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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?
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You can do all of this with a POA. Talk to a realtor about getting the house listed.
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.
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I agree -- sell it "as is" with no warranties implied. It is not your house, therefore you are not able to do disclosures as to its condition.

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.
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MJ1929 Aug 2021
Also, as POA, you don't ever sign her name to anything. You sign your name and "POA" after that.
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I agree with the other posters, sell it as is,

If you can watch some old episodes of a show called

"Zombie House Flipping"
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I was conservator and my probate lawyer told me to “sell as is,” despite realtors trying to “flip it,” for higher profit. Don’t go there.
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.
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I sold my mom's condo for her when she was in and out of rehab and hospital. Have an extensive POA. I had it repainted and recarpeted, that was it. I worked at the time for a title company so I was able to run my POA by one of our attorneys. Apparently, not all POAs allow you to do a real estate transaction. You may want to call the attorney who did the POA for you. I did the closing myself, she did not have to be involved at all. Find a great real estate agent you know/trust mine actually dealt with getting the painters and carpet guys there for me and I paid them directly with my mom's funds. Good luck!
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igloo572 Aug 2021
what You posted is way, waaaay important, the POA has to absolutely allow for real estate transactions. The wording has to be just right for your states laws.
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We sold Mom's house As Is 4 years ago with a few repairs. I cleaned everything out, scrubbed the kitchen appliances and floor, cleaned out and scrubbed the cabinets. We spent maybe $500 repairing a few holes in the ceilings and had the basement walls painted. We also removed the living room carpet, which was old and worn, the house has hardwood floors. I had to hire a company to clean out the very neglected garage. 3 truckloads of trash to the dump! My brother and I removed some partition walls Dad had put up to divide the basement.

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.
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Selling "As Is" can take a huge burden off your shoulders.
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.
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As POA, you sign HER name and then:
BY: Jane Doe, Agent/POA
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We're in the process of selling dads house. He is in memory care and hasn't lived there in almost 2 years. As conservator, I had to go to the court to get permission. It's been 5 months of weekends cleaning, moving stuff to ministorage, hiring a company to clean out the back sheds (where rats lived - I wasn't gonna touch that), estate sale company to sell cars, manage sale, leave house empty, replace water heater, fix hole in the ceiling, clean carpets, and my husband and I powerwashed house and patio. Back fence is still down (propped up) but no companies have time right now to fix it. Been on the market a week and in the crazy real estate market where I live, we figured we would have multiple offers by now but we've only had 1 low ball offer from an investor. Gonna talk to the realtor about lowering the price. But I needed to prove to my 3 siblings (who have been non existent during this entire process) that this price was unrealistic to start with. They will never forgive me if I sell too low.
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mom1958 Aug 2021
Why would they be upset if you sold too low? All the money will continue to go to his care...more than likely there will be nothing left to hand out to them when he passes. Its hard to have to go through all of this alone...I feel your pain.
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I want to thank everyone for the great advice.It is such a relief to see that so far I am not too far off the track of what needs to be done.Its so all consuming getting everything out of the house and finding repair services to fix problems.I keep thinking I need to over fix the house to sell. I have 3 brothers that don't really care what goes on and are of no help so am the only one trying to figure it out. Thank God for my ex-husband though, he has been there helping me tremendously with organizing and the moving the stuff out of the house.
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Island9445 Aug 2021
As a Realtor, we sell homes all the time in "As Is" condition (I'm licensed in MD). We have a specific addendum that states the buyer(s) of the property have the right to any inspections they choose but the seller(s) will not pay for any repairs, etc. Hope you find this helpful information. Good luck!
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Nobody has brought up Medicaid in the answers so far.
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.
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There are realtors that is buy the house as-is and will even give you a check on the spot.
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Island9445 Aug 2021
Nope, not a good way to go. As a Realtor, there is a LOT more to that than meets the eye. Contact an Elder Care Attorney and have them direct you as to how to proceed.
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You need to get in contact with an elder care attorney asap. He can help sort things out. I would say get your name off her account because since you are POA, you can still pay her bills with her checking but sign your name with POA behind it. Make sure the bank has a copy of that POA. I know.......cause I am POA for my mother, no name on her accounts, i pay all bills and just sign my name with POA behind. it. I have been in contact with elder care attorney when my dad first had issues back in 2014 and have now continued on with mom. again, contact an ELDER CARE ATTORNEY..........wishing you luck.
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Lamb232 Aug 2021
Thank you. This will be a question that will soon come up for me. I'm a new POA and just beginning to sort things out.
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Is it a nursing home or an assisted living facility?
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Mimsy56 Aug 2021
Is there a difference? If so what is it?
Thank you
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Get an elder care attorney ASAP. He/She will help you sort this out. If your mom could be a candidate for Medicaid, there are so many things that need to be considered.
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.
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You don't need to sign her name on the work contract as long as it lists your mom's house or you can sign her name and as per and sign yours underneath. They don't care as long as they're being paid.

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.
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suzieQw: Imho, you may want to retain an elder law attorney, especially if Medcaid (even though you don't mention it) is a factor.
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If you are legally her POA sign her name and then yours as “by your name POA/Agent. Put that language after your signature.
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So you don't get into any trouble, contact an eldercare attorney at once. This is complicated - don't mess with this one.
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If your name is on the checking account, have some new checks printed up that show both names. Then you sign your own name to the check. No questions about it later on that you 'forged' her name. Your POA gives you permission to handle business on her behalf.

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.
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Ask an attorney but you could always sign your name adding poa for her name.
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