When family members are in charge of a trust and need to sell a home, this is known as a “successor trustee sale.” My personal attorney relationships have afforded me the opportunity to work with numerous successor trustee sales, so I wanted to shed some light on what they are and how I can be of assistance.
To start, I want to quickly walk you through how a successor trustee sale comes to be.
When you create a revocable living trust, you name someone as the successor trustee who will step in and handle everything when you pass on. This includes your real estate dealings, of which the terms are agreed upon as you set-up and form the trust.
When you’re considering appointing a successor trustee, there are some things to keep in mind. This can often be a very time-consuming position to put someone in, and it comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility.
So, selecting the right person who can carry out the job is paramount. I suggest working with your estate planning attorney to identify a good person for the job. But make sure to also name a back-up or two in the event that your first choice cannot carry out the duties.
In the event that your successor trustee does need to list the property for sale, there are some things to keep in mind. And this is where I can be of great assistance because I have worked through so many of these transactions.
First off, do you have the authority to list the property for sale? What is the condition of the property? Will it require any repairs or renovations? And what are you planning to list it for?
As a trusted real estate advisor with decades of experience, I have developed a system for assisting with these successor trustee sales that helps alleviate the majority of the stress for the successor trustee. This includes handling everything from inception to execution, including coordinating documents, researching title issues, looking over tax information, preparing the house for sale, and more.
Selling a home is a huge undertaking in the best of circumstances, but working as a successor trustee can make the task seem even bigger. There are just so many things to think about, like cleaning, painting, and repairs, potentially staging the home, and creating an air of curb appeal to make an excellent first impression to potential buyers.
Pricing is another area where I can be a huge asset. That’s because, as the successor trustee, you have a fiduciary responsibility to sell the home for fair market value. If you find that it is in serious disrepair and perhaps will not fetch an ideal asking price, there are likely some things that we can do together to help get it there.
Offering up a comparative market analysis is something that I do for all of my clients, but it’s extremely important in the case of a successor trustee sale to ensure that the property is sold for the proper price.
If you are in the process of creating a living trust or you have been appointed as a successor trustee, please contact me so I can assist you! More than 50% of my business is referred to me by attorneys who have families in this exact situation. I am happy to share my expertise and unload some of the stress for you.