If you are inheriting a real estate property, you may be wondering how to sell the property of a deceased parent. Well, there are several things you can do about it. After the death of a parent, some children want to keep their house to preserve their memories. However, being a homeowner is a lot of work, and many sell deceased parents’ property and turn their inheritance into cash.
Unfortunately, selling your loved one’s property can be a painful experience. We are sorry for your loss. In this article, we’re going to tell you how to identify the estate executor, handle inheritance disagreements, and come together to sell your inherited property. While it might be time-consuming, we hope that the process will run smoothly for you.
Confirming the Status of the Estate
The first step in selling inherited property is to confirm the status of the estate. If your parents had a will, then the attorneys who helped them put it together will have the information for you. Otherwise, you can request to see it through the probate court system with a status report. An estate’s status is public information.
When an estate becomes an inheritance, it has to go through probate court according to state law. The house, bank accounts, and most other personal property go into court and are separated according to the will. Unless it’s in a living trust or a specific kind of bank account, the property will be subject to an inheritance tax.
Depending on how complicated the estate and inheritance are, the probate process can take from months to years. Most wills are relatively simple, and it will just be a matter of what the family members inherit and what the decedent’s social security and insurance policies were.
You will not be able to sell the property until it is entirely out of the court system. There are several steps to transferring ownership of your parents’ home to you and your siblings. If the will is clear or you can make easy decisions about the estate, you will finally sell the house.
Transfer of Deed
To officially change the property into your or your siblings’ names, you will need to transfer the deed. The deed’s transfer is quickly done with a will and death certificate present and is part of the court process. The attorney or executor is responsible for transferring the deed into the proper owners’ names.
A deed is a relatively short document – all it needs to include is a statement that it is a deed, the signature of the owner or estate attorney, information on who is receiving the property, and a description of the estate. Transferring property with a deed seems complicated but is one of the simplest tasks on this list.
To transfer a deed, all you need is the deed itself, the original owner’s signature (or, in this case, a will, and a death certificate), and a witness. If there were two original owners in a joint tenancy, you would need both signature or death deeds. Similarly, if it is willed to multiple people in the will, they will all sign the new deed. You can also use an affidavit to transfer the deed.
Identify Estate Executor
The estate executor is responsible for ensuring that every part of the estate is taken care of and bequeathed upon the correct persons. This role is vital to any inheritance – without someone in charge, the estate could get stuck in probate court forever, or there could be disagreements about how to handle the will.
Generally, an estate executor is a paid position occupied by the probate attorney, a personal representative, or other legal aid. The executor is usually named in the will by the decedent and agreed on by the probate judge. In some cases, the executor is one of the beneficiaries. This scenario generally works when the will is small or uncomplicated enough not to need a professional eye.
The executor has a big job – not only are they in charge of handling the distribution of the estate to the beneficiaries, but they also have to manage the finances and estate tax of the estate until everything is settled. If a mortgage is still in place, the executor will use some of the estate’s cash to pay it until the beneficiaries take over.
If you are unsure who the executor is, ask the attorney who held the will. If there is no will, you can decide between your family members who would be the best option or choose to hire a court-appointed executor to handle the estate and probate process.
Notifying Interested Parties
Once you’ve established who the executor is, you’ll be able to proceed with the paperwork and legality of liquidating your parent’s home. For a will reading, you’ll have to notify everyone named on the will and any relatives who might want to attend.
If you are the executor, these are the people you will have to notify as the estate goes through the court system. As they are some of the estate’s inheritors, they will need to be updated on the estate’s status throughout the process.
If you’ve notified everyone involved and the executor is set, all you have to do is to wait until the estate is out of probate court. Once everything legal finishes, you’ll be able to decide what to do with the house and estate. After all of these steps, you can finally get started on selling your parent’s estate.
Handling Inheritance Disagreements
Unfortunately, inheritances don’t always get handed out smoothly. Disagreements between family members can mar every part of the process. After all, your family and families disagree. It’s possible to handle disputes about the inheritance with grace and to keep the relationships intact after it’s all over.
Hopefully, your parents were clear in their will and estate planning. Clarity and pre-death preparation is the easiest way to avoid disagreements. However, this isn’t always the case. Especially in a situation with no will, it can cause stress and tensions between the siblings.
If you aren’t confident you can make it through probate court and the division of goods without a sibling fight, you can hire an intermediary to assist you. The executor or personal representative can mediate and do their jobs as long as they can stay genuinely neutral.
One of the easiest ways to decide who gets what is to sell everything and split the money. If some siblings want some keepsakes, and you can all agree on their worth, then you can host an estate sale and turn the rest into money (which is much easier to divide). Of course, you’ll do the same thing for the house itself.
Selling Your Inherited House
If the house is split between more than one person, each person will have to sign off on a sale and a method of purchase. Research a family, and decide the best way to sell the deceased person’s house and honor the entire family.
Once you’ve agreed to sell the house and split the profits, you can start the real estate selling process. Since you’ve just been through probate court, you probably want to get this done as fast as possible. To prevent time-consuming paperwork and more waiting, sell with a real estate agent or a cash home buyer.
Using a Realtor to Sell Your House
Of course, you can use a real estate agent to sell your parent’s home. If you want a fair market value for the house and aren’t worried about taking your time, a real estate agent can give you a great price. If you are planning to sell your home with a realtor, ensure that you hire the best on the market.
A good realtor will know the current market and take care of all the home sale paperwork for you. They are professionals and will take the hassle of selling off your hands. However, they do take a cut of the profit and can take months to sell the house. If you’re trying to liquidate quickly, a realtor might not be the best option for you.
Selling an Inherited House for Cash
There is a faster method of selling your house–finding a cash buyer. There are many benefits of selling a house for cash: the speed of the transaction, lack of paperwork, and amount of work involved. Although you won’t make as much money for your house, you will be done with the selling process much faster, with cash in hand.
If you are selling your house with a real estate agent or by the owner, you will have to clean it out, do any renovations and minor repairs, and give house showings or open houses. On the other hand, there are companies that buy houses in Burlington and surrounding areas that will buy your house as-is. It’s beneficial if your parent’s home is in a state of disrepair or needs some work done.
Cash buyers are generally either house-flippers or investors and take houses of all different quality levels. Once you contact them, they will come to the house, appraise it, give you a price, and draw up the paperwork. It’s vital to go with a dedicated group. Research the company to ensure that they are reputable and won’t give you a bad deal!
Conclusion
Again, our condolences on your loss. With this guide, we hope that the inheritance and house from your parents are distributed quickly and efficiently, without any unnecessary stress. We buy houses in Vermont and surrounding areas; give us a call and we can take your property off your hands hassle-free.