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Become informed about selling an inherited property before deciding how to proceed. The difficulties of selling an inherited house differ from those encountered with the sale of a residence.
For the best outcome, understand the difficulties you face when selling a house left to you in a will or a trust. The deceased person could have used the property as collateral for outstanding consumer loans. The decedent could have been so ill that maintenance and utility bills, or even mortgage payments were neglected. When multiple heirs are involved, there may be disagreement about selling the family home.
Don’t be surprised if you discover indebtedness against the property. The house may have a tax lien against it from unpaid property taxes. The decedent may have taken out a second mortgage to pay for medical expenses. These and any other financial obligations can delay the sale of an inherited home.
The condition of the house can be the biggest obstacle to an easy sale. When you begin to remove the personal possessions of the deceased, major repair issues are often exposed. The carpet around the toilet may be covering a rotted subfloor. Black mold could be growing behind a pile of boxes in an upstairs bedroom.
The typical buyer doesn’t want a house with problems—such as a cracked foundation or a leaking roof. But the expense of making all the repairs necessary to get the house in good enough shape to pass a home inspection can be overwhelming.
If you have siblings, the thought of selling your mother’s house, for example, could stir up a disagreement. Your older sister might want to fix it up and turn it into a rental property. But you and your younger sister could be determined to get all the cash possible out of the house as quickly as possible. Disagreements between siblings can be a significant factor in delaying the sale.
There is nothing quick about getting property through probate. But selling your house to an experienced real estate investor is faster than any other option. Even if the title is transferred to you by another method, selling to an investor is still the easiest and most convenient way.
Los Angeles House Cash Offers has been serving homeowners in Los Angeles, California and the surrounding areas for many successful years. We understand the sale of inherited property. And we offer the best services in our area.
If you inherited the family home after the death of a parent, don’t be surprised if the empty house looks very different than it did when it was full of Mom’s or Dad’s belongings. There’s no longer anything to hide the actual condition of the house. And you will most likely notice problems in need of repair.
Whether it’s your family home or any other house, an inherited home usually has one or two expensive problems. As an example, a trip to the crawl space can reveal black mold growing on the floor joists, or standing water from a broken foundation.
Costly repairs don’t intimidate us. We buy houses in any condition. When you accept our fair cash offer, we take all the problems with the house. You have no further responsibility for the house’s condition.
We not only take care of all the problems of the house itself, but we also take care of all the associated issues as well:
As soon as our fair cash offer is accepted, you can have cash in hand in just a few days. Our quick sales process is usually completed in 3-30 days.
You don’t wait on a buyer’s loan approval when we buy your house. We pay with cash, which simplifies the entire transaction. You get all the cash we initially offered you at closing, with no deductions for any hidden fees.
To determine if the house must go through probate, find out if the deceased left a will, or if the house was left to you in a trust. It can still be sold while going through probate. Or it can be sold when you become the legal owner.
Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of someone who had died. A house must go through probate unless it is held in a trust or is jointly owned with a spouse.
If necessary, you need to get a probate granted by the court. (The court does not automatically grant probates.) The executor of the will or the administrator of the estate (if there is no will) can sell a probate house during the probate, with either a real estate auction or a private sale.
No probate is required if the house is held in a living trust. As soon as you have the title, we can buy the house from you. (In some cases, the trustee of the trust will sell the house to us and transfer the proceeds to you.)
You can sell your house without probate if you owned the home jointly with someone else, for example your spouse. Upon the death of the spouse, the property is transferred directly to you.
Probate cannot be avoided, but it can be shortened if the house is a part of what is considered a “small estate.” Each state determines the maximum size for qualification. California has a $150,000 limit for the whole estate except certain types of assets. If your inherited house qualifies, complete a “Small Estate Affidavit” form.
Los Angeles House Cash Offers has a long history of helping people with selling inherited property fast. Let our experienced professionals help you. No matter what physical condition the house is in or what legal problems it has, we buy it AS IS. And in just a few days you have cash instead of a property you don’t know what to do with.