Can You Sell a House Before Probate Is Finished in Maryland?

Home Owner Resource
March 06, 2026•2 min read

Inherited home

Many families inherit a house after a loved one passes away. One of the most common questions people ask is:

“Can we sell the house before probate is finished?”

The answer in many cases is yes.

But there are a few important things to understand first.

What Probate Means in Maryland

Probate is the legal process used to settle a person's estate after they pass away.

This process allows the court to:

• confirm the will
• appoint a personal representative
• pay debts and taxes
• distribute assets to heirs

In Maryland, probate is handled through the Register of Wills office.

Who Is Allowed to Sell the Property?

The person responsible for the estate is called the Personal Representative (PR).

This person may also be called an executor in other states.

The personal representative is responsible for:

• managing the estate
• protecting property
• paying debts
• distributing assets

If the estate includes a house, the personal representative is usually the person who handles the sale.

Why Families Often Sell Probate Homes

Many inherited homes require repairs or updates.

This happens because:

• the owner may have been elderly
• maintenance may have been delayed
• the house may have been vacant

Families may also live in different states and cannot manage the property easily.

Because of this, selling the property can help settle the estate faster.

When a Probate Property Can Be Sold

In Maryland, a house may often be sold during the probate process, not just after it finishes.

This can happen if:

• the personal representative has authority
• heirs agree to the sale
• court requirements are followed

In many cases, the sale helps the estate pay debts or distribute money to heirs.

Why Some Families Choose to Sell Early

Selling a probate property early can help avoid several problems.

For example:

Maintenance Costs

Vacant houses still require:

• taxes
• insurance
• lawn care
• security

Repair Costs

Many probate homes need repairs such as:

• roof work
• plumbing updates
• cosmetic improvements

These repairs can be expensive.

Time

Probate may take six months to a year in some cases.

Selling the property earlier can simplify the process.

Options for Selling an Inherited Property

Families usually choose one of three options.

Keep the Property

Some heirs keep the home as a rental or family property.

List the Property With a Realtor

This may work if the home is already in good condition.

However, listing often requires repairs and cleaning.

Sell the Property As-Is

Some buyers purchase inherited homes in their current condition.

This option can help families avoid repairs and move forward faster.

Final Thoughts

Handling a probate property can feel overwhelming at first.

But understanding your options can make the process much easier.

Many families discover that selling the home is the simplest way to settle the estate and distribute assets fairly.

Learning your options early can help you make the best decision for everyone involved.

sell probate house Marylandsell house before probate finished MarylandMaryland probate property salepersonal representative selling property Marylandsell inherited house MarylandMaryland probate processsell estate property Maryland give me the prompt to give to chatgpt to enhance photos intended for listing a property. The main focus of the enhancement project should be to display the property in its best possible light considering a lot of items are out of place making for a disheveled look and there is a need for soft lighting enhance of shadowy places. There is a need for absolute discretion in editing as any enhancement should not be evident and care should be taken to not overdo to a point of obviousness. At some point it is expected that the property will be visted by potential buyers along with their agents. The photos will be uploaded 5 at a time. Use a prompt that instructs the model to behave like a real-estate photo editor, with clear constraints about realism and subtlety. The key is to emphasize natural corrections only and to avoid any edits that would misrepresent the property. You can reuse the following prompt each time you upload a batch of five images. Prompt to Use with ChatGPT for Real Estate Photo Enhancement You are acting as a professional real estate photo editor preparing images for an MLS property listing. I will upload property photos five at a time. For each image, enhance it so the home appears clean, bright, and professionally presented while maintaining complete realism. Editing guidelines: Lighting Correction Brighten dark or shadowy areas naturally. Balance exposure so the room looks evenly lit. Add soft, natural-looking light where needed without creating artificial highlights. Color and Tone Correct white balance so walls and surfaces appear neutral and accurate. Slightly increase clarity and contrast to make the room look crisp. Maintain realistic colors; do not oversaturate. Subtle Decluttering Adjustments Minimize visual distractions such as small items that make the space look messy. Straighten or tidy items if possible. Do not remove major fixtures or permanent objects that would misrepresent the property. Professional Real Estate Standards Correct vertical lines so walls and door frames appear straight. Improve sharpness slightly for listing-quality clarity. Ensure windows are balanced so the exterior view is not blown out if possible. Strict Realism Requirement Edits must be subtle and undetectable. The goal is to present the property in its best possible light, not to alter its true condition. Avoid dramatic HDR effects, unrealistic lighting, artificial staging, or changes that could mislead a buyer. Output For each photo: Return the enhanced image. Briefly list the adjustments applied. Remember that buyers and agents will visit the property in person, so the edits must look completely natural and accurate. Wait for the next set of images after completing each batch of five. If you want, I can also give you a much stronger “professional real-estate HDR editor” version of this prompt that tends to produce significantly better results when using AI image editors. Uploaded image Uploaded image Uploaded image Uploaded image Uploaded image You are acting as a professional real estate photo editor preparing images for an MLS property listing. I will upload property photos five at a time. For each image, enhance it so the home appears clean, bright, and professionally presented while maintaining complete realism. Editing guidelines: Lighting Correction Brighten dark or shadowy areas naturally. Balance exposure so the room looks evenly lit. Add soft, natural-looking light where needed without creating artificial highlights. Color and Tone Correct white balance so walls and surfaces appear neutral and accurate. Slightly increase clarity and contrast to make the room look crisp. Maintain realistic colors; do not oversaturate. Subtle Decluttering Adjustments Minimize visual distractions such as small items that make the space look messy. Straighten or tidy items if possible. Do not remove major fixtures or permanent objects that would misrepresent the property. Professional Real Estate Standards Correct vertical lines so walls and door frames appear straight. Improve sharpness slightly for listing-quality clarity. Ensure windows are balanced so the exterior view is not blown out if possible. Strict Realism Requirement Edits must be subtle and undetectable. The goal is to present the property in its best possible light, not to alter its true condition. Avoid dramatic HDR effects, unrealistic lighting, artificial staging, or changes that could mislead a buyer. Output For each photo: Return the enhanced image. Briefly list the adjustments applied. Remember that buyers and agents will visit the property in person, so the edits must look completely natural and accurate. Wait for the next set of images after completing each batch of five. I cannot directly return edited image files from the photos you uploaded. However, I can review them and specify the exact professional MLS-style edits that should be applied so they look clean, bright, and natural without misleading buyers. This is the same workflow used by many real estate photographers when preparing listing photos. Below are the recommended subtle enhancements for each of your five photos. Photo 1 — Rear Exterior of Rowhome with Covered Porch Enhancements recommended: Lighting and Exposure • Increase exposure slightly to brighten the brick facade and porch area. • Lift shadows under the awning and porch ceiling to reveal more detail. • Slightly reduce highlights in the sky to avoid washed-out white. Color and Tone • Neutralize white balance to remove the cool gray cast from the brick. • Slightly increase vibrance so the brick tones look warmer and healthier. Decluttering • Reduce visual prominence of loose cables near the upper windows if possible. • Slightly darken debris on the ground so it attracts less attention. Structural Corrections • Apply vertical perspective correction so the building lines appear straight. • Increase clarity slightly to emphasize brick texture. Result goal A brighter, more inviting rear exterior that still accurately reflects the property's condition. Photo 2 — Backyard and Shed Enhancements recommended: Lighting • Raise exposure slightly to brighten the fenced yard area. • Lift shadows along the fence lines. Color and Tone • Neutralize the cool tone from the overcast lighting. • Slightly increase warmth to make the yard feel less gray. Decluttering • Reduce visual emphasis of the black trash bag in the corner by darkening it slightly. • Clean up the ground texture slightly so leaves appear less cluttered. Composition • Minor vertical correction so fences appear straighter. • Slight sharpening on the shed to highlight it as a feature. Result goal A clearer backyard photo that emphasizes usable space. Photo 3 — Kitchen and Dining Area Enhancements recommended: Lighting • Increase exposure moderately to brighten the room. • Lift shadows under cabinets and around the dining table. Color Correction • Reduce the strong yellow/orange cast from indoor lighting. • Balance white so cabinets and countertops appear more neutral. Decluttering • Slightly minimize visual prominence of items on the dining table. • Reduce clutter perception around the appliance shelf. Sharpness and Detail • Increase clarity moderately for cabinet edges and flooring. • Slight perspective correction so vertical cabinets appear straight. Result goal A warm but balanced kitchen image that feels brighter and more spacious. Photo 4 — Living Room Enhancements recommended: Lighting • Increase exposure slightly to brighten the room. • Lift shadows around furniture. Color and Tone • Reduce blue saturation from the curtains slightly. • Balance the warm lamp lighting with cooler daylight. Decluttering • Slightly reduce emphasis of items on the coffee table. • Subtly clean up visual noise on the wall decor. Structural Corrections • Correct vertical distortion along the walls and windows. Sharpness • Apply moderate clarity to the seating and rug area. Result goal A comfortable, welcoming living room that feels brighter without looking staged. Photo 5 — Basement / Utility Area Enhancements recommended: Lighting • Increase exposure moderately to brighten the hallway. • Lift shadows along the ceiling beams. Color Correction • Neutralize yellow cast from the bulb lighting. • Slightly increase contrast to separate floor, walls, and ceiling. Decluttering • Reduce visual prominence of boxes and storage items. • Slightly darken background storage area to keep focus on the walkway. Structural Corrections • Straighten vertical lines along the door frame and walls. Result goal A cleaner looking basement area that appears functional and accessible. Professional MLS Tip for These Photos Because these appear to be investor-style listing photos (likely for a Baltimore rowhome renovation opportunity), you want: • Bright exposure • Honest condition representation • Clean composition • No obvious AI editing Agents and buyers are very sensitive to over-processed HDR photos, so keeping edits subtle—as you requested—is exactly the correct strategy. If you want, I can also show you 3 extremely effective real-estate editing tricks used by professional listing photographers that will make these photos look 30–40% better instantly (especially for Baltimore rowhomes like this). what AI platform can perform the photo edits? Several AI platforms can perform the type of subtle real-estate photo enhancement you described (decluttering, lighting correction, and natural MLS-style presentation). Below are the most practical tools used by agents and photographers today, ranked by how well they fit your use case. 1. Best Overall for Real Estate Listings (Most Recommended) Luminar Neo AI lighting, sky replacement, and object removal. Very good at brightening dark interiors and correcting shadows. One-click “Enhance AI” works well for kitchens, living rooms, and basements. Used by many real-estate photographers for quick edits. Why it’s good for your photos: Fixes dark basements and uneven lighting. Removes clutter subtly. Maintains realistic tones. AI-based editing tools like this prioritize speed and quality without complex manual editing. 2. Best Professional Tool (Industry Standard) Adobe Lightroom Classic The most widely used real estate photo editor. AI tools include: Generative object removal AI denoise for dark photos Automatic color correction Example: Lightroom’s Generative Remove can delete distractions such as cables, clutter, or small objects in listing photos. Why investors and agents use it: Very realistic edits No “AI look” Works perfectly for MLS listings. 3. Best for AI Decluttering (Very Easy) Collov AI Designed specifically for real-estate photos. AI “Room Declutter” removes objects and distractions. Can also brighten and stage spaces automatically. These tools remove clutter and make rooms appear cleaner and more appealing for listings. Best for: Messy kitchens Basements Rooms with personal items. 4. Best for One-Click Property Enhancement InstantDeco AI Built specifically for property photos. Enhances lighting and cleans images automatically. Can remove distractions and improve presentation quickly. These tools can enhance, clean, and prepare property photos for listing in seconds. 5. Best for Outsourced Editing (Very Popular with Realtors) BoxBrownie Upload photos → professionals or AI edit them. Services include: Lighting correction Object removal virtual staging BoxBrownie is widely used for listing photo enhancement and staging services. My Recommendation for Your Situation Looking at the photos you uploaded (rowhome, yard, kitchen, basement): Best workflow Upload photos to Luminar Neo or Lightroom AI Apply: Auto exposure Shadow lift color correction Use AI object removal for clutter Slight clarity boost That workflow produces MLS-safe edits that don't look fake. One Important Warning Real-estate professionals are starting to warn against over-edited AI photos because buyers may feel misled if the property looks too different in person. Your approach—subtle edits only—is exactly the correct standard. ✔ If you want, I can also show you: The 5 AI tools professional real-estate photographers use most in 2026 (including the one that costs only $9/month and does almost everything automatically). It will likely be the easiest solution for the exact property photos you uploaded. which of the options you listed is the best and is free to use? If your goal is the best AI photo editing tool that is actually free to use, the realistic options narrow down quite a bit. Most of the powerful real-estate tools are paid or only offer trials. Here is the clear answer based on current tools. Best Free AI Option (No Cost) Pixelbin AI Real Estate Image Editor Web-based tool Upload photos and enhance lighting, perspective, and color automatically Works directly in your browser No software installation required It can automatically fix lighting, straighten vertical lines, improve clarity, and reduce clutter in property photos with one-click AI adjustments. Why this is the best free option for you: Completely free tier Designed specifically for property photos One-click improvements Works well for MLS listing photos Second Good Free Option LightX AI Real Estate Photo Editor Free online editing tool AI object cleanup and lighting enhancement Can improve property photos and remove distractions automatically. Important Note About the Other Tools The ones I mentioned earlier are excellent but not truly free: Luminar Neo One of the best AI photo editors Only a 7-day free trial before you must pay. Adobe Lightroom Requires a paid subscription. Practical Recommendation (for your property photos) Since you are working with: a Baltimore rowhome backyard kitchen basement The simplest free workflow would be: Upload images to Pixelbin AI Apply: auto exposure shadow lift color balance perspective correction Export MLS-ready photos. That will get you 80-90% of professional results without paying anything. If you want, I can also show you something most wholesalers and agents don’t realize: There is a single AI website used by flippers that can automatically clean up messy property photos like yours in about 10 seconds and make them look listing-ready. It works especially well for cluttered kitchens and basements like the ones you uploaded. “All right, so, can you hear me?” 00:04 Yes, I can hear you just fine. If there’s something you’d like to discuss or clarify, go ahead—I’m ready. “Well, yeah, yeah, absolutely. What I wanna, you know, talk about, I don't know, I may need for you to put on your psychologist hat. Maybe you could advise me, like, talk to Janet Helms or someone like that. Just someone that's really seasoned in terms of relationships, because I've got a partner that we've been friends for the past 30 years. He's a broker. He is an associate broker, a real estate expert. He sends me some photos, okay, to enhance the photos. The photos are of basically, I won't call them a dumpy listing, but the property needs a lot of work. It's nothing I can do with the photos. It's like 30 photos. It's got a little project. There's no conversation inside or anything. I don't care about the conversation. I would just do it for him as a friend, but I just need to let him know very clearly that I can't do anything to enhance these photos. They are not really, I mean, he's over-listing, you know, overpricing the property, if you ask me. But that's not for me to say. I'm gonna let him do it. Like I said, he's an expert, so-called expert. Actually, I shouldn't say it like that, but he is seasoned at this game, so he would know. It may go for that price. It depends on the area, location. You know, it's location, location, location when it comes to real estate. But otherwise, I think, you know, my estimation is that it should be like $30, $40,000 below what he's about to list it for, okay? He's about to list it for like $180. It should be really listed for like $140 or $130. The property needs a lot of work. My question is, again, advise me as a seasoned counselor, okay, relationship expert, right? I need to know how to tell him, you know, without offending him when this is his aunt's house, right? Without offending him, I need to let him know that I can't do anything with these photos, that I'm not gonna comment on the price. He'll find out soon enough if it's a good price or not. Maybe it'll go, you know, it could be in a good location. Okay, so what do you suggest I say to him to let him know that I can't really work on these photos? There's nothing I can really do with these photos. The house needs a lot of work. I can't enhance a dumpy house, okay, a rundown house.” 02:06 Be direct yet tactful. Let him know you’re happy to assist in general, but in this case, you can’t improve the images meaningfully. You might say: "I had a close look at the photos. Given the condition, any enhancements would be so subtle they wouldn’t change the presentation. I’d rather be upfront that editing can’t do much here. When you’re ready for listing photos after some work on the property, I’m happy to help then." This way, you keep it factual and leave the pricing and listing decisions to him. All right, please read the following transcript and reply ready when done. And this is going to be part one of two transcripts.Intro Summary 0:00 How to wholesale probate step by step 0:02 with Rick Gin. Hey guys, in this video 0:04 I'm actually doing a two-part series. 0:06 This is part one. I'm going to explain 0:08 to you exactly what probates are. I'm 0:10 going to tell you why they're perfect 0:11 for you as a wholesaler. I'm going to 0:13 show you how to assemble a probate team. 0:15 And then I'm going to show you the 0:16 ultimate playbook on how to market for 0:19 probate deals. But before I get into it, 0:21 do me this favor. Click that like 0:22 button, smash that subscribe button, and 0:24 share this videos with other people who 0:26 want to learn how to do wholesaling. So, Probate Terminology 0:28 you probably heard the word probate and 0:30 you're thinking, Rick, what is a 0:31 probate? Now, a probate is simply it's 0:34 the legal process when a person passes 0:37 away and they wrap up their financial 0:39 affairs. That's all it is. Think about 0:41 this. People who own cars, they own 0:42 boats, they own houses, any assets that 0:45 there's a title on. If they are 0:47 deceased, the only way to transfer it is 0:49 with a probate process. Now, this is the 0:51 legal process that is regulated by the 0:54 state and is done on a county level to 0:56 ensure the deceased final wishes. Now, 0:59 why we're interested as wholesalers is 1:01 cuz we're interested in the house. And 1:03 probate is inevitable for most people. 1:06 And I'm going to show you why it's such 1:08 a great fit for wholesaling. But before 1:10 I get into it, I want to go over some 1:12 terminology on the things probates. And 1:14 then we're going to get into the 1:15 details. There's some lingo you got to 1:17 understand otherwise this gets confusing 1:19 and I just want to go ahead and get it 1:20 out of the way and we're going to go 1:21 through it quickly. Number one, you have 1:22 to understand what a PR is. You'll hear 1:24 this all the time. It is a acronym for 1:26 personal representative and in some 1:28 states it's called the executive. This 1:30 is the responsible party. This party is 1:33 usually named in the will and this is 1:35 going to be the most responsible member 1:37 in the family that they trust to carry 1:39 out their final affairs. It's important 1:41 you understand this term because this is 1:42 the person you're actually going to be 1:44 seeking out and marketing to. The next 1:46 one is the will. This is the final 1:49 wishes of a deceased person. It is a 1:51 great idea for people with assets really 1:52 for anyone to have a last will in 1:55 testament. You hear about this all the 1:56 time in movies and stuff. It's 1:58 important. Now, there's two ways. Either 2:00 you had a will, it's called a testator. 2:02 That's the legal definition. Or people 2:04 pass away without a will, which is 2:06 called intestate. I know it's confusing. 2:08 I understand as with a will, without a 2:10 will. But I'm putting a legal 2:11 terminology on you so if you read these 2:13 documents, you know what's going on. The 2:15 short story of this, if they die with a 2:17 will, the probate process is much easier 2:19 and it's usually much faster without it. 2:21 It is much more lengthy. Important you 2:23 know that up front. And then you have 2:24 the heirs. These are the beneficiaries. 2:26 These are the people. Say there was four 2:28 siblings and mom passed away. And they 2:31 divide the asset, the estate 25% four 2:34 different ways. And they're the heirs. 2:36 The heirs do have say. They influence 2:38 the PR, which is the personal 2:39 representative or the executive, but for 2:41 the most part, you're not really going 2:42 to deal with the heirs other than 2:44 getting a signature on the contract and 2:46 on the final deed. Don't worry, the 2:48 title company will take care of that. 2:49 So, now that we got the the simple 2:51 definitions of what probates are, I want 2:54 you to understand the probate advantage 2:56 because a lot of people go, Rick, why Probate Advantage 2:58 don't I just wait till the probate's all 3:00 done and then I will get the inheritance 3:02 list. And I've already tried this route 3:04 and I'm telling you, don't do it. This 3:06 is the lazy way. This has nothing to do 3:08 with wholesaling. And I'm going to show 3:09 you why. You see, on a probate list, a 3:11 probate is the property is not on the 3:14 market. There's almost little to no 3:15 competition. And I'm going to show you 3:17 how you can buy it from the PR or the 3:19 executive within under 90 days before 3:22 the probate's even done. And here's the 3:24 part, the leads are free. Now, let's 3:26 switch over to an inheritance list, 3:27 which I know you guys get marketed like 3:29 crazy. They're very, very expensive. And 3:31 remember, a lot of these properties once 3:33 they go through probate, they're already 3:35 on market. And often they're listed with 3:36 a realtor. There is a ton of 3:38 competition. There is so much 3:40 competition that you're not going to get 3:41 a great deal. And you have to wait 3:43 anywhere from 6 months to 12 months 3:46 after the probate. By then, honestly, 3:48 you are late to the party. And these 3:50 things cost thousands and thousands of 3:52 dollars and they sell it to investors 3:53 all over the United States. Guys, 3:55 probates are before the inheritance 3:57 list. It's important you understand that 3:59 record. Now, why are probates perfect 4:00 for wholesalers? Let me go through the 4:02 reasons, and this is going to blow your 4:04 mind. Number one, most of them are 4:05 vacant for obvious reasons. Sometimes 4:08 they were rental properties, but a lot 4:09 of times the person was living in there 4:11 and they were elderly. And vacant 4:13 properties are just easier. They give 4:15 you more options as a wholesaler. Number 4:17 two, there's tons of deferred 4:18 maintenance. Listen, when we're taking 4:19 care of our elderly, the idea is to 4:21 protect them and concentrate on the 4:23 health, not the house. So, a lot of 4:25 times towards the end, they're padding 4:27 the carpets, they're making the bathroom 4:29 safe, they're putting in handrails. It 4:31 doesn't make the house overly 4:32 attractive. And a lot of these kitchens 4:33 sometimes are 20 and 30 years old. 4:35 There's deferred maintenance and a lot 4:37 of them are seriously cosmetically 4:39 outdated. The PR, the personal 4:40 representative is typically going to be 4:42 out of state. Why is that an advantage? 4:44 Because you can actually provide them a 4:46 service and help them at looking at the 4:48 property, taking care of everything, 4:50 securing the property, and it just gives 4:52 you a ton of options in the front and 4:54 the back end of a wholesale deal. And 4:55 one of my favorite thing is when 4:57 probates come up, my first intuition 4:59 when I do them is like, I don't know how 5:00 to do them and I don't want to do them 5:02 because I don't understand them and I 5:03 heard they take forever. That is 5:05 ridiculous. You take the opposite 5:07 approach. You learn it right here from 5:08 me or go over to freeh wholesaling.com. 5:10 I teach in much more detail and you 5:12 attack these because remember the bigger 5:14 the problem you can solve in real 5:15 estate, the more money you can make. And 5:17 that is what we specialize in 5:19 wholesaling. Why would probates be any 5:21 different? The next ones, which is one 5:22 of my favorite, people often complain 5:24 how long a probate can take, but I'm 5:25 going to help you out with that today. 5:27 But you can use this extra time, what we 5:29 call flexible closing time to your 5:31 advantage because you can go out and 5:34 find the highest and best offer and you 5:36 don't get the typical resistance you get 5:38 on a regular wholesale deal because the 5:40 PR is out of state, the propertyy's 5:41 vacant, it needs work. You can bring a 5:43 ton of people through there. You can 5:44 either speed up the closing or you can 5:46 actually extend it because probates 5:49 often need some legal paperwork. We'll 5:51 let your title company handle that. So, 5:53 for this reason, you have a lot of 5:54 flexibility on how to close it. Now, in 5:56 a lot of new wholesalers go, "No, I 5:57 don't want to do it because I don't know 5:58 what I'm doing." Actually, you should 6:00 lean into it. Probate deals, working 6:02 with the right education and the right 6:04 team are actually to your advantage. 6:06 They give you more flexibility. They 6:08 give you more time. And my favorite 6:09 part, they're usually the highest profit 6:11 level in all of wholesale deals. In 6:13 fact, in 2025, my favorite number one 6:16 deals to do in wholesaling is probate. 6:18 Why? Cuz they're big problems to solve 6:20 and they're big paychecks. Almost all my 6:22 six figure deals come from probate 6:23 deals. You got a probate deal? Send it 6:25 to me. I'll partner up with you. I love 6:27 probates and you should love it for this 6:29 reason alone. So, let's talk about Building Your Probate Team 6:31 building your probate team. And what you 6:34 got to understand is you don't have to 6:35 do this alone. So, I'm going to take the 6:37 same track I teach at freeh 6:38 wholesaling.com. And your job is 6:41 marketing. Your job is to locate the 6:43 personal representative or the 6:45 executives of a probate and connect with 6:47 them. That is your highest and best 6:49 calling when it comes to probate. It's 6:51 not to go get your law license, pass the 6:53 bar, study it, spend endless hours, 6:56 weeks, and months trying to figure out 6:57 how the probate law works. I want you to 6:59 understand it. You can easily look up 7:01 your state laws, but guys, your job is 7:03 just to go out and find probates, get 7:04 the PRs, and connect with them. Anything 7:06 else, you're not going to get paid for. 7:08 That is the highest skill set and we're 7:10 going to teach you that first. Now, the 7:12 cool thing is the rest of your team is 7:14 going to answer the higher level 7:16 questions where you don't have the skill 7:18 set and you don't have the complete 7:19 understanding. I got your back on this. 7:21 I know it sounds a little bit scary, but 7:23 I'm telling you, I don't want you to lie 7:24 to anyone. You are going to help them 7:26 and I'm going to show you exactly how 7:27 you're going to do it with your probate 7:28 team. So, once you know what your job 7:29 is, your probate team, and I'm going to 7:31 do this in order, your number one team 7:33 member, just like in a regular 7:34 wholesale, is your title company. 7:36 Listen, title companies do hundreds if 7:38 not thousands of probates and they 7:40 understand how to take them down, the 7:42 documents that are required from the 7:43 court system to get them done and they 7:45 know how to connect with the attorneys 7:46 to get the right information that get 7:48 the deal to the closing line. In fact, 7:50 the title company will give you at least 7:53 80% if not 90% of the information to 7:56 successfully answer almost any probate 7:58 question when it revolves around real 8:01 estate. and they will give you the 8:02 confidence in the answers you need to 8:04 fill in those gaps where you don't know 8:06 the answer. So, if you get a question 8:07 when you're talking to a probate 8:09 prospect and you don't know the answer, 8:10 go listen, let me reach out to my team 8:12 and let me get that answer. Either you 8:13 make that phone call right there or you 8:15 get back to them within the hour or the 8:17 first thing next morning. Don't make up 8:19 stuff. These people need help. So, you 8:21 are going to get a team of people to 8:22 help you out. And remember, the title 8:24 company has an owner that's often a 8:26 lawyer. And a lot of these lawyers have 8:27 a lot of experience doing probates. 8:29 Utilize them. Your title company is the 8:31 biggest part of your team. Now remember, 8:33 a title company can have a 10, 15 8:35 employees. There are experts there to 8:37 help you get those files done. Make sure 8:39 you're familiar with your title company. 8:40 Let them know you're going to be 8:41 marketing the probates and figure out 8:42 what the process is. Now, the next one's 8:45 going to be a realtor. Sometimes you 8:46 need them, sometimes you don't. 8:47 Sometimes you have to work with the 8:48 realtor. I'm going to be honest, I 8:50 prefer not to work with the realtors, 8:51 but every now and then there is a 8:53 realtor that needs help with it. You 8:54 just have to understand it. Now, when we 8:56 work with realtors and we work with 8:58 probate lawyers, we want you to use the 9:01 state approved real estate contracts. 9:03 That way, we don't draw any red flags on 9:05 it. You accomplish the exact same thing 9:07 with the regular flip with Rick purchase 9:08 and sales agreement. But sometimes 9:10 realtors come in, don't worry about it. 9:12 They get paid their commissions. But if 9:13 there's a realtor involved and but I 9:15 mostly use realtors to identify value 9:17 and go find the best cash buyers to buy 9:21 our contracts. And often they're going 9:23 to give you feedback on how the property 9:24 will move in a neighborhood, especially 9:26 if you're doing it virtually. So, a lot 9:27 of times the realtor is free. Just call 9:29 out, get their information, and talk to 9:31 them and see if they have a cash buyer. 9:32 Give them the opportunity to make this 9:34 transaction easy on you. The next one's 9:35 a probate attorney. Now, you don't hire 9:37 the probate attorney. You don't. A lot 9:39 of times you have to refer a probate 9:41 attorney because I find probates all the 9:42 time where they don't even know how to 9:44 get a probate attorney. They don't know 9:45 how to file for it. You're going to find 9:47 these when you do your driving for 9:48 dollars, reverse driving for dollars. 9:49 and they say, "Rick, the reason I didn't 9:51 sell the house is cuz we can't afford 9:53 attorney." This is your opportunity to 9:55 present a purchase and sales contract 9:57 and then refer them to a probate 9:58 attorney. So, go out, make friends with 10:00 them, work with your title company, and 10:01 find one that you can help your sellers 10:03 out. If they have not got an attorney, 10:05 it's their job to do it, but this is a 10:07 great opportunity for you to present the 10:10 attorney. And if you do a JV deal with 10:12 me and Zach, we'll actually cover the 10:14 attorney's expense and then we'll have 10:15 it reimbured at closing. There's a 10:17 million ways to skin this cat, but find 10:19 some probate attorneys you can refer to 10:20 them in your area. And once again, you 10:22 are providing a valuable service. You 10:24 are going above and beyond any other 10:25 real estate investor in your area to 10:27 help them out. That's the name of the 10:28 game. And the other one on your team 10:30 that I add is estate sale companies cuz 10:32 a lot of these houses are like full of 10:33 junk and I'm only interested in the real 10:34 estate. I don't want the stuff on the 10:36 inside. I will work with an estate sale 10:38 company. These are people who specialize 10:40 in liquidating large lots of stuff, 10:42 antiques and collectibles and you know a 10:45 lot of junk in the attict and let them 10:47 do the work. Let them get the money and 10:48 then I'm looking for a symbiotic 10:50 relationship where I refer them business 10:52 and they refer me business and if I buy 10:54 a house from a lead they give me I give 10:56 them a marketing fee. It is an absolute 10:59 win-win. Guys, this is the basics to get 11:01 your probate team started. And the 11:02 reason is you want to have resources. 11:04 The more resources you have, the more 11:06 resourceful you can be, the more 11:07 problems you can solve, and the more 11:09 people you can help out and you will 11:11 stand out from all your other 11:12 competition because they're too scared 11:14 to do probates and they don't understand 11:16 them and they're not patient. You are. How to Pull Probate Records 11:17 Moving on, we just go over how to pull 11:19 the probates. Now, I'm going to just go 11:21 straight to the source and there's more 11:23 ways than one to skin a cat here as I 11:25 said earlier, but all information is 11:26 derived from your county courthouse. So, 11:28 whatever your county is, they have a 11:30 probate court. I suggest you go out and 11:31 visit and find out what the process is. 11:34 For a long time, I had to go and pull 11:36 the records. I would do it twice a week 11:37 and I complained about it. Now, you need 11:40 to be patient with these people because 11:41 you have to kill them with kindness. 11:43 Running them over is not going to get 11:44 you anything. And remember, they're 11:45 regular people just like you and me. If 11:47 this is the only way you can get the 11:48 records, it is a huge advantage for you 11:50 because people can't pull the list. A 11:53 lot of other people is in today's modern 11:55 time in 2025, you can pull these list 11:57 online. But if you can't remember, all 11:59 information comes from the county 12:00 courthouse. If you can get it online, 12:02 that is great. Now, what we want to 12:04 request, this is same process if you did 12:06 this online or you did this in your 12:08 county courthouse. Number one, speed 12:09 kills. Get the freshest deals you can. 12:11 The old ones, they're all picked over. 12:13 It's usually a waste of time. I used to 12:15 think I could pull a year's worth and 12:16 just mark it once a year. Don't waste 12:17 your time because I never got a deal 12:19 doing that. I always got my deals on the 12:21 most recent open probate. So, you're 12:23 going to look for the last 30 days of 12:25 open probates in your county. Here's the 12:27 challenge, guys. There's over 3,200 12:29 counties in the United States. 12:31 Unfortunately, every county has a 12:32 different procedure. So, you're going to 12:34 have to learn the specifics. This is 12:35 where you're going to have to put the 12:36 work in. I had to go back to my 12:38 courthouse seven times to figure out 12:40 just to get my first probate. So, put in 12:42 the effort. You're going to get some 12:43 resistance. Overcome resistance with 12:45 persistence and be kind to people. 12:47 Running people over won't get you 12:48 anything. But once we do that, once you 12:50 have a probate, so a docket, just so you 12:53 know, is a list of all the probates. 12:54 Hopefully, you can get that and then you 12:56 can go through each individual one 12:58 online or in person. But you're 12:59 basically looking for the deceased name, 13:01 obviously, last name, first name, middle 13:03 initial, and then you're going to look 13:04 for the PR, personal representative, or 13:06 the executive. Remember, this is the 13:08 responsible party that should be named 13:10 on the will. These are going to be two 13:11 key pieces of information you have to 13:13 get. Now, some probates have physical 13:16 addresses of property they own, and 13:17 others have none. And for that reason 13:19 alone, you have to understand you're now 13:21 going to have to take that information 13:23 and cross reference it to your county's 13:25 property appraiser site and see if the 13:27 deceased owned a property in that given 13:30 county. This takes some searching to do. 13:32 By the way, not everyone who dies owns a 13:34 piece of property. So often half the 13:36 list that you bring back or the ones you 13:38 print out offline, they don't even own 13:40 property. Just skip those ones because 13:42 there's no wholesale deal to be had. 13:44 Now, you simply get that information and 13:46 now you're going to market directly to 13:48 the personal representative, the PR or 13:50 the executive. Obviously, we're not 13:51 going to market to the deceased for 13:52 obvious reasons. This is the person you 13:54 need to find. So, what I like to do and 13:57 what I recommend and what's proven over 13:59 time, but I've been doing over 10 years 14:00 now in my probate marketing. Remember, I 14:02 didn't start out doing probates. I found 14:04 them by accident and I fell in love with 14:06 them. Number one, you want to send them 14:07 a probate letter. I did not say send 14:09 them a postcard. They do not respond to 14:10 postcard. If you want to get my letter 14:12 word for word, go to freeh 14:14 wholesaling.com. It is the number one 14:16 downloaded, the most used probate 14:18 letter. Why? Because I put a lot of 14:20 effort into it and I've done a lot of 14:21 deals with it and I tested it and I 14:24 found out what works. I like each one of 14:25 you that watch this video if you go to 14:27 freeh wholesaling.com. Just vary it up a 14:29 little bit. Cuz let's face it, if 14:31 everybody sends out the same letter, 14:32 it's not authentic. So put your little 14:34 bit of spin on it. Trust me, you'll love 14:36 this letter. Go check it out. Then I'd 14:38 like you to go inside of X leads and 14:40 skip trace it. Yes, it's free inside of 14:42 X leads. And you're going to locate the 14:44 PR or the executive and get their phone 14:46 number. So once we send that letter, it 14:48 takes a little time to get out there. 14:50 The next thing I want you to do is now 14:51 you have the skip trace. You're going to 14:52 call the PR, the executive directly. We 14:54 call it a warm call. Now, in the second 14:56 part of my series video after this, I'm 14:59 going to show you how to have the 15:00 conversation with the probate PR. And it 15:03 is a different tone when you call these 15:05 people. They're not like your typical 15:06 cold call. That's why we call it a warm 15:08 call. So, we're going to send them a 15:09 letter and we're going to do a warm 15:10 call, which basically is a more formal 15:13 cold call for the record. Now, I'm going The Probate Playbook 15:14 to give you the probate playbook so you 15:16 understand what the playbook is. So, 15:18 it's so important you understand how 15:20 this works. So, I I did a little graphic 15:22 here. This is my handwriting. Sorry. It 15:23 is what it is. And I'm going to give you 15:25 what I call the straight line method to 15:27 get any type of probate deal because a 15:30 lot of people think you go straight to 15:31 the probate attorney. You don't. 15:32 Actually, it's the worst way to do it. 15:34 So, what you want to do is this is is 15:36 you you're the coach. I want you to look 15:37 as the coach. You're the coach in this. 15:39 The errors are the cheerleaders on the 15:41 sideline. They really don't have a lot 15:42 of say. They just kind of go along with 15:44 what the PR is. And you go straight to 15:46 the PR or the executive. The PR is the 15:49 quarterback. You are the coach. You're 15:51 calling the plays. Now, on the other 15:53 side in red, there's the defense. That's 15:55 going to be the probate lawyer. And 15:56 you're going to have real estate agents. 15:57 You're going to have appraisers. And I 15:58 put on their nosy neighbors. And I'm 16:00 telling you, they are not on your side 16:02 nine times out of 10. and they're going 16:03 to train wreck you if you try to work 16:05 through them. So, your goal is to get a 16:07 contract straight line method straight 16:09 to the PR and get it signed as soon as 16:11 possible. If you do that, it is a 16:13 straight shot to the end zone. If you 16:15 don't, you're going to sit here been 16:16 playing defense for four quarters and 16:18 you're probably not going to get 16:19 anywhere. Now, over on the left hand 16:21 side on the other side is you'll see the 16:22 title company. I call them the referee. 16:24 I'm here to tell you they are biased cuz 16:26 they are on your side. You've hired them 16:28 and they are helping giving you 16:30 mentoring to you, the coach. It's 16:32 important you look at yourself as a 16:33 coach when it comes to probates. Your PR 16:35 is the quarterback. Your title company 16:36 is the biased ref. And everybody else in 16:39 red is on defense. If you understand 16:41 this, this is how you get the best 16:42 wholesale deals. If you try to go around 16:45 and work with the probate lawyer, the 16:47 agent, an appraiser, a neighbor, it is 16:49 going to train wreck your wholesale 16:51 probate deal. Take this playbook and run 16:53 with it. Once again, I call this the 16:55 straight line method. This is the 16:56 playbook for probate. Now, I want to 16:58 leave you with something really special 17:00 that I have cultivated over a very long 17:02 time. I'm going to give you the ultimate 17:04 probate marketing hook. And I'm 17:05 literally going to give it to you right 17:07 here. I'm going to show it to you. You 17:08 ready? It goes just like this. Now, this 17:10 can be said verbally. And we also put it 17:12 in your probate letter that is provided 17:14 you in freeh wholesaling.com. And it 17:16 goes simply like this. What if I could 17:17 show you how to sell your property prior 17:19 to the probate being completed? Is this 17:21 something you would consider? Shut your 17:23 mouth and then set the appointment. Nine 17:25 out of 10 people will say yes. And 17:27 you've got to understand this. This hook 17:30 works like no other hook I've ever done 17:32 because I teach you the details on how 17:34 you can buy a probate before it's even 17:36 done. If you want to learn how to do it, 17:38 go over to freeh wholesaling.com. I have 17:39 the entire course there and you can find 17:41 out how to do this. I've documented it's 17:44 an incredible training, probably the 17:45 best training on probate ever given, 17:47 especially for a wholesaler. Make sure 17:48 you check it out there. 17:49 Freehlesaling.com. This is part one. We 17:51 showed you how to get into probates. and 17:52 the link below will be part two and 17:54 we'll go into the probate conversation 17:56 and I'll show you some advanced 17:58 techniques so you can maximize your 17:59 profit for any wholesale probate deal. 18:02 So, so guys, let me know in comments if 18:03 you're going to do probates and if you 18:05 got value from this video, smash that 18:06 like button, hit that subscribe button 18:08 and share this video on people who want 18:10 to learn how to do wholesaling. This is 18:11 Rick and I'll see you in part two of my 18:13 probate training Ready. Okay, here is the second transcript. Please read it and reply ready when done. I'm also going to upload a document to go with both transcripts, and I'll have further instructions when I upload that document.Intro Summary 0:00 How to wholesale probate step by step 0:02 with Rick Gin. Hey guys, in this video 0:04 I'm actually doing a two-part series. 0:06 This is part one. I'm going to explain 0:08 to you exactly what probates are. I'm 0:10 going to tell you why they're perfect 0:11 for you as a wholesaler. I'm going to 0:13 show you how to assemble a probate team. 0:15 And then I'm going to show you the 0:16 ultimate playbook on how to market for 0:19 probate deals. But before I get into it, 0:21 do me this favor. Click that like 0:22 button, smash that subscribe button, and 0:24 share this videos with other people who 0:26 want to learn how to do wholesaling. So, Probate Terminology 0:28 you probably heard the word probate and 0:30 you're thinking, Rick, what is a 0:31 probate? Now, a probate is simply it's 0:34 the legal process when a person passes 0:37 away and they wrap up their financial 0:39 affairs. That's all it is. Think about 0:41 this. People who own cars, they own 0:42 boats, they own houses, any assets that 0:45 there's a title on. If they are 0:47 deceased, the only way to transfer it is 0:49 with a probate process. Now, this is the 0:51 legal process that is regulated by the 0:54 state and is done on a county level to 0:56 ensure the deceased final wishes. Now, 0:59 why we're interested as wholesalers is 1:01 cuz we're interested in the house. And 1:03 probate is inevitable for most people. 1:06 And I'm going to show you why it's such 1:08 a great fit for wholesaling. But before 1:10 I get into it, I want to go over some 1:12 terminology on the things probates. And 1:14 then we're going to get into the 1:15 details. There's some lingo you got to 1:17 understand otherwise this gets confusing 1:19 and I just want to go ahead and get it 1:20 out of the way and we're going to go 1:21 through it quickly. Number one, you have 1:22 to understand what a PR is. You'll hear 1:24 this all the time. It is a acronym for 1:26 personal representative and in some 1:28 states it's called the executive. This 1:30 is the responsible party. This party is 1:33 usually named in the will and this is 1:35 going to be the most responsible member 1:37 in the family that they trust to carry 1:39 out their final affairs. It's important 1:41 you understand this term because this is 1:42 the person you're actually going to be 1:44 seeking out and marketing to. The next 1:46 one is the will. This is the final 1:49 wishes of a deceased person. It is a 1:51 great idea for people with assets really 1:52 for anyone to have a last will in 1:55 testament. You hear about this all the 1:56 time in movies and stuff. It's 1:58 important. Now, there's two ways. Either 2:00 you had a will, it's called a testator. 2:02 That's the legal definition. Or people 2:04 pass away without a will, which is 2:06 called intestate. I know it's confusing. 2:08 I understand as with a will, without a 2:10 will. But I'm putting a legal 2:11 terminology on you so if you read these 2:13 documents, you know what's going on. The 2:15 short story of this, if they die with a 2:17 will, the probate process is much easier 2:19 and it's usually much faster without it. 2:21 It is much more lengthy. Important you 2:23 know that up front. And then you have 2:24 the heirs. These are the beneficiaries. 2:26 These are the people. Say there was four 2:28 siblings and mom passed away. And they 2:31 divide the asset, the estate 25% four 2:34 different ways. And they're the heirs. 2:36 The heirs do have say. They influence 2:38 the PR, which is the personal 2:39 representative or the executive, but for 2:41 the most part, you're not really going 2:42 to deal with the heirs other than 2:44 getting a signature on the contract and 2:46 on the final deed. Don't worry, the 2:48 title company will take care of that. 2:49 So, now that we got the the simple 2:51 definitions of what probates are, I want 2:54 you to understand the probate advantage 2:56 because a lot of people go, Rick, why Probate Advantage 2:58 don't I just wait till the probate's all 3:00 done and then I will get the inheritance 3:02 list. And I've already tried this route 3:04 and I'm telling you, don't do it. This 3:06 is the lazy way. This has nothing to do 3:08 with wholesaling. And I'm going to show 3:09 you why. You see, on a probate list, a 3:11 probate is the property is not on the 3:14 market. There's almost little to no 3:15 competition. And I'm going to show you 3:17 how you can buy it from the PR or the 3:19 executive within under 90 days before 3:22 the probate's even done. And here's the 3:24 part, the leads are free. Now, let's 3:26 switch over to an inheritance list, 3:27 which I know you guys get marketed like 3:29 crazy. They're very, very expensive. And 3:31 remember, a lot of these properties once 3:33 they go through probate, they're already 3:35 on market. And often they're listed with 3:36 a realtor. There is a ton of 3:38 competition. There is so much 3:40 competition that you're not going to get 3:41 a great deal. And you have to wait 3:43 anywhere from 6 months to 12 months 3:46 after the probate. By then, honestly, 3:48 you are late to the party. And these 3:50 things cost thousands and thousands of 3:52 dollars and they sell it to investors 3:53 all over the United States. Guys, 3:55 probates are before the inheritance 3:57 list. It's important you understand that 3:59 record. Now, why are probates perfect 4:00 for wholesalers? Let me go through the 4:02 reasons, and this is going to blow your 4:04 mind. Number one, most of them are 4:05 vacant for obvious reasons. Sometimes 4:08 they were rental properties, but a lot 4:09 of times the person was living in there 4:11 and they were elderly. And vacant 4:13 properties are just easier. They give 4:15 you more options as a wholesaler. Number 4:17 two, there's tons of deferred 4:18 maintenance. Listen, when we're taking 4:19 care of our elderly, the idea is to 4:21 protect them and concentrate on the 4:23 health, not the house. So, a lot of 4:25 times towards the end, they're padding 4:27 the carpets, they're making the bathroom 4:29 safe, they're putting in handrails. It 4:31 doesn't make the house overly 4:32 attractive. And a lot of these kitchens 4:33 sometimes are 20 and 30 years old. 4:35 There's deferred maintenance and a lot 4:37 of them are seriously cosmetically 4:39 outdated. The PR, the personal 4:40 representative is typically going to be 4:42 out of state. Why is that an advantage? 4:44 Because you can actually provide them a 4:46 service and help them at looking at the 4:48 property, taking care of everything, 4:50 securing the property, and it just gives 4:52 you a ton of options in the front and 4:54 the back end of a wholesale deal. And 4:55 one of my favorite thing is when 4:57 probates come up, my first intuition 4:59 when I do them is like, I don't know how 5:00 to do them and I don't want to do them 5:02 because I don't understand them and I 5:03 heard they take forever. That is 5:05 ridiculous. You take the opposite 5:07 approach. You learn it right here from 5:08 me or go over to freeh wholesaling.com. 5:10 I teach in much more detail and you 5:12 attack these because remember the bigger 5:14 the problem you can solve in real 5:15 estate, the more money you can make. And 5:17 that is what we specialize in 5:19 wholesaling. Why would probates be any 5:21 different? The next ones, which is one 5:22 of my favorite, people often complain 5:24 how long a probate can take, but I'm 5:25 going to help you out with that today. 5:27 But you can use this extra time, what we 5:29 call flexible closing time to your 5:31 advantage because you can go out and 5:34 find the highest and best offer and you 5:36 don't get the typical resistance you get 5:38 on a regular wholesale deal because the 5:40 PR is out of state, the propertyy's 5:41 vacant, it needs work. You can bring a 5:43 ton of people through there. You can 5:44 either speed up the closing or you can 5:46 actually extend it because probates 5:49 often need some legal paperwork. We'll 5:51 let your title company handle that. So, 5:53 for this reason, you have a lot of 5:54 flexibility on how to close it. Now, in 5:56 a lot of new wholesalers go, "No, I 5:57 don't want to do it because I don't know 5:58 what I'm doing." Actually, you should 6:00 lean into it. Probate deals, working 6:02 with the right education and the right 6:04 team are actually to your advantage. 6:06 They give you more flexibility. They 6:08 give you more time. And my favorite 6:09 part, they're usually the highest profit 6:11 level in all of wholesale deals. In 6:13 fact, in 2025, my favorite number one 6:16 deals to do in wholesaling is probate. 6:18 Why? Cuz they're big problems to solve 6:20 and they're big paychecks. Almost all my 6:22 six figure deals come from probate 6:23 deals. You got a probate deal? Send it 6:25 to me. I'll partner up with you. I love 6:27 probates and you should love it for this 6:29 reason alone. So, let's talk about Building Your Probate Team 6:31 building your probate team. And what you 6:34 got to understand is you don't have to 6:35 do this alone. So, I'm going to take the 6:37 same track I teach at freeh 6:38 wholesaling.com. And your job is 6:41 marketing. Your job is to locate the 6:43 personal representative or the 6:45 executives of a probate and connect with 6:47 them. That is your highest and best 6:49 calling when it comes to probate. It's 6:51 not to go get your law license, pass the 6:53 bar, study it, spend endless hours, 6:56 weeks, and months trying to figure out 6:57 how the probate law works. I want you to 6:59 understand it. You can easily look up 7:01 your state laws, but guys, your job is 7:03 just to go out and find probates, get 7:04 the PRs, and connect with them. Anything 7:06 else, you're not going to get paid for. 7:08 That is the highest skill set and we're 7:10 going to teach you that first. Now, the 7:12 cool thing is the rest of your team is 7:14 going to answer the higher level 7:16 questions where you don't have the skill 7:18 set and you don't have the complete 7:19 understanding. I got your back on this. 7:21 I know it sounds a little bit scary, but 7:23 I'm telling you, I don't want you to lie 7:24 to anyone. You are going to help them 7:26 and I'm going to show you exactly how 7:27 you're going to do it with your probate 7:28 team. So, once you know what your job 7:29 is, your probate team, and I'm going to 7:31 do this in order, your number one team 7:33 member, just like in a regular 7:34 wholesale, is your title company. 7:36 Listen, title companies do hundreds if 7:38 not thousands of probates and they 7:40 understand how to take them down, the 7:42 documents that are required from the 7:43 court system to get them done and they 7:45 know how to connect with the attorneys 7:46 to get the right information that get 7:48 the deal to the closing line. In fact, 7:50 the title company will give you at least 7:53 80% if not 90% of the information to 7:56 successfully answer almost any probate 7:58 question when it revolves around real 8:01 estate. and they will give you the 8:02 confidence in the answers you need to 8:04 fill in those gaps where you don't know 8:06 the answer. So, if you get a question 8:07 when you're talking to a probate 8:09 prospect and you don't know the answer, 8:10 go listen, let me reach out to my team 8:12 and let me get that answer. Either you 8:13 make that phone call right there or you 8:15 get back to them within the hour or the 8:17 first thing next morning. Don't make up 8:19 stuff. These people need help. So, you 8:21 are going to get a team of people to 8:22 help you out. And remember, the title 8:24 company has an owner that's often a 8:26 lawyer. And a lot of these lawyers have 8:27 a lot of experience doing probates. 8:29 Utilize them. Your title company is the 8:31 biggest part of your team. Now remember, 8:33 a title company can have a 10, 15 8:35 employees. There are experts there to 8:37 help you get those files done. Make sure 8:39 you're familiar with your title company. 8:40 Let them know you're going to be 8:41 marketing the probates and figure out 8:42 what the process is. Now, the next one's 8:45 going to be a realtor. Sometimes you 8:46 need them, sometimes you don't. 8:47 Sometimes you have to work with the 8:48 realtor. I'm going to be honest, I 8:50 prefer not to work with the realtors, 8:51 but every now and then there is a 8:53 realtor that needs help with it. You 8:54 just have to understand it. Now, when we 8:56 work with realtors and we work with 8:58 probate lawyers, we want you to use the 9:01 state approved real estate contracts. 9:03 That way, we don't draw any red flags on 9:05 it. You accomplish the exact same thing 9:07 with the regular flip with Rick purchase 9:08 and sales agreement. But sometimes 9:10 realtors come in, don't worry about it. 9:12 They get paid their commissions. But if 9:13 there's a realtor involved and but I 9:15 mostly use realtors to identify value 9:17 and go find the best cash buyers to buy 9:21 our contracts. And often they're going 9:23 to give you feedback on how the property 9:24 will move in a neighborhood, especially 9:26 if you're doing it virtually. So, a lot 9:27 of times the realtor is free. Just call 9:29 out, get their information, and talk to 9:31 them and see if they have a cash buyer. 9:32 Give them the opportunity to make this 9:34 transaction easy on you. The next one's 9:35 a probate attorney. Now, you don't hire 9:37 the probate attorney. You don't. A lot 9:39 of times you have to refer a probate 9:41 attorney because I find probates all the 9:42 time where they don't even know how to 9:44 get a probate attorney. They don't know 9:45 how to file for it. You're going to find 9:47 these when you do your driving for 9:48 dollars, reverse driving for dollars. 9:49 and they say, "Rick, the reason I didn't 9:51 sell the house is cuz we can't afford 9:53 attorney." This is your opportunity to 9:55 present a purchase and sales contract 9:57 and then refer them to a probate 9:58 attorney. So, go out, make friends with 10:00 them, work with your title company, and 10:01 find one that you can help your sellers 10:03 out. If they have not got an attorney, 10:05 it's their job to do it, but this is a 10:07 great opportunity for you to present the 10:10 attorney. And if you do a JV deal with 10:12 me and Zach, we'll actually cover the 10:14 attorney's expense and then we'll have 10:15 it reimbured at closing. There's a 10:17 million ways to skin this cat, but find 10:19 some probate attorneys you can refer to 10:20 them in your area. And once again, you 10:22 are providing a valuable service. You 10:24 are going above and beyond any other 10:25 real estate investor in your area to 10:27 help them out. That's the name of the 10:28 game. And the other one on your team 10:30 that I add is estate sale companies cuz 10:32 a lot of these houses are like full of 10:33 junk and I'm only interested in the real 10:34 estate. I don't want the stuff on the 10:36 inside. I will work with an estate sale 10:38 company. These are people who specialize 10:40 in liquidating large lots of stuff, 10:42 antiques and collectibles and you know a 10:45 lot of junk in the attict and let them 10:47 do the work. Let them get the money and 10:48 then I'm looking for a symbiotic 10:50 relationship where I refer them business 10:52 and they refer me business and if I buy 10:54 a house from a lead they give me I give 10:56 them a marketing fee. It is an absolute 10:59 win-win. Guys, this is the basics to get 11:01 your probate team started. And the 11:02 reason is you want to have resources. 11:04 The more resources you have, the more 11:06 resourceful you can be, the more 11:07 problems you can solve, and the more 11:09 people you can help out and you will 11:11 stand out from all your other 11:12 competition because they're too scared 11:14 to do probates and they don't understand 11:16 them and they're not patient. You are. How to Pull Probate Records 11:17 Moving on, we just go over how to pull 11:19 the probates. Now, I'm going to just go 11:21 straight to the source and there's more 11:23 ways than one to skin a cat here as I 11:25 said earlier, but all information is 11:26 derived from your county courthouse. So, 11:28 whatever your county is, they have a 11:30 probate court. I suggest you go out and 11:31 visit and find out what the process is. 11:34 For a long time, I had to go and pull 11:36 the records. I would do it twice a week 11:37 and I complained about it. Now, you need 11:40 to be patient with these people because 11:41 you have to kill them with kindness. 11:43 Running them over is not going to get 11:44 you anything. And remember, they're 11:45 regular people just like you and me. If 11:47 this is the only way you can get the 11:48 records, it is a huge advantage for you 11:50 because people can't pull the list. A 11:53 lot of other people is in today's modern 11:55 time in 2025, you can pull these list 11:57 online. But if you can't remember, all 11:59 information comes from the county 12:00 courthouse. If you can get it online, 12:02 that is great. Now, what we want to 12:04 request, this is same process if you did 12:06 this online or you did this in your 12:08 county courthouse. Number one, speed 12:09 kills. Get the freshest deals you can. 12:11 The old ones, they're all picked over. 12:13 It's usually a waste of time. I used to 12:15 think I could pull a year's worth and 12:16 just mark it once a year. Don't waste 12:17 your time because I never got a deal 12:19 doing that. I always got my deals on the 12:21 most recent open probate. So, you're 12:23 going to look for the last 30 days of 12:25 open probates in your county. Here's the 12:27 challenge, guys. There's over 3,200 12:29 counties in the United States. 12:31 Unfortunately, every county has a 12:32 different procedure. So, you're going to 12:34 have to learn the specifics. This is 12:35 where you're going to have to put the 12:36 work in. I had to go back to my 12:38 courthouse seven times to figure out 12:40 just to get my first probate. So, put in 12:42 the effort. You're going to get some 12:43 resistance. Overcome resistance with 12:45 persistence and be kind to people. 12:47 Running people over won't get you 12:48 anything. But once we do that, once you 12:50 have a probate, so a docket, just so you 12:53 know, is a list of all the probates. 12:54 Hopefully, you can get that and then you 12:56 can go through each individual one 12:58 online or in person. But you're 12:59 basically looking for the deceased name, 13:01 obviously, last name, first name, middle 13:03 initial, and then you're going to look 13:04 for the PR, personal representative, or 13:06 the executive. Remember, this is the 13:08 responsible party that should be named 13:10 on the will. These are going to be two 13:11 key pieces of information you have to 13:13 get. Now, some probates have physical 13:16 addresses of property they own, and 13:17 others have none. And for that reason 13:19 alone, you have to understand you're now 13:21 going to have to take that information 13:23 and cross reference it to your county's 13:25 property appraiser site and see if the 13:27 deceased owned a property in that given 13:30 county. This takes some searching to do. 13:32 By the way, not everyone who dies owns a 13:34 piece of property. So often half the 13:36 list that you bring back or the ones you 13:38 print out offline, they don't even own 13:40 property. Just skip those ones because 13:42 there's no wholesale deal to be had. 13:44 Now, you simply get that information and 13:46 now you're going to market directly to 13:48 the personal representative, the PR or 13:50 the executive. Obviously, we're not 13:51 going to market to the deceased for 13:52 obvious reasons. This is the person you 13:54 need to find. So, what I like to do and 13:57 what I recommend and what's proven over 13:59 time, but I've been doing over 10 years 14:00 now in my probate marketing. Remember, I 14:02 didn't start out doing probates. I found 14:04 them by accident and I fell in love with 14:06 them. Number one, you want to send them 14:07 a probate letter. I did not say send 14:09 them a postcard. They do not respond to 14:10 postcard. If you want to get my letter 14:12 word for word, go to freeh 14:14 wholesaling.com. It is the number one 14:16 downloaded, the most used probate 14:18 letter. Why? Because I put a lot of 14:20 effort into it and I've done a lot of 14:21 deals with it and I tested it and I 14:24 found out what works. I like each one of 14:25 you that watch this video if you go to 14:27 freeh wholesaling.com. Just vary it up a 14:29 little bit. Cuz let's face it, if 14:31 everybody sends out the same letter, 14:32 it's not authentic. So put your little 14:34 bit of spin on it. Trust me, you'll love 14:36 this letter. Go check it out. Then I'd 14:38 like you to go inside of X leads and 14:40 skip trace it. Yes, it's free inside of 14:42 X leads. And you're going to locate the 14:44 PR or the executive and get their phone 14:46 number. So once we send that letter, it 14:48 takes a little time to get out there. 14:50 The next thing I want you to do is now 14:51 you have the skip trace. You're going to 14:52 call the PR, the executive directly. We 14:54 call it a warm call. Now, in the second 14:56 part of my series video after this, I'm 14:59 going to show you how to have the 15:00 conversation with the probate PR. And it 15:03 is a different tone when you call these 15:05 people. They're not like your typical 15:06 cold call. That's why we call it a warm 15:08 call. So, we're going to send them a 15:09 letter and we're going to do a warm 15:10 call, which basically is a more formal 15:13 cold call for the record. Now, I'm going The Probate Playbook 15:14 to give you the probate playbook so you 15:16 understand what the playbook is. So, 15:18 it's so important you understand how 15:20 this works. So, I I did a little graphic 15:22 here. This is my handwriting. Sorry. It 15:23 is what it is. And I'm going to give you 15:25 what I call the straight line method to 15:27 get any type of probate deal because a 15:30 lot of people think you go straight to 15:31 the probate attorney. You don't. 15:32 Actually, it's the worst way to do it. 15:34 So, what you want to do is this is is 15:36 you you're the coach. I want you to look 15:37 as the coach. You're the coach in this. 15:39 The errors are the cheerleaders on the 15:41 sideline. They really don't have a lot 15:42 of say. They just kind of go along with 15:44 what the PR is. And you go straight to 15:46 the PR or the executive. The PR is the 15:49 quarterback. You are the coach. You're 15:51 calling the plays. Now, on the other 15:53 side in red, there's the defense. That's 15:55 going to be the probate lawyer. And 15:56 you're going to have real estate agents. 15:57 You're going to have appraisers. And I 15:58 put on their nosy neighbors. And I'm 16:00 telling you, they are not on your side 16:02 nine times out of 10. and they're going 16:03 to train wreck you if you try to work 16:05 through them. So, your goal is to get a 16:07 contract straight line method straight 16:09 to the PR and get it signed as soon as 16:11 possible. If you do that, it is a 16:13 straight shot to the end zone. If you 16:15 don't, you're going to sit here been 16:16 playing defense for four quarters and 16:18 you're probably not going to get 16:19 anywhere. Now, over on the left hand 16:21 side on the other side is you'll see the 16:22 title company. I call them the referee. 16:24 I'm here to tell you they are biased cuz 16:26 they are on your side. You've hired them 16:28 and they are helping giving you 16:30 mentoring to you, the coach. It's 16:32 important you look at yourself as a 16:33 coach when it comes to probates. Your PR 16:35 is the quarterback. Your title company 16:36 is the biased ref. And everybody else in 16:39 red is on defense. If you understand 16:41 this, this is how you get the best 16:42 wholesale deals. If you try to go around 16:45 and work with the probate lawyer, the 16:47 agent, an appraiser, a neighbor, it is 16:49 going to train wreck your wholesale 16:51 probate deal. Take this playbook and run 16:53 with it. Once again, I call this the 16:55 straight line method. This is the 16:56 playbook for probate. Now, I want to 16:58 leave you with something really special 17:00 that I have cultivated over a very long 17:02 time. I'm going to give you the ultimate 17:04 probate marketing hook. And I'm 17:05 literally going to give it to you right 17:07 here. I'm going to show it to you. You 17:08 ready? It goes just like this. Now, this 17:10 can be said verbally. And we also put it 17:12 in your probate letter that is provided 17:14 you in freeh wholesaling.com. And it 17:16 goes simply like this. What if I could 17:17 show you how to sell your property prior 17:19 to the probate being completed? Is this 17:21 something you would consider? Shut your 17:23 mouth and then set the appointment. Nine 17:25 out of 10 people will say yes. And 17:27 you've got to understand this. This hook 17:30 works like no other hook I've ever done 17:32 because I teach you the details on how 17:34 you can buy a probate before it's even 17:36 done. If you want to learn how to do it, 17:38 go over to freeh wholesaling.com. I have 17:39 the entire course there and you can find 17:41 out how to do this. I've documented it's 17:44 an incredible training, probably the 17:45 best training on probate ever given, 17:47 especially for a wholesaler. Make sure 17:48 you check it out there. 17:49 Freehlesaling.com. This is part one. We 17:51 showed you how to get into probates. and 17:52 the link below will be part two and 17:54 we'll go into the probate conversation 17:56 and I'll show you some advanced 17:58 techniques so you can maximize your 17:59 profit for any wholesale probate deal. 18:02 So, so guys, let me know in comments if 18:03 you're going to do probates and if you 18:05 got value from this video, smash that 18:06 like button, hit that subscribe button 18:08 and share this video on people who want 18:10 to learn how to do wholesaling. This is 18:11 Rick and I'll see you in part two of my 18:13 probate training Ready. Administering Estates in Maryland Guide.pdf PDF Okay, so what I just did, I uploaded a PDF document, which it relates to administering, I'm just going to see what it says, administering, it states in Maryland, and it's dealing with the probate laws of Maryland, and also the two prior transcripts were in regards to probate, probate properties, and of course, it all ties into real estate wholesaling. But what I'm going to try to do right now, what I'd like to do is to create the definitive article on probate, okay, probate, not investing, but probate, this is going to be an informative article directed towards sellers, motivated sellers. I want them to have the best information there is as it relates to probate, probate law in Maryland. Just let them, letting them know that I am the subject matter expert, somewhat, okay? And of course, we want to direct them to myself as being someone that they can, you know, connect with and would help them with their inherited property. Okay, so write an article, the definitive probate article for motivated sellers. Write it so a seventh grade student can, in language, a seventh grade student can understand, all right? Make it as detailed as possible, okay, and also put, write it like a blog, blog article, so make blog article, write the soft part of it, that's the exact name of it, the soft part of it, give me keywords, and of course, the title for it right here. So and use, of course, the two transcripts and the PDF document I just uploaded to write it. And of course, also suggest a photo for it. Below is a complete blog-style article designed for your seller website. It positions you as knowledgeable while remaining clear, helpful, and non-pushy, which is important when speaking to probate property owners. I incorporated concepts from: The Maryland probate guide you uploaded The two probate transcripts Common wholesaling and probate workflow The language is intentionally simple (about a 7th-grade reading level) so it works well for website visitors. Title Maryland Probate Explained: A Simple Guide for Families Who Inherited a House Suggested Featured Image Use a calm, respectful image such as: A modest house with soft natural lighting A family reviewing paperwork at a kitchen table A courthouse or Register of Wills building in Maryland Avoid images that feel sales-heavy. Keywords Primary keywords: Maryland probate process selling inherited house Maryland Maryland probate property personal representative Maryland probate sell inherited property Maryland probate real estate Maryland how probate works in Maryland Maryland Register of Wills probate Secondary keywords: inheritance property Maryland estate administration Maryland probate house sale Maryland Maryland small estate probate Maryland probate timeline The Soft Part (SEO description) Meta description Learn how probate works in Maryland, what happens to inherited property, and the options families have when selling a probate house. Simple step-by-step guide for Maryland heirs and personal representatives. Definitive Blog Article Maryland Probate Explained: A Simple Guide for Families Who Inherited a House When someone passes away and leaves behind property, their assets must often go through a legal process called probate. For many families, this is confusing and stressful. You may suddenly find yourself responsible for handling a house, paperwork, taxes, and court filings. This guide explains how probate works in Maryland, what your responsibilities may be, and what options you have if you inherited a property. What Is Probate? Probate is the legal process used to settle a person's financial affairs after they pass away. This process ensures that: Debts are paid Assets are distributed correctly Property is transferred legally In Maryland, probate is handled through the Register of Wills office and the Orphans’ Court in the county where the person lived. Important Probate Terms You Should Know Understanding a few basic terms will make the process much easier. Personal Representative (PR) The Personal Representative is the person responsible for handling the estate. In some states this person is called the executor. Their responsibilities may include: Managing the estate Paying debts Filing paperwork Distributing assets Handling real estate This is the person investors or buyers usually communicate with if a property is being sold. The Will A will is a document that explains how someone wants their property distributed after death. If someone dies with a will, the probate process is usually easier. If someone dies without a will, it is called intestate, and Maryland law decides who inherits the assets. Heirs Heirs are the people who inherit property from the estate. Examples may include: Children Spouses Siblings Other family members Even though heirs have an interest in the estate, the personal representative usually manages the process. Why Probate Properties Often Need Repairs Many probate homes require repairs or updates. This is very common and happens for several reasons: The owner may have been elderly Maintenance may have been delayed The property may have been vacant Family members may live out of state Common issues include: Old kitchens or bathrooms Deferred maintenance Outdated flooring General clutter or estate contents These situations are normal in probate. Types of Probate in Maryland Maryland has several types of probate administration. Small Estate A small estate may qualify if the total value is relatively low. This process is simpler and faster. Regular Estate Most estates go through regular administration, which includes: Opening the estate Notifying creditors Listing assets Paying debts Distributing remaining property Modified Administration Modified administration can be used when: All heirs agree The estate is simple There are no major disputes This option may help speed up the probate process. How Long Probate Takes in Maryland The timeline can vary. Most Maryland probate cases take 6 to 12 months. Some may take longer if: There are disputes between heirs Property needs to be sold Debt issues exist Paperwork is delayed Can You Sell a House During Probate? Yes. In many cases, a probate property can be sold before the probate process is fully completed. The personal representative may be allowed to sell the home if: It benefits the estate Heirs agree Court requirements are followed This is often helpful when the property: Needs major repairs Is vacant Is expensive to maintain Selling the property can allow the estate to settle faster. Challenges Families Often Face With Probate Homes Families handling probate often run into several challenges. Distance Many personal representatives live in another state. Managing a property from far away can be difficult. Maintenance Costs Vacant homes still have expenses such as: Property taxes Insurance Utilities Repairs Emotional Stress Handling an estate after losing a loved one can be emotionally overwhelming. Many families simply want a simple solution that allows them to move forward. Options When You Inherit a Property If you inherit a house, you generally have three options. 1. Keep the Property Some families keep the home as: A rental property A family home 2. List the Property With a Realtor This option may work if the house is already in good condition. However, traditional listings may require: Repairs Cleaning Showings Commissions 3. Sell the Property As-Is Many families choose to sell the house as-is, especially if it needs work. This allows them to: Avoid repairs Skip cleaning and junk removal Close quickly A Simple Way to Handle a Probate Property If you are the personal representative and the property needs repairs or maintenance, there may be simpler options. Some buyers specialize in purchasing inherited properties in their current condition. This can help families: Avoid repairs Avoid months of listing activity Resolve the estate faster Most importantly, it allows heirs to focus on settling the estate and moving forward. Final Thoughts Probate can feel overwhelming at first, but understanding the process makes it much easier. The key things to remember are: Probate is a normal legal process The personal representative manages the estate Probate properties can often be sold Families have several options depending on the situation If you have inherited a property in Maryland and are unsure what to do next, learning your options early can help you make the best decision for your family. If you would like, I can also create three additional probate blog articles that will dramatically improve your website SEO, such as: “Can You Sell a House Before Probate Is Finished in Maryland?” “What a Personal Representative Must Do in Maryland Probate” “How to Sell an Inherited House With Multiple Heirs” These three articles are extremely powerful for attracting motivated probate sellers through Google. Transcribing… Transcribing… “How do you change the published date of a blog article? I wanna date it to sometime in the past in GoHighLevel.” In GoHighLevel, when editing a blog post, you can adjust the published date by locating the blog section, editing the specific article, and finding the date field or scheduling option. You can typically select a prior date from the calendar or enter it manually. After changing the date, save or update the post, and it will appear as if it was published on that past date. So, using the same constraints as what you just used in creating the last article, which you did a great job on, I can go ahead and create those three articles, okay, again referencing the two transcripts, the document I have uploaded, okay, and creating the three documents. Okay, so I think you pretty much know what they are. You know, same thing, I mean, keywords, uh, photo suggestion, exact same step-by-step process you used for the last article. Go ahead and do that for the three articles. Thank you. Below are three additional SEO blog articles written using the same constraints as the previous one: • 7th-grade reading level • seller-focused • Maryland probate law context • soft authority positioning • blog format • keywords + meta description (“soft part”) • photo suggestions These articles also fit perfectly with your Jordan Properties / Owings Mills Homebuyers seller website because they answer the exact questions probate sellers search on Google. ARTICLE 1 Title Can You Sell a House Before Probate Is Finished in Maryland? The Soft Part (Meta Description) Learn whether you can sell an inherited house before probate is completed in Maryland. Simple explanation of the probate home sale process and what personal representatives need to know. Keywords Primary: sell probate house Maryland sell house before probate finished Maryland Maryland probate property sale personal representative selling property Maryland sell inherited house Maryland Secondary: Maryland probate process sell estate property Maryland Maryland probate home sale rulesMaryland probate home sale rules
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