probate court to divvy up the estate.In contrast, inheritance lists provides you information on heirs that has no say so. They may not have seen Uncle Harry in 40 years. By populating a list of heirs, you can easily get a…
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Rescuing Belongings In A Probated Property
Probates are the low hanging fruit because heirs want to cash out. > Get an overview of probate investing in this blog post. While every case is different and the executor has their own unique time frame in selling the probated property, the biggest obstacle that blocks the executor from selling is the personal belongings that their loved one has left behind.It is a gut wrenching process to dispose of these personal belongings. To everyone else, it is “stuff”. To the family, it is a treasure chest of memories. What if the family just is frozen and cannot finish the…
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Are You An Investor Or Are You A Problem Solver?
I’m always reminded by the plaque on my wall that says, “We are compensated only to the extent that we add value to the other people”. Simple but instructive. The human element should not escape real estate professionals. The only way to get any seller to work with you is to convince them you can solve their problem.When marketing to probates, you can convey to the executor that you can close quick on a property, pay all cash, reduce attorney fees, utilities and mortgage payments, avoid repairs, etc, but these are intellectual features, while “people buy on emotions and then justify it with…
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The Time Frame Of Probate Investing
One of the most often asked line of questions we field as a compiler of probate data is related to timing. “How long do they take to close?”… “When does the executor want to sell the property”, etc.Before we address these questions on the merits, a little refresher background is in order. Probate is the process supervised by a surrogate court of competent jurisdiction that determines the validity of a will, itemizes assets including real property, paying taxes and debts to creditors as well as expenses associated with will administration, then finally distributing the assets left over to the heirs that are…
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Probate Investing 101
I wanted to avail this post to provide an overview of the often overlooked but lucrative niche of probate investing. Literally TRILLIONS of dollars will be transferred from one generation to the next. Enter an aging baby boomer population and this fact of life will only balloon in the coming years.Probate is the legal process to obtain the legal authority to act on behalf of the estate of a person who has passed (Decendent). The estate is distributed in accordance with:1) The will of the deceased.2) When a will is not present, the laws of intestate succession are applied. These…
