Ideally, when marketing to probates, you should contact the “PR” or Personal Representative, also known as the executor, who has been tasked with the fiduciary duty of liquidating the estate. They are, in short, the decision maker that has the greatest influence into what happens to the real property attached to the estate. (More on the role of the Personal Representative)
The PR’s mailing address may differ from the property address of the deceased. Indeed, the executor may be a child that lives 2,000 miles away. When PR information is included on output, you should always address mail to their name at their mailing address, in contrast to the property attached to the estate. Let’s say Bob Smith has been assigned by the Court to be the Personal Representative. You can address your mail the Personal Representative as follows:
The Smith Family
ATTN: Bob Smith
123 Main Street
Anytown USA
Bob Smith
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA
What if the contact information of the Personal Representative is not readily available?
There are 3,200+ Counties, and each County varies in terms of the depth and breadth of information provided. In many Counties, the PR info is not furnished. When our probate leads do not contain information on the Personal Representative, it does not preclude a potential home sale - you can still reach a captive audience by addressing:
The Smith Family
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA
-or-
The Estate of Sally Smith
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA
A few things to keep in mind:
- If there is a family local to the property, they will be checking the mail frequently, as it is their responsibility to finalize and pay off outstanding bills.
- If there is no one local and the family/PR is a great distance away, the PR will typically have the mail forwarded by the USPS so as to receive any mail delivered to the decendent’s address.
- Addressing to the family rather than PR will have a high open rate for any family member that is checking the mail. The family is receiving important estate-related mail and condolence letters.
As a sidebar, we highly recommend handwriting the envelope to guarantee the letter is opened.
About
It's a fact of life that trillions of dollars will be passed from one generation to the next in coming years. Atprobateleads.net, we help real estate agents and investors capture their share of this niche market by compiling data on recent probate filings. Armed with this information, you can reach motivated sellers that have an urgency to sell real property attached to the estate. For expert consultation, call us at 1-800-9124.
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