People sometimes don't know what's going on with their properties.

I had asked the seller if there were any outstanding debts against the properties. She said no. "I own it outright."

We list the house and accept an offer.

We got the preliminary title report* as usual. In a couple of days I get a call from the escrow agent. "What about the $45,000 personal loan on the prelim?" I react, "huh?"  the escrow agent said, "We need a payoff demand. It looks like it's a personal loan. Can you get the contact information from the seller."

So I called the seller.
Me: "Do you know anything about this loan? It looks like it's 30 years old. It's owed to a man."
Seller: "That was a long time ago. Just tell them that debt no longer matters. Please."
Me: (Really?!) "That's not the way it works. The loan has to be paid off or the title company won't insure the property. The buying bank won't make the loan because banks don't lend on clouded titles. Do you know where the person is?
Seller: "No. He passed away a long time ago."
Me: "He's dead? Oh, no."

So I called the escrow agent.
Me: "Jamie, the person who made that loan has passed away."
Jamie: "You're gonna have to do a probate."
Me: " I knew you're were gonna say that."
Jamie: "I know a good probate lawyer."
Me: "Yeah, me too."

And that's how we ended up in a probate sale situation. Guess what? It''ll be a few months to resolve it. So the sale is cancelled. Oh, my.

Me: "What's this about defaulted property taxes? It says $10,114!"
Seller: "Really? I don't know anything about that."


* Preliminary Title Report: A report done by a title company before issuing title insurance coverage. The report shows the ownership of a specific property along with the liens and encumbrances that will be paid off and covered.

There were no over bidders for Yale. I met with the listing and buying agent in court just to say hello. They asked me if I was bidding or if I was bringing someone to overbid. I told them neither.

The first over bid was $300,800 so I estimated the winning bid must have been around $286,000 [($286,000 + 5%) + $500].

The house went pending Jan 25, 2013 and went to court on April 11. 2013. That's not too bad. But, oh, I heard that this was the second time for them being there because there was some problem the first time.

The confirmation was nice and boring. No one bid up and no one opposed the sale. The buyer looked happy and relieved.

As usual, the court confirmation was in Berkeley at 2120 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Dept 201.