Get a cash offer for a house in probate.
Mid-probate, with letters of office issued. Enter the address and see a real cash number. We work with your attorney and the court timeline.
The court process is long. The offer doesn't have to wait.
Probate in most states runs 6–12 months at minimum, sometimes longer if the will is contested or if the estate has out-of-state assets. The exact timeline depends on your state's probate code, the court's calendar, and whether the will grants independent administration. Most sellers we talk to are 2–4 months in, with letters of office (or letters testamentary) issued and a house sitting empty while the executor tries to keep the estate moving.
You can sell during probate. The executor (or administrator, if there's no will) signs the contract. Whether court approval is required depends on the will. Independent administration lets the executor sell without court sign-off on each transaction; supervised administration requires the court to approve the sale price, usually via a petition. Which version applies depends on the will and your state's probate statute.
The practical effect: your offer is real, but your close date is on the court's calendar, not yours. A good cash buyer knows that and prices accordingly.
Your stage sets your buyer pool and your offer range.
What a cash buyer actually pays here.
The base math is unchanged from any cash sale: ARV × 0.65–0.75, minus confirmed repairs, minus a margin reserve. What changes in probate is the buyer's carrying-cost exposure. If supervised administration delays closing by 60 days, the buyer pays 60 more days of insurance, taxes, and cost-of-capital. Expect 2–4 points off the standard range to cover that.
Example: $240,000 ARV in Kansas City, MO, $20,000 in confirmed repairs, supervised administration. The math lands at $240,000 × 0.69 = $165,600, minus $20,000 repairs, for a cash offer around $145,000. If the estate switches to independent administration mid-process, the offer can move up.
The executor's job is to maximize the estate. That's a fiduciary duty. A cash offer is often the right choice in probate even against a listing, because the carrying cost of an empty house for the 4–6 months a listing takes can eat the retail premium. Run the math both ways with your attorney.[1]
Cash vs. listing — here's how long each takes.
The timeline is the court's, not ours. Independent administration closes in 21–45 days. Supervised takes longer. The offer sits firm while the court moves. If the estate closes mid-process and the house is distributed to heirs, the sale can switch out of probate entirely.
With work before listing, photos, time on market, and inspection risk. On a tight timeline, a listing usually doesn't close in time — you'd want cash or a hybrid strategy.
When cash is NOT the right move during probate.
If the estate has plenty of liquidity — cash, stocks, a life-insurance payout — and the house is in good shape, listing it during probate usually nets more than cash. The extra 3–5 months a listing takes is not a problem if the estate doesn't need the liquidity.
If the will requires court-supervised administration AND the court backlog in your county is severe, the supervised-admin discount compounds. In that case, waiting to close probate first and then selling the house in clean title (as an inherited house, not a probate sale) usually nets more.
And if there's a contest over the will or a disagreement between heirs about selling, a cash buyer can't help you. Resolve the legal question first. Selling into a will contest creates worse problems than it solves.
Cash offer · List with agent · Wait out probate, then list.
The questions homeowners ask us first.
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