Archive for April, 2008
Probate Real Estate – Why is Good Information so Hard to Come By?
My first attempt to learn about buying probate real estate at deep discounts was to a attend a seminar held at a local hotel. Oh, the seminar was free all right, but the actual training course—as I would learn later— cost multi thousands of dollars. Yikes!
Undeterred, I thought I’d circumvent the seminar route in favor of buying a probate real properties ebook online. The author was supposedly very experienced in buying probate properties, and, after all, $59.95 sounded a little closer to what I wanted to spend.
What a disappointment! The ebook had a real homemade look and feel about it, and for the most part, detailed the person’s life experiences including some sob story about how the passing of a relative taught them about probate real estate. You know, personal stories and reminiscences are fine if they actually teach you something!
Now, I live in California. Not exactly a small, insignificant state. What advice did I receive from this probate ebook? Well, it basically said that in California they “do things differently.” Jeeze, the author was pretty much telling me he knew nothing about buying probate property in California and that for me, the ebook was worthless! I had a good mind to get my money back.
Oh, and what about the minor question as to financing probate properties? The only suggestion was to get a “hard money” loan—which is notoriously one of the riskiest ways to finance ANYTHING!
Folks, I mention this only by way of telling you that good information on buying probate properties is hard to come by even if you have experience as a licensed Realtor® and real estate appraiser as I do.
I learned what I know through a millionaire friend of mine that told me the all of the ins and outs of the probate process. I also had to do a ton of legwork gathering information on how probate real estate is handled by local municipalities, the internet, local reporting services, and probate attorneys.
All I can say with regard to buying probate real estate products is to choose wisely, because you may not learn anything more than you know now, or worse, pay a bundle to do it!
By: Paul Johnson
About the Author:
Undeterred, I thought I’d circumvent the seminar route in favor of buying a probate real properties ebook online. The author was supposedly very experienced in buying probate properties, and, after all, $59.95 sounded a little closer to what I wanted to spend.
What a disappointment! The ebook had a real homemade look and feel about it, and for the most part, detailed the person’s life experiences including some sob story about how the passing of a relative taught them about probate real estate. You know, personal stories and reminiscences are fine if they actually teach you something!
Now, I live in California. Not exactly a small, insignificant state. What advice did I receive from this probate ebook? Well, it basically said that in California they “do things differently.” Jeeze, the author was pretty much telling me he knew nothing about buying probate property in California and that for me, the ebook was worthless! I had a good mind to get my money back.
Oh, and what about the minor question as to financing probate properties? The only suggestion was to get a “hard money” loan—which is notoriously one of the riskiest ways to finance ANYTHING!
Folks, I mention this only by way of telling you that good information on buying probate properties is hard to come by even if you have experience as a licensed Realtor® and real estate appraiser as I do.
I learned what I know through a millionaire friend of mine that told me the all of the ins and outs of the probate process. I also had to do a ton of legwork gathering information on how probate real estate is handled by local municipalities, the internet, local reporting services, and probate attorneys.
All I can say with regard to buying probate real estate products is to choose wisely, because you may not learn anything more than you know now, or worse, pay a bundle to do it!
By: Paul Johnson
About the Author:
Paul Johnson is the publisher of Stock Confidential, a twice weekly stock advice newsletter and has written numerous articles and ebooks on stock picking, internet home business opportunities, and real estate. For more information, please visit: http://www.ProbatePropertyGoldmine.com
Clint Whitcome
Probate Properties: Blessing or Burden?
Probate properties are real estate under review by probate courts. A judge will review Wills of deceased property owners to check authenticity and to honor the decedent’s final wishes. Probate properties can be sold by the legal heirs while the property is being probated contingent on court approval.
Probate properties can remain in courts for years. Taxes, home-owner’s insurance and maintenance deplete beneficiaries’ inheritance. With attorneys billing by the hour and interest accumulating on debts, time is money. After estate debts, court fees and attorneys’ costs heirs can be left with nothing. Selling probate properties can expedite the process and deliver more money to loved ones.
If heirs are in agreement, the estate administrator can authorized the sale of the property. Investors submit a bid for the property, and in some cases, there might be multiple bids.
The estate administrator is the contact person. This person could be a family member, trusted friend or an attorney appointed by the court judge if none is named in the Will. This administrator is responsible for contacting and locating creditors, listing a detailed inventory of every personal possession, getting appraisals, mediating family disputes over family heirlooms and more all while grieving.
Selling probate properties alleviates an estate administrator’s burdens. Probate properties have usually fallen into disrepair. The deceased, especially if elderly, might not have had the funds or ability to maintain the home. These properties are usually sold as-is to avoid repair costs charged to the estate.
Purchasing probate properties requires investors to invest time and legwork. Prospective buyers must go to the county courthouse to look at copies of probate documents. If the deceased did not have a Last Will and Testament, the estate administrator has to submit a list of assets to the court along with estimated values and their name and contact information. This is public information and can be accessed by anyone, but it can be cumbersome to research.
The average real estate investor does not know the legal processes involved in purchasing probate properties. Most investors prefer foreclosed homes to avoid the hassles of working with the court and attorneys. With less motivated buyers, probate properties can be difficult to sell.
A specialist experienced in working with probate properties can guide heirs or estate administrators through the procedures. Simon Volkov has the experience and knowledge to speed up the process. His team can navigate through the court’s red tape allowing heirs to enjoy the proceeds now rather than watching them dwindle away by court fees.
More information is available by filling out one simple form. A specialist will contact you within 48 hours to discuss how Simon Volkov can help you. Don’t let the attorneys and courts have all of your inheritance. Go now and fill out the probate form to relieve the burden of dealing with probate properties.
By: Simon Volkov
About the Author:
Probate properties can remain in courts for years. Taxes, home-owner’s insurance and maintenance deplete beneficiaries’ inheritance. With attorneys billing by the hour and interest accumulating on debts, time is money. After estate debts, court fees and attorneys’ costs heirs can be left with nothing. Selling probate properties can expedite the process and deliver more money to loved ones.
If heirs are in agreement, the estate administrator can authorized the sale of the property. Investors submit a bid for the property, and in some cases, there might be multiple bids.
The estate administrator is the contact person. This person could be a family member, trusted friend or an attorney appointed by the court judge if none is named in the Will. This administrator is responsible for contacting and locating creditors, listing a detailed inventory of every personal possession, getting appraisals, mediating family disputes over family heirlooms and more all while grieving.
Selling probate properties alleviates an estate administrator’s burdens. Probate properties have usually fallen into disrepair. The deceased, especially if elderly, might not have had the funds or ability to maintain the home. These properties are usually sold as-is to avoid repair costs charged to the estate.
Purchasing probate properties requires investors to invest time and legwork. Prospective buyers must go to the county courthouse to look at copies of probate documents. If the deceased did not have a Last Will and Testament, the estate administrator has to submit a list of assets to the court along with estimated values and their name and contact information. This is public information and can be accessed by anyone, but it can be cumbersome to research.
The average real estate investor does not know the legal processes involved in purchasing probate properties. Most investors prefer foreclosed homes to avoid the hassles of working with the court and attorneys. With less motivated buyers, probate properties can be difficult to sell.
A specialist experienced in working with probate properties can guide heirs or estate administrators through the procedures. Simon Volkov has the experience and knowledge to speed up the process. His team can navigate through the court’s red tape allowing heirs to enjoy the proceeds now rather than watching them dwindle away by court fees.
More information is available by filling out one simple form. A specialist will contact you within 48 hours to discuss how Simon Volkov can help you. Don’t let the attorneys and courts have all of your inheritance. Go now and fill out the probate form to relieve the burden of dealing with probate properties.
By: Simon Volkov
About the Author:
Simon Volkov, private Real Estate Note Investor, offers nationwide Probat Properties for both serious and novice investors. Interested parties can subscribe to real-time investments via RSS feed or email subscription. Subscribe today at www.SimonVolkov.com.
Matilde Tara
The Roles And Duties Of The Parole Or Probation Officer In The Criminal Justice Field
The Parole or Probation Officer plays important roles in the criminal justice field. Those interested in this profession will have active and exciting duties to perform. I will be discussing some of those roles and duties in this article.
If you are indeed contemplating a career as a probation or parole officer, below are the duties you can look forward to performing:
1. Don’t let the names or titles fool you. In most criminal justice systems, parole or probation officers perform the same roles and duties. In the few criminal justice systems where their roles are different, the parole officer is involved after the offenders have served some of their time in prison while the probation officer works with those who are given probation sentence. This probation sentence does not require serving some time in prison.
2. The probation or parole officer is involved in pre-sentence investigations. The courts need help when sentencing a convicted criminal. The criminal’s character and records are important. It would be unfair to sentence a person who just committed a crime for the first time to the same sentence as a habitual offender.
This is where the parole or probation officer must help the courts. He or she will investigate the offender’s record. This can be done by talking to friends, family, and digging into public records. The probation or parole officer must then present his or her findings to the court to help guide the court’s sentencing.
3. The parole or probation officer is involved in pre-parole investigations. Again the investigation will involve digging into the convicted criminal’s behavior and record while in prison. The parole or probation officer will accomplish this by talking to warden’s, relatives, complainants, and even the police.
4. The probation or parole officer is involved in the rehabilitation of the parolee. In this instance, the officer must help plan the parolee’s effective re-introduction into society. This will involve helping the parolee acquire job training, job, and social skills by recommending the appropriate resources. The parole or probation officer must also monitor how the parolee in progressing in these resources.
5. Probation or parole officers have the power to arrest parolees or probationers. If a parolee or probationer breaks the terms of the parole and the probation or parole officer feels it has become necessary to send him or her to jail, then they must arrest the parolee.
This means parole or probation officers can carry guns. While they are advised to seek police assistance if the need for arrest arises, there are times police will not be readily available. So a gun may be needed in case the situation becomes dangerous.
As you can see, probation or parole officers perform many roles or duties in the criminal justice field. It will be hard to cover all the duties and roles in this short article. But I think you have enough information to help you make informed decision on this profession. For those that are interested in getting into the profession, now is as a good a time as ever.
Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the Resource Box should be included and the links are live links.
By: Kenneth Echie
About the Author:
If you are indeed contemplating a career as a probation or parole officer, below are the duties you can look forward to performing:
1. Don’t let the names or titles fool you. In most criminal justice systems, parole or probation officers perform the same roles and duties. In the few criminal justice systems where their roles are different, the parole officer is involved after the offenders have served some of their time in prison while the probation officer works with those who are given probation sentence. This probation sentence does not require serving some time in prison.
2. The probation or parole officer is involved in pre-sentence investigations. The courts need help when sentencing a convicted criminal. The criminal’s character and records are important. It would be unfair to sentence a person who just committed a crime for the first time to the same sentence as a habitual offender.
This is where the parole or probation officer must help the courts. He or she will investigate the offender’s record. This can be done by talking to friends, family, and digging into public records. The probation or parole officer must then present his or her findings to the court to help guide the court’s sentencing.
3. The parole or probation officer is involved in pre-parole investigations. Again the investigation will involve digging into the convicted criminal’s behavior and record while in prison. The parole or probation officer will accomplish this by talking to warden’s, relatives, complainants, and even the police.
4. The probation or parole officer is involved in the rehabilitation of the parolee. In this instance, the officer must help plan the parolee’s effective re-introduction into society. This will involve helping the parolee acquire job training, job, and social skills by recommending the appropriate resources. The parole or probation officer must also monitor how the parolee in progressing in these resources.
5. Probation or parole officers have the power to arrest parolees or probationers. If a parolee or probationer breaks the terms of the parole and the probation or parole officer feels it has become necessary to send him or her to jail, then they must arrest the parolee.
This means parole or probation officers can carry guns. While they are advised to seek police assistance if the need for arrest arises, there are times police will not be readily available. So a gun may be needed in case the situation becomes dangerous.
As you can see, probation or parole officers perform many roles or duties in the criminal justice field. It will be hard to cover all the duties and roles in this short article. But I think you have enough information to help you make informed decision on this profession. For those that are interested in getting into the profession, now is as a good a time as ever.
Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the Resource Box should be included and the links are live links.
By: Kenneth Echie
About the Author:
Copywrite Kenneth Echie. Kenneth is a writer for Criminal Justice Schools and Degrees. Get free scholarship report and learn to be Parole Officer by visiting
Walker Desaulniers
The Hidden Treasures and Profits of Probate
To make money in real estate you need an advantage over your competition. So why not just eliminate them! Now I don’t mean you need to go out and create a bunch of probate by whacking all your competition. What I do mean is that you need to play real estate the same way I would like for my favorite team to play football—move to another arena. What I mean is that you need to go looking in hiding places that nobody else is looking in to find those hidden treasures. That is where probate comes in. I’ll never forget when my partner and I were filming our DVD for our course, The Hidden Treasures and Profits of Probate, at the probate courthouse. (learn more about the course at http://www.probaterealestatedeals.com) Jimmy asked me how much competition there was at the courthouse. As the camera panned around the room, there was nobody else in the whole office except the two ladies who worked there. How many people do you think were outside bidding on foreclosure properties? The answer is hundreds.
First, let me explain some things about probate. A statistic that may shock you is this: 100% of Americans will die. That’s right, according to the Center for Disease Control, about 2.5 million people will die each year. Now here is the thing about that statistic. 70% of those folks will die without a will. Even more important is that regardless whether you have a will or not, your estate will go through probate. The only way to avoid probate is to have your estate in an entity. But ask yourself this question. If so few people even have a will, how many people do you think will put their assets in an entity? To give you an idea about how huge that is, of all the cases coming in to the court system, 24% will be probate cases. In Seattle, WA in 2003, there were more than 6000 probate cases. In Ft Worth, TX in 2006 there were about 3500. Many of those cases had real estate involved. That is where you step in. Most people don’t want to work this market because they think it is morbid. It is not morbid. The estates that I have worked with have been some of the most appreciative people I have ever worked with. I will never forget the lady that thanked me for buying her mom’s house at fifty cents on the dollar.
So why do all of these estates go through probate? The government requires it for a few reasons. First, the state wants to make sure that the assets are divided according to the will. And if there wasn’t a will, then the state takes care of that too. Most states have heirship succession laws in place that says which relatives get what percentage of the estate. The other reason that the law requires estates to be probated is to let any creditors who may have an interest in the estate know that the person has passed away and the creditors will need to file in order to get paid from the assets of the estate. The final reason that the law requires the estate to be probated is that the tax man wants to be paid. It has been said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. With probate they both apply. Not too long ago the federal government made some changes to estate taxes that remove most people from getting taxed. But the local governments still want to get paid either estate taxes or property taxes. By forcing the real estate in to the probate courts, the government makes sure they get their fair share.
Your challenge is to find some deals in probate. You can see from the facts above that there can be a lot of motivation with people dealing with an estate in probate. By far, the easiest way to find the deals is to send some marketing to probate attorneys. There are better and faster ways, but my partner and I had to write a whole manual to explain those techniques. I simply can’t fit them all here in this limited space. But if you know that most people will not try to probate an estate themselves and will seek out the services of an attorney to help them, then obviously you can short cut the whole process by sending letters or brochures to your local probate attorneys. In some states, you can even get pre-printed labels for probate attorneys from you state bar association. That way, half your work is already done. Now you just need to come up with a good letter to send them.
When you write your letters, simply tell the attorneys in a professional way what it is you do. Make yourself out to be an expert in the field. You might say something like “I am a local real estate investor who specializes in solving probate related real estate problems.” Do you see how you just became a specialist there?
Now you know why you really need to be working the probate market, and you know a great shortcut to the market. All you need to do is go out and put it to work!!
Happy Investing!!
Brandon Lambert
By: Brandon Lambert
About the Author:
First, let me explain some things about probate. A statistic that may shock you is this: 100% of Americans will die. That’s right, according to the Center for Disease Control, about 2.5 million people will die each year. Now here is the thing about that statistic. 70% of those folks will die without a will. Even more important is that regardless whether you have a will or not, your estate will go through probate. The only way to avoid probate is to have your estate in an entity. But ask yourself this question. If so few people even have a will, how many people do you think will put their assets in an entity? To give you an idea about how huge that is, of all the cases coming in to the court system, 24% will be probate cases. In Seattle, WA in 2003, there were more than 6000 probate cases. In Ft Worth, TX in 2006 there were about 3500. Many of those cases had real estate involved. That is where you step in. Most people don’t want to work this market because they think it is morbid. It is not morbid. The estates that I have worked with have been some of the most appreciative people I have ever worked with. I will never forget the lady that thanked me for buying her mom’s house at fifty cents on the dollar.
So why do all of these estates go through probate? The government requires it for a few reasons. First, the state wants to make sure that the assets are divided according to the will. And if there wasn’t a will, then the state takes care of that too. Most states have heirship succession laws in place that says which relatives get what percentage of the estate. The other reason that the law requires estates to be probated is to let any creditors who may have an interest in the estate know that the person has passed away and the creditors will need to file in order to get paid from the assets of the estate. The final reason that the law requires the estate to be probated is that the tax man wants to be paid. It has been said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. With probate they both apply. Not too long ago the federal government made some changes to estate taxes that remove most people from getting taxed. But the local governments still want to get paid either estate taxes or property taxes. By forcing the real estate in to the probate courts, the government makes sure they get their fair share.
Your challenge is to find some deals in probate. You can see from the facts above that there can be a lot of motivation with people dealing with an estate in probate. By far, the easiest way to find the deals is to send some marketing to probate attorneys. There are better and faster ways, but my partner and I had to write a whole manual to explain those techniques. I simply can’t fit them all here in this limited space. But if you know that most people will not try to probate an estate themselves and will seek out the services of an attorney to help them, then obviously you can short cut the whole process by sending letters or brochures to your local probate attorneys. In some states, you can even get pre-printed labels for probate attorneys from you state bar association. That way, half your work is already done. Now you just need to come up with a good letter to send them.
When you write your letters, simply tell the attorneys in a professional way what it is you do. Make yourself out to be an expert in the field. You might say something like “I am a local real estate investor who specializes in solving probate related real estate problems.” Do you see how you just became a specialist there?
Now you know why you really need to be working the probate market, and you know a great shortcut to the market. All you need to do is go out and put it to work!!
Happy Investing!!
Brandon Lambert
By: Brandon Lambert
About the Author:
I have been actively investing in real estate since 2002. Since that time, I have become an expert in finding deals in probate. The reason why I love probate so much is because of the people I get to help. However, because I am just one investor, I am limited in the amount of people I can help, so my partner, Jimmy Reed, and I decided to write a training manual on how to find deals in probate. That way, there can be an army of people just like me trying to help as many people as we can. And the bonus is that we get paid very well to render that aid. If you would like to find out more about how to find deals in probate, see http://www.probaterealestatedeals.com.
Kerry Peiffer