The short answer
You can put the house on the market, accept an offer and let solicitors do all of the preparation. You cannot exchange contracts or complete until the grant of probate (or letters of administration if there's no will) has been issued, because until then nobody has the legal authority to transfer the property.
Why that matters
If a buyer in a chain is waiting on your grant, the chain can collapse. Cash buyers who understand probate, like us, simply wait and complete in the days after the grant arrives.
What to do while you wait
- Instruct a solicitor and get the draft contract pack prepared
- Gather the property information forms, guarantees and certificates
- Get the energy performance certificate done (it's required to market)
- Deal with clearance, or choose a buyer who takes contents
- Keep the insurance and security up to date
If there's no will
The process is the same but the document is called letters of administration, and the people entitled to apply are set by the intestacy rules. Timescales are similar.
If the house is jointly owned
Where the deceased owned the house as joint tenants with someone still living, it passes to the survivor automatically and probate isn't needed to sell. If they owned it as tenants in common, the deceased's share goes through the estate and probate is needed.