When a foreclosure quote and an heir's payoff offer arrive in the same week, which path actually wins

The decision turns on how your state handles two things, and both are answerable before Friday.

First, whether your legal costs are recoverable in the redemption amount. Many lien states allow a certificate holder who has begun the statutory foreclosure or deed process to add specified costs to the payoff, often including service and publication and sometimes attorney fees, and many limit or exclude fees entirely. That single provision changes the shape of the downside. If costs are recoverable and the servicer redeems at month four, you're roughly where you are now plus interest on a larger base. If they aren't, the $4,800 to $6,500 is at risk against an outcome you don't control. Your attorney can tell you which it is in that state, and get it in writing.

Second, the probate defect. An estate that was never properly opened means the parties who must be served may not be identifiable from the record, and in stricter due process states an insufficiently served party can attack the deed afterward. That risk doesn't end at the deed, it follows you into the resale, because a title company deciding whether to insure will look at exactly that service list. Ask the attorney directly what the path to insurable title looks like and whether a separate quiet title action is likely on top of the current estimate.

On the granddaughter, she can redeem through the treasurer whether or not you agree to wait, subject to the deadlines in your statute. An informal promise from you doesn't change her rights or yours. If you'd take $8,720 today, the question is whether the state lets you keep the meter running while she raises it.

On a house where taxes went unpaid for years and the prior owner died some time ago, an as-is offer from a wholesaler deserves a second opinion from someone who isn't in the business of getting the seller excited. In markets like this, the gap between as-is value and what a vacant property actually sells for tends to run larger than expected.

Has anyone asked what the inside of the house looks like? Nothing in the post says it's been seen since the sale.

That is the question worth answering before any deadline. Between a servicer's input and doubt about an unverified value, a foreclosure path built on an unconfirmed number and a title process with a probate complication is a real bet, not a formality. Steady interest earned simply by paying subordinate taxes on time over several years is often the more reliable outcome. If pushing forward with the deed process is still the choice, it is worth asking the attorney what the service list looks like against an unopened estate before committing to the retainer.