Selling a House in Probate in Miami-Dade

700+ South Florida properties bought since 2012
across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — houses, duplexes and small apartment buildings, in every condition.

Chris Johnson of Johnson Buys in his truck with his dog

Meet Chris

I'm Chris Johnson. I've been buying houses in South Florida since 2012 — more than 700 so far, in every condition.

When you reach out, you'll talk to me directly. I'll look at the property, tell you what we can take on, and give you a straightforward cash offer. No pressure, and no obligation.

Get My Cash Offer

Your house probably isn't as complicated as you think

Some houses need more than fresh paint. Yours might have unresolved probate, non-paying tenants, open permits, an unsafe-structure violation, back taxes, major structural damage or a demolition order. We have bought all of those.

You do not need to solve any of it before calling us. We will look at the property, tell you what we can take on, and give you a straightforward cash offer.

What are you dealing with?

Probate Inherited house Foreclosure Problem tenants Eviction Liens & code violations Back taxes Major repairs Divorce

"Do I have to wait for probate to close before I can sell?"

If your plan is to call somebody once probate is done, in Miami-Dade that can mean waiting a year to start a conversation you could have started on day one.

In practice we buy at whatever stage the estate is in. Sometimes the personal representative already has letters of administration in hand and can sign the day we agree on a number. Sometimes the petition hasn't even been filed yet and we go under contract while the attorney gets it moving. We just look at where the estate is in the process and work from there. What changes is the closing date, not whether there's a deal.

"Where is my estate in the process, and when can I sign?"

Simplified, and your attorney will tell you exactly where your estate sits:

Before anything is filed. Someone has died, the house is sitting there, and the family hasn't started. Taxes and insurance are still running. We can agree on terms now; nothing can be signed on the estate's behalf yet.
Petition filed, waiting on the court. The attorney has filed to open the estate and asked the court to appoint a personal representative. This is where most of the waiting happens.
Letters of administration issued. The personal representative now has authority to sign. If the will grants power to sell, this is often the point where a closing can be scheduled.
Court approval of the sale, when it's needed. Depending on the will and the estate, the sale may need to be authorized. Your attorney will know which applies.

Nothing above is legal advice, and it is not a substitute for your own probate attorney. It's just the shape of the thing so you know what people are talking about.

"Why is my probate taking so long?"

It's almost never the house. It's the people and the paperwork.

We bought a house in Buena Vista where the estate had six heirs. Getting six people to agree, sign, and return documents took eight months on its own. Then, part way through, one of the heirs died. That triggered a second probate — his share now had to pass to his own children, who lived in Alabama, before anyone could close on the house in Miami.

That estate could easily have collapsed. Meanwhile the property taxes were going unpaid and the family was at real risk of losing the house entirely over an amount that was small compared to what the house was worth. Our attorney ran the whole probate. We sent notaries out to the heirs to get documents signed where they lived. And we advanced the attorney's fees and the back taxes ourselves so the clock stopped running against the family while the second probate went through.

That is the difference between a buyer who "waits for probate" and one who has been through it. The delay wasn't a reason to walk. It was the work.

"The estate has no money to even open probate"

The thing that stops a lot of estates before they begin is money. Opening a probate costs something up front, at a point when the estate has no cash, the house cannot be sold, and the people who would eventually inherit are often not in a position to write a cheque between them.

So we front it. We cover the probate attorney's fees to get the case opened and moving, and we are repaid out of the proceeds at closing — it is money advanced, not a gift, and we would rather say so plainly than have anybody surprised on the day. Where unpaid property taxes are threatening the house in the meantime, we have paid those too, for the same reason: the clock should not be running against a family while the paperwork catches up.

This is not unusual for us and it is not a favour we did once. We have several estates open on that basis at any given time, including one where we are funding three separate probates so that a single sale can happen.

"How long is this actually going to take?"

Our probate closings have ranged from about 20 days to 18 months. The short ones are estates where the personal representative already has authority and the heirs agree. The long ones are the six-heir, two-probate, out-of-state situations above.

What we can tell you honestly is that the timeline is set by the court and the family, not by us. We don't need inspections cleared, we're not waiting on a lender's appraisal, and we're not going to renegotiate at the end because a roof turned out to be old. When the estate is ready, we close.

"What do I have to do, and what do you handle?"

We buy as-is. Nobody cleans the house out, repairs anything, or hauls anything away before closing.
We can front the estate's costs. Attorney's fees and delinquent property taxes, where advancing them is what keeps the house from being lost.
We come to the heirs. Out-of-state and overseas heirs are normal in Miami-Dade. Signing has never been the reason a deal of ours didn't close.
You keep your own attorney. If you don't have one, that's the first call to make — before you talk to any buyer, including us.

Common questions

Can I sell a house before probate is finished in Florida?

In many cases yes. Once the court has appointed a personal representative and issued letters of administration, the personal representative can generally sign to sell, and some estates require the court to authorize the sale as well. We also go under contract earlier than that, before letters are issued, and close once the estate has authority. Your probate attorney will confirm what your specific estate needs.

How long does it take to sell a house in probate in Miami-Dade?

Our probate purchases have closed anywhere from about 20 days to 18 months. The short ones are estates where the personal representative already has authority and the heirs agree. The long ones involve many heirs, out-of-state signers, or a second probate when an heir dies during the process.

What if the heirs live out of state or overseas?

That's common here. We've closed estates with heirs in Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Italy. We send notaries to the heirs where they live to get documents signed, so nobody has to fly to Miami to close.

Do I have to clean out or repair the house first?

No. We buy inherited and probate houses exactly as they are, including everything left inside. Cleaning out an estate house before selling it almost never earns back what it costs.

Who pays the probate attorney if the estate has no money?

We do. We cover the probate attorney's fees to get the case opened and moving, and are repaid out of the proceeds at closing. The cost of opening a probate is what stops many estates before they start, at exactly the point when the house cannot be sold and the heirs have no cash between them.

What if there are back taxes owed on the property?

Delinquent taxes get settled at closing out of the proceeds. In estates where unpaid taxes threatened the house before we could close, we have advanced them ourselves to stop the clock.

Get My Cash Offer