For attorneys & fiduciaries
Fewer moving parts on the real property. Less exposure at closing.
You are administering the estate; the house is one line item that can absorb a disproportionate share of your time and your risk. This page is about handing that line item off. I handle valuation, disclosure discipline, capital to prepare the asset, and disposition, so the file stays clean and the record supports you.
The Estate Property Report
Every engagement begins here. A written report on the estate's real property, delivered before any listing conversation, provided at no cost, and creating no obligation to list.
Valuation: two broker price opinions
The report carries two opinions of value: one as of the date of death, supported by retrospective comparable evidence, and one at current market, each documented for the estate file and the accounting.
Where IRS Form 706, a Washington estate tax return, or a court accounting calls for a formal appraisal, I coordinate with a certified appraiser rather than stretch the opinion to fit.
Both valuations are broker price opinions, not certified appraisals, and neither is a substitute for one.
The report also reviews publicly recorded items such as deeds of trust, liens, and easements, as a review of public records only. It is not a title report, title commitment, or title insurance.
The report is informational, not legal or tax advice, and promises no timeline.
A real deliverable
Estate Property Report
Date-of-Death Valuation & Asset Disposition Package
- 01Property identification
- 02Valuation, date of death and current
- 03Washington estate tax exposure
- 04Sewer or septic, and the time-of-sale requirements
- 05Publicly recorded items
- 06HOA or condominium
- 07Condition and preservation
- 08Preparation scope and estimated range
- 09Authority path and disclosure obligations
- 10Sequenced path to closing
- 11Fiduciary checklist
Capital to prepare the asset
No interest. No markup. No fee.
The estate repays exactly what was spent, at closing.
Pre-listing costs are advanced by Eastside Business Pro, Inc., up to $25,000 per property, subject to scope and equity approval. Construction, trade, and permitted work is performed by registered, bonded contractors under contract with the estate. Routine cleanout, grounds, and maintenance are performed by insured vendors.
Interest is not only a cost, it is an accounting problem. A conservator paying interest from a protected person's assets must justify it in a report to the court, and a personal representative paying interest reduces the estate. An advance at cost is easier to authorize than one that carries a charge.
Authority comes before expense
Authority to incur that expense depends on the fiduciary's powers, and the two common roles sit far apart.
A personal representative acting under nonintervention powers can authorize preservation work directly. RCW 11.68.011 grants those powers, and RCW 11.68.090 lets the personal representative sell, encumber, lease, or otherwise transfer the decedent's property without an order of the court: no approval, confirmation, or intervention required.
A conservator cannot. Under RCW 11.130.435, a conservator must give notice to the persons entitled to it and obtain specific court authorization before selling or encumbering the primary dwelling of the person under conservatorship, or any other real estate. Court authorization timelines vary by county and calendar, so the scope and the figures are prepared to fit the fiduciary's authorization schedule rather than a promised turnaround.
Either way, the authority to spend is settled before the first dollar moves.
The disclosure memo
The most repeated claim in this area is that an estate or trust sale is simply exempt from the Seller Disclosure Statement, Form 17. That is half true, and the false half is where liability is created.
A successor trustee of a living trust is not exempt from Form 17. The trustee must complete it.
The exemption is narrower than it sounds
RCW 64.06.010(6) exempts a transfer by the personal representative of a decedent's estate, and a trustee in bankruptcy, from the Form 17 requirement. It does not exempt a successor trustee of a living trust. A successor trustee selling estate real property must complete Form 17. Treating a living-trust sale as if it inherited the personal-representative exemption is the single most common error in this market.
Exempt status does not override the buyer's non-waiver
RCW 64.06.010(7) addresses the buyer's side. If any answer in the Environmental section would be a yes, the buyer may not waive that section. A seller's exemption does not erase the buyer's non-waiver of environmental disclosure.
Where Form 17 is required, a truthful Don't know is defensible
RCW 64.06.050 shields a seller from liability for errors or omissions the seller had no actual knowledge of. For a personal representative or trustee who never occupied the property, Don't know is a legitimate, defensible answer when it is genuinely true, not an evasion.
A seller is shielded from liability for matters they had no actual knowledge of.
This is not a substitute for your legal judgment. It is how the real-property side of the file is kept consistent with it.
Fiduciary authority at a glance
Court authorization, Form 17, and preparation authority, by role. Citations are to the Washington statutes discussed above.
| PR with nonintervention powers | Conservator | Successor trustee of a living trust | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court authorization to sell? | NoRCW 11.68.090 | Yesnotice and specific authorization under RCW 11.130.435 | No |
| Form 17 required? | Noexempt under RCW 64.06.010(6) | Not addressed by (6) | Yesthe (6) exemption covers a trustee in bankruptcy, not a trust trustee |
| Can authorize preservation work directly? | Yes | Via petition | Yesper trust terms |
Washington estate tax: why liquidity is the constraint
A single Eastside property can carry an estate past Washington's estate tax exclusion while never coming close to the federal filing threshold. The state return and payment come due nine months after the date of death, which is why liquidity, not sale price, is so often the binding constraint on a fiduciary.
$3,000,000
Washington estate tax exclusion for deaths on or after July 1, 2026.
9 months
from the date of death to the Washington estate tax return and payment.
- Deaths January 1 through June 30, 2026: exclusion $3,076,000.
- Deaths on or after July 1, 2026: exclusion $3,000,000.
- The exclusion is not set to increase, the CPI adjustment provision has expired.
- SB 6347, signed March 24, 2026 lowered the top marginal rate to 20% (from 35%) for deaths on or after July 1, 2026.
- The Washington exclusion is not portable between spouses.
- Return and payment are due 9 months after the date of death.
- The federal filing threshold is more than $12,000,000 higher, so most Washington estates that owe state tax never file federally.
This is informational, not tax advice, and every estate is different. Confirm the current figures and the estate's exposure with its CPA or attorney.
Two roles, one nine-month deadline
The estate tax clock runs from the date of death. A personal representative with nonintervention powers can authorize preparation immediately; a conservator must clear notice and court authorization first, compressing the runway that remains.
Personal representative, nonintervention powers
Can authorize preparation immediately. Full nine-month runway to the estate tax deadline.
Conservator
Notice and court authorization come first. The runway that remains is compressed.
A per-property status view
Each property carries a dated record of activity and of the costs advanced against it, kept as the work proceeds and exportable for court accounting and the estate file.
It is updated as things happen, and a written summary is sent while the property is listed.
See a sample dashboardAbout Justin Cicero
I'm Justin Cicero, Managing Broker with Real Broker LLC and founder of NW Luxury Homes, working across King and Snohomish counties from Kirkland.
More than 20 years and 500+ closed transactions in this market.
Before this practice, my work was the disposition of bank- and government-owned property, the foreclosure inventory of HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, and Washington Federal. I was selected as a HUD Local Listing Broker for Washington State and approved by Fannie Mae to list and manage its assets. The work ran through RES.NET, Equator, 24Asset, Pemco, and BLB.
Institutional sellers don't take a broker's word for anything. Every valuation is reviewed. Every timeline is fixed. Every action is documented and auditable. That's the same standard an estate file has to meet: a valuation that holds up under scrutiny, a record of what was authorized and when, and a closing that surprises no one.
You deal with me from the first call through closing, and the accountability stays with me. Behind that is a team of brokers and support staff who carry the day to day: contractor scheduling, access and vendor coordination, showings and open houses, status reporting.
Seller experiences
Justin's knowledge base reaches far beyond what is required to be licensed as a realtor. He understands real estate law, he understands the lending industry, and the regulations that govern it.
Seller
Seattle
He's great at counseling against decisions that would injure me as a client.
Samuel J.
Repeat client
Justin was incredibly helpful and patient throughout a complicated real estate situation. He worked closely with me every step of the way, offering guidance and professionalism.
Lisa S.
Seller
Further reading
A cited walk-through of the 2026 changes that land on estate real property: the estate tax change under SB 6347, the Snohomish and statewide septic requirements, the Form 17 exemption and who it misses, fiduciary authority, and environmental disclosure.
Read the guideRequest an Estate Property Report
The report is provided at no cost and creates no obligation to list.
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