a homeowner called me from a yellow letter I sent out. He lives in California and the house is currently in probate. The court has ordered the house to be auctioned off at the end of this month, but he would rather sell it to me at the price we agreed upon, which by the way is an unbelievable price!!! He gave me the contact info for the attorney handling the case, but this attorney won't pick up the phone! How do I stop this auction process??? This deal is too good to lose! I need HELP

Probably, bid at the auction.  The Judge ordered the auction, why would the attorney want to circumvent that for you?

If it's going to auction the pr has limited authority. Unless he can get full authority, the sale of the property will be determined by the court.

@Richard Vandenberg

 The homeowner is the sole executor of the estate. excuse my ignorance, I am not entirely familiar with probate but what determines limited authority vs. full authority. If he has limited authority, how can he obtain full authority

Just to be clear on the facts, the probate court has ordered it to be auctioned? Or is there a loan in foreclosure that is going to trustee sale auction?

@Derek W.

 there is no mortgage, no liens, etc. It's free and clear. The homeowner approached the court to sell it because he was done with the entire process, so they ordered it to be auctioned. However, he now wants to sell it to me. 

Contact an attorney, to file an objection to the sale.  A court-ordered sale is often the result of inaction, or tardy action, by the executor/PR.  Your attorney may be able to get the court to honor the heir's request to sell it to you directly.  Absent creditor claims in excess of your offering price, you should be successful.

@Dave Metsker

 Thank you for the advice!

Nope. Something doesn't smell right. I make my living with my nose.

PM me with attorney name and also get a copy of probate Letters. I'll help you out. I do not want your deal however I'm willing to look at the facts IF you get your "seller" to get their act together and privide what's needed to complete a sale.

It might require assignment and ex-parted applicable for amended Letters plus a bond. 

My instinct says there's much more to this story, though.

@Devan Mcclish and @Rick H. .  Were you able to connect?  We're interested in hearing "the rest of the story".

@Kent R. Nope. Never heard from the guy. 

Obviously, important enough to post on BP and solicite free advice, but not Important enough to take substantive action or courtesy to follow up by posting. 

@Rick H. the attorneys I have consulted have told me to get the property under contract and go from there. So I'm in the process of getting it under contract, and my attorney will take it from there. She says there's a good chance we can push it through barring any unforseen events or circumstances that arise

Thanks for the update @Devan Mcclish .  

I have to say, I'm surprised you didn't take @Rick H. up on his offer to personally review the details of your deal... this wasn't an offer from just a random poster, but from a very seasoned investor who specializes in California probate. Good luck in seeing it through, and please let us know how it turns out for you.

@Devan Mcclish it's obvious you aren't familiar with Rick The Probate Guy. This is an individual that is frequently called by attorneys who ask Rick for advice on a case. He  charges big bucks, and offered to you for free. I dream of getting the offer to contact him for free advice... Just saying...

@Devan Mcclish - I'm with the other guy who says you should reach out to Rick.  I bet any attorney you hire will want more $$$ than Rick & has never actually had to deal w/ your situation thinking through it "as an investor".  Also SO many people have posted a "I need help" post on BP & then disappeared, Rick was just stating the fact that you went MIA (keep us posted on your deal at an "unbelievable price!!!").  My guess is the PR could not qualify for a bond so they have to get court approval to dump the property.

Good luck

Well I guess I won't have to help the original poster. 

That fine as I have two speaking engagements this week, one at the SDCIA group and also at the Foothil Bar Association, both in San Diego area.

I agree with you Dennis. Probably a bond issue. There just one company that does 97% of probate bonds (Bond Services) and the owners are friends of mine. Could get the back story but hey, who cares?

People don't value things unless they have to give something for it in exchange (the principal of value for value).

Well, not sure if I trust this new @Rick H. guy.  The other one was nice enough to talk to me on a Sunday afternoon, you know, the one with the hat.  Him I trust, this new hatless guy....I don't know....:-).