Mom's in nursing home with dementia. I have POA and need to sell her house. Kids name on deed only as POD. What needs to be done to get the house sold?And when getting repairers done on the house toward selling how do I accomplish this in her name? My name's on the checking account so I have excess to her money but thinking I need to sign her name or something when signing the work contract?
thanks
Your mom is already in the nursing home so the proceeds from the house sale will either be handed over to them (private pay) or to Medicaid (if she's not already on it).
Don't do any repairs on the house. Why put any time, money, or effort into improving the place when it's going to be handed over to a nursing home?
Sell it as is. Have the realtor list it for whatever the market price is for a house in whatever condition it's in.
I had a Realtor through my mom's house a year ago just to get an idea of what we needed to do. It's an old Spanish-style house, was built in 1931 and the kitchen was last updated in 1969. Frankly, it's a tear-down. Someone will come in, gut it, and rearrange the entire inside to work better for today's living.
The Realtor suggested we get a new garage door because the old one was also circa 1969 and dangerous, and call it good. She also suggested we have the house inspected and present that inspection report to anyone interested in making an offer, because that's the best I can do in terms of disclosures. I haven't lived in that house since 1985, so I can't disclose anything.
If possible, get a Realtor who specializes in estates.
If you can watch some old episodes of a show called
"Zombie House Flipping"
I had to wait for her to “pass” first.
Look for a realtor now, and start packing up if she’s been there a lifetime.
it took me a month to clean out the entire 2 floors, plus an in-law suite, a finished basement and garage filled with tools.
Write didn’t the hours you work, into a journal with dates and times.
I was told to pay myself, and the fee was HER attorneys price of $50.00/hr. I would have done it for $25.00 but they knew how difficult she was.
Records are to “CYA,” in the future.
It took me a year to sell it, and thst was in 2013, when it went up for sale.
Do it in spurts if the house is big.
I had (2) helpers whom I paid $20.00/hr for the “heavy lifting.”
GoodWill got a ton of dishes and clothing.
I was upfront with the realtor, someone I know, about any problems I was aware of. We put the house on the market on a Thursday, had 9 offers by noon Friday, and we’re in contract on Saturday for $30,000 over the asking price. Luckily the house is in a desirable market.
I think showing an empty house worked because nothing was hidden or disguised from prospective buyers.
One note, check with your insurance company about coverage for an "unoccupied structure." I had to purchase a specific policy when the regular company found out Mom had moved out and no one was living there.
And since it is your mothers house you can honestly state that you are unaware of problems. (obviously if you are aware they need to be disclosed)
This is a Sellers Market now and I would be surprised if it sat on the market long.
You do need to get a fair appraisal and it should sell for Fair Market Value (or above) But I am sure even selling it As Is you will get that.
BY: Jane Doe, Agent/POA
BUT if your mom or your late dad were on any Medicaid program - LTC like in a NH or MC but also community based Medicaid- there will be a possibility of a lien or a claim against the property that will have to be dealt with eventually.
AND if it looks like mom will run out of $ even with $ from house sale and so mom will eventually herself need to apply for LTC Medicaid for NH stay, you need to try pay all repairs costs from moms checking account directly.
If you are paying the house repair / house sale related bills and then you reimburse yourself from moms acct later, those checks from mom to you look like “gifting”. Gifting is not allowed by Medicaid and those checks from her to you will be red flags for her Medicaid application as Medicaid requires basically 5 yrs of banking info, You need to keep serious and detailed records on all this to clearly establish that no gifting happened.
Thank you
The POA from my understanding has more authority than a TOD for the property.
You will use some of mom's money to hire the attorney.
Best wishes, just make sure the attorney is an elder law attorney.
Tho, once you sell the house it will be counted towards her money if she's on Medicaid and then she would have over the limit and wouldn't be able to stay on medicaid.
You should check everything out before selling her house.
If she is self pay at NH and will never need Medicaid to kick in (because she has more than adequate funds), selling house or what you spend won't come in to play where Medicaid is concerned. If she is going to need Medicaid because her funds will probably run out - keep good records. They look back 5 years and you'll have to report X amt paid for house repairs and house sold for X amt. With that information the determine her eligibility date for Medicaid. You inform the NH when she gets close to running out of funds and they will help you do the application.
You might discuss selling the house with all her children to make sure there isn't going to be an issue - be open with the records. Perhaps get them all to sign something saying everyone in agreement to fix/sell the house to use funds for mom's medical care...remaining assets would be left in the estate to be distributed according to her will (if she has one) or as directed by probate court if she dies without a will. If any hint of a problem, contact an atty to assist with the sale.