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For trustees & fiduciaries
Selling trust or estate land: the fiduciary case for auction
Usually, yes - because a fiduciary has to be able to show how the price was reached. A public auction after an advertised marketing campaign produces exactly that: open competitive bidding, on a set date, with a written record. Since 2005 I have handled 34 trust and estate land sales this way.
The problem a fiduciary actually has
A trustee or executor selling land is in a different position from a family selling its own farm. You hold someone else's asset, you answer to beneficiaries who may not agree with each other, and your judgment can be questioned years later. (If you are the attorney or trust officer advising one, this page is written for you.) A private, negotiated sale — however good the price — rests on your opinion that it was good. An advertised public auction rests on the market's answer, given in the open, with the paperwork to prove it.
What "documented" means in practice
Every sale I manage runs through Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company, Inc. and follows the same week-by-week process: recorded groundwork, a written proposal, a four-to-six-week advertised marketing window with every piece archived, competitive bidding on auction day, contracts signed that day, and a closing file with the marketing record, the bid history, and the settlement statements. The track record shows 34 trust and estate sales handled this way — each one listed under its advertised name and linked to the company's own public page for verification.
“I attended the auction in person, and on the night of the event, Kevin and R.D. Schrader met with me to review the process once more. Everything unfolded exactly as they anticipated, demonstrating their deep knowledge of the business and confirming that I had made the right decision in choosing their firm.”
Tracts: the tool fiduciaries use most
Land sold as one block gets one kind of buyer. Offered in tracts and combinations, the same land draws neighbors, farm operators, hunters, and investors at once — and lets a family member bid on the home tract while the market prices the rest. The combinations compete against the whole until the higher total wins. Nothing about that requires the estate to decide in advance who should get what; the bidding decides.
Questions fiduciaries ask
How does an auction protect me as a trustee or executor?
Your duty is not to guess the market - it is to expose the property to the market and let it answer. The auction file documents the marketing (signs, mailings, advertising), the bidding, and the result. If a beneficiary or a court ever asks how you arrived at the price, the answer is a record, not an opinion.
What does the file contain when the sale is done?
The marketing record with every advertisement archived, the bid history from auction day, signed purchase agreements from that same day, and the settlement statements. It is delivered to you and your counsel at closing.
What if the heirs disagree - or one of them wants the farm?
Selling in tracts helps here. The land is offered in pieces and combinations, so a family member can bid on the tract or tracts they care about along with the auction - at prices the market set, not prices negotiated across the Thanksgiving table. It is a fair process for everyone.
How long does it take?
Typically ten to twelve weeks from the first conversation to auction day, with closing 30 to 45 days after. Probate and trust-administration timelines can be worked around; the auction date is set to fit the estate, not the other way around.
Start with the facts of your estate
Bring the deed, or just the county and a rough acreage. Ten minutes is usually enough to tell whether an auction fits — and if it does not, I will say so.
Licensed Indiana real estate broker and auctioneer, Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company, Inc.