Purchasing probate properties is a great way to get inexpensive homes that don’t need too much fixing up work. A probate sale occurs when the owner of a home dies and does not have the home in the name of a trust. It then enters the court system and investors are identified for purchase of the property. This property is usually sold at a highly reduced rate as the now-owners of the property are motivated to sell quickly.

The first step should be to compile all the homes in the area that are in probate into a list. The executors or heirs of the property must then be contacted and convinced to enter into a sale transaction. Unfortunately, the sale of probate homes must first be approved by a court, which can take a long time. When the time finally comes and the property is ready to be transferred to you, all the hard work is done! You are now the owner of the property and can do what you see fit with it. The only change from here is that the first sale out of your hands must also be approved by the court, another lengthy process. Once you have made it through, you are ready to collect your payday.

You can look for probate real estate leads:

  • Searching your local probate court
  • Networking with estate planning companies
  • Searching newspaper obituaries

Key Points:

  • 1Probate real estate is a viable strategy to make money with real estate.
  • 2Real estate probate means that when somebody dies, the property must go through a court process to change owners.
  • 3Although you can often get a good value for properties in probate, probate real estate requires lengthy and complicated steps.


To avoid probate, homeowners can put all of their assets into a revocable living trust.