6 Pointers for Buying Dallas Real Estate at Estate Sales

By dallasrealtor | October 1, 2009

If you are interested in saving money on the purchase of Dallas real estate, you will want to consider the possibility of making the purchase of real estate through an estate sale.  Through this article, you are provided with six pointers associated with making the purchase of real estate through estate sales.  By following these pointers, you will be able to join the ranks of other people in the Dallas area who have found ideal real estate through estate sales.

1.  Although most courthouses in the United States have worked hard to make it easier for people to access case information — including probate case information — through their computer systems, that is not always the case in all areas.  With that said, it is important for you to understand the manner in which the court indexes and files probate cases in its master computer system.  The clerk of the court will be able to provide you with basic information about how to identify probate cases in that court’s computer filing system.  In most jurisdictions, the clerk of the court maintains a staff that is eager to assist people who are in need of information pertaining to the cases that are pending before the court, including the various probate matters that have been filed with the court.

2.  Once you have identified probate cases within the court’s computer or filing system, the next process that you will have to undertake is identifying the actual status of the case.  In this regard, you naturally will want to focus your attention on pending probate cases that have not yet been set for a final accounting.  Cases that have been set for a final accounting are those cases in which all of the property — including any Dallas real estate associated with the probate case — has been sold or otherwise dealt with through the court proceedings.

3.  As you go about identifying the status of certain probate proceedings, you will also want to determine what type of probate proceeding you’re reviewing. There are a number of different types of probate cases that can involve real estate:

•  last wills and testaments in probate
•  guardianship and conservatorship proceedings
•  trust matters and proceedings
•  in a few jurisdictions, certain types of family law related matters (but this is rare)

4.  You will want to access inventories that are associated with all probate proceedings and that are matters of public record.  You will be able to narrow your list of probate cases that will be of interest to you by identifying those probate cases that include real estate in their inventories.

5.  Another step that you will want to take is to scan the court records for orders permitting the attorneys or someone else associated with a probate matter (an executor, for example) to sell real estate.

6.  After you have identified those cases that are open and not at a point in which the properties that have been sold or otherwise disposed of, you will want to identify parties or attorneys associated with particular probate proceedings that are of interest to you.  More often than not you will be best served identifying attorneys and using attorneys as your point of contact in regard to a probate matter.

If you have any questions about purchasing a property in the Dallas real estate market or about Dallas realtors please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

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