Things You'll Need:
- A little patience, a willingness to do some investigative work, and good credit and/or a little money to invest.
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Step 1
Decide where you want to focus your search for probate real estate by county. Usually, you want to concentrate on a single county, or, if they're both nearby, perhaps two counties.
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Step 2
Determine where probate notices or "death notices" are published in your area. Probate properties must be published in a newspaper of "general circulation" so that creditors may have an opportunity to stake a claim on the decedent' s estate.
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Step 3
Determine whether the decedent' s estate includes real estate. There are several places to look for this information. Once you've determined that it does, proceed to step 4.
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Step 4
The courts assign a "personal representative" or "PR" to represent the decedent, and this individual is often identified in the probate notice. This is usually a family member. You want to write down the name of the decedent, the PR's name, address, phone number, and any other information that pertains to the decedent' s estate.
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Step 5
Contact the PR by mail, and in a very tactful way, express your sympathies, and mention that you buy probate real estate in "as-is" condition thus expediting the process of giving the heirs their portion of the estate. When the PR indicates interest in your offer, schedule an inspection of the subject property.
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Step 6
After inspecting the probate real estate, determine whether you can clear enough of a profit based upon what other comparable properties in the area are selling for minus all fix-up and other costs.
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Step 7
Determine whether you want to purchase the property, and if so, give the PR your offer using the legal documents that are appropriate to your state/municipality.
