Estate sales - how do you even hear about these?

Question

I've searched through the forum and the internet, but it's tough to find answers about this because "estate sale" is so close to "Real estate sale" that it all gets jumbled..lol.

Check out these two recent sales in Brooklyn:

http://streeteasy.com/closing/10268126 - sold for $300K, zillow thinks it's worth $1.8MM, probably worth at least $1MM unless it's just in horrible condition.
http://streeteasy.com/closing/10269169 - sold for $950K, zillow thinks it's worth $1.475MM (and other online valuations put it at over $1.8MM), it looks to be in great condition.

What's the common denominator? Both sold by estates without ever seeing the market for what appears to be great deals for the buyers.

My question is how does one even find out about these things? I don't even know what the first step would be. Anyone with any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

David Krulac · Answer

Many are listed in the MLS.

Probated wills are advertised in the newspaper for creditors.

Wills office at the courthouse, some are online.

Driving for dollars, abandoned, vacant houses, unmowed lawns. talk to neighbors.

Advertise that you buy estate properties, craigslist, bandit signs, billboards.

Contact attorneys who handle estates.

David Krulac · Answer

@Adam K.

Here's the skinny.

1.  Many people who pass away don't own any real estate.  Especially the elderly, who have been in a nursing home, assisted living or some institution.  They have often sold their home to pay for their nursing care.  Those who have not sold their home, often times have nursing home liens or medicare liens on their home which exceed their equity.

2.  In the cases of married couples the death of the first spouse doesn't always trigger a real estate sale.  One dies and the surviving spouse continues to live in the home.  People don't like to leave their homes that they have lived in for many years.  Often times they stay until they can no longer stay then go to a home, like #1 above.

3.  I used to work at a real estate office that did a lot of estate sales.  They had a pipeline to several attorneys, who handled estates.  When the attorneys got an estate that had real estate for sale, they told the heirs, "I know a real estate office that does a good job and can handle the home sale for you."  With that recommendation, most of the heirs listed their property with that real estate office.  The quid pro quo was that the broker would recommend these attorneys to people who asked him about getting an attorney.  So by the time the estate hits the newspaper, the attorney has already locked up the sale with a friendly real estate broker.

David Krulac · Answer

@Adam K.

4.  Another way that estate property is disposed is by a public sale, an auction, whereby they not only auction off the house but often times auction off the contents of the house, the furniture, the car, the clothes, everything in the house that's not nailed down.  Often times these are funneled to the auctioneers by the estate attorneys also.

I bought many farms at these type of sales that I have developed into smaller lots for resale.

Adam K. · Answer

@David Krulac Really appreciate the time you took to lay that all out and educate me and anyone else looking for this information. You confirmed a lot of my initial thoughts that there's a lot of quid pro quo in these transactions. This type of response is exactly why I signed up for BP.

Rick H. Also appreciate your time and response - but I assure you I'm not easily discouraged or unwilling to put in the time. I've put in a lot of work and have been successful thus far with the two properties I've acquired in NYC (though it's early) so actually, I do think real estate investing has been working for me thus far. I'm still in the learning phase and became curious about estate sales and merely wanted to reach out and tap the massive knowledge base here at BP before wasting my time using lesser resources.  I consider reaching out to folks like you and David to be a form of "taking action" and I'd say you're reading an awful lot about me from a couple of posts on an internet forum. You sound like an experienced and successful investor and someone with a great deal of expertise in this arena. I'd love the opportunity to pick your brain as I move forward in this world.

Rick H. · Answer

@Adam K. I started following foreclosures in 1978 and investing in probate and trust deals around 25 years ago.

You are right that doing online searches using keywords 'estate sale' may get you real estate sales. However, if you're stymied by reluctance to do further online research, estate sales and real estate investing in general is probably not for you.

What I've read in your posts is that you are easily discouraged. I hope I'm wrong. However, finding super-bargains typically involves substantial research, like finding needles in haystacks (on a serial basis).

It's very easy to find reasons NOT to do things, like talking to family members or the people in charge of estate sales (liquidation of personal property). I built an entire marketing program, Estate Treasure Hunter, built on this strategy to find collectibles and hone buying and trading skills while learning how to birddog real estate deals.

As for walking for dollars? Maybe. I've never lived in a high density community where this would be efficient. However, I have walked and driven countless neighborhoods and identified many targets as an experienced opportunity detective.

I can assure you that you'll always remain a pedestrian unless you take action.

Tom DeSantis · Answer

There are a few ways that you can learn more about what kind of estate sales are going on in your area.

There are national websites like www.estatesales.net that you can use to browse in your area.

There are also many smaller, regional brands like http://www.certifiedestatesales.com/ in Atlanta and many others by region.

Try searching something like, "Estate Sales this week in _________"

Hope this helps!!

Carrie Bell · Answer

If you are searching on google you can try the location + "estate sale" -real and that at least excludes real estate from the search.  You can also use sites that are set up to help you find estate sales like MegaEstateSales.com.

It might be easier to create relationships with the estate liquidators - the estate sale listing sites usually have a way to contact them through the site and they might be able to give you a heads up on property steals.

Adam K. · Answer

Carolina NA A great list of suggestions, and maybe I can do some "walking for dollars" as I live in Brooklyn and don't have a car. Thanks for the input.

I'm just surprised that with all the online resources on foreclosures and REOs that estate sales don't seem to have much presence.

David Krulac · Answer

@Adam K.

Take a listen to my Bigger Pockets Podcast #82, where I talk about how I started with nothing.

Michael Hicks · Answer

Estate sales are usually listed on Craigslist or in the newspaper.  I love deals of all kinds and one of my hobbies is yard selling/ estate sales.  Not only does it get me driving through areas I probably wouldn't have otherwise driven in (seeing properties I probably wouldn't have seen) but a lot of the estate sale locations will be for sale.

@Carolina E, how do I add a quote at the bottom of my posts?

Estate sales - how do you even hear about these?

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