Top Five Tips To Prepare Your Inherited House For Sale In Roanoke
If you inherited a property that you intend to sell, make sure you read this blog post all the way through to know the 5 tips to prepare your inherited house for sale in Roanoke…
When a loved one passes it is an emotional process for the entire family. For the last four years we have been helping families transition away from houses they inherited. Unfortunately, selling an inherited house can be one of the most complicated parts of dealing with an estate. Although inheriting a house might seem like a wonderful way for a loved one to pass something of value on to you, at times, it can be a huge burden. An inherited house can often be neglected or need updated. If you’re thinking about selling an inherited house, or if you are still exploring your options, here are 5 tips to prepare your inherited house for sale in Roanoke…
Preparing Your Inherited House For Sale — Tip #1: File the Will
First and foremost find out what paperwork you have from the deceased regarding their estate. This should include a Will that defines who is responsible for the house and any belongings. It is critical to take this document to your local courthouse and file it with the court. This can vary by locality, by most municipalities will have a person assigned to probate. A quick call to the locality in which the property resides should provide you the answers you need to get the Will properly filed. This is typically required to be filed within 30-60 days of the person’s death.
If you want to sell an inherited house fast, then this step is the most critical in being able to sell the house. Without being filed the Will can be rejected in the future and the chain of custody for the house becomes much more difficult to prove and will likely lead to multiple family members being involved that were not on the Will.
Preparing Your Inherited House For Sale — Tip #2: Keep the Memories
Perhaps one of the most common things we see when helping families sell an inherited house in Roanoke is their reluctance to let go of the house because they have attached their memories to the house itself. Last year I sat with a seller in her mother’s living room as she tearfully reflected on the memories, “I was buying”. She had grown up in the house and she was recalling countless Christmases and family gatherings. She described them so well, I felt like I was there for some of them. As we talked through her memories it occurred to me that the “memories are better than the memorabilia”. And that is all an empty inherited house is. A very costly piece of memorabilia that requires continuous maintenance, utility costs, taxes, etc.
Our suggestion is if you’re thinking of selling, but want to preserve the memories, do something special in the house — have a family homecoming celebration, gather some local family and take some pictures together. You’ll make some new memories and you’ll still be able to sell the house to keep it from becoming a burden to you.
Preparing Your Inherited House For A Fast Sale — Tip #3: Clean it Out?
I know when my grandmother died we had to go through five decades of stuff. Not only her stuff, but my grandfather who had died several years before her, my dad’s, my uncle’s and my personal childhood belongings from all growing up there. Collectively, we’re talking about more than 160 years of belongings. Wow, no wonder it took us more than a year to get the house sold! We for sure took the slow route and went through everything trying to sell it and remodel the house as we went. In the end we lost more money than just selling it as-is with everything we didn’t want still in the house.
There are times cleaning out the house is advantageous but for most families we encounter, selling the house after you have what you want is the way to go. If you plan on listing the house then you’ll want a clean sweep. But if you want to get your inherited house sold fast then don’t worry about some leave behinds.
Preparing Your Inherited House For A Fast Sale — Tip #4: Fix it Up?
The biggest decision families make in selling an inherited house is selling as-is or spending money to fix it up. Here is an example of a family we offered to help. I’ll keep it quick. Three siblings inherited their childhood home. They reached out to us and we made them an offer of $17,900 to buy as-is with the belongings in the house. Two of the three said yes, while the third out of town sibling said, no way. He planned to renovate it and sell it for retail. So for the next 17 months they worked on the house as a family; paying the mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, contractors, etc. After all this, they spent conservatively $26,000. They ended up selling the house for $41,300, about half of retail because they ran out of money and patience to finish the renovation.
If you inherited the house from someone who lived in it a while, chances are good it needs either a facelift or a substantial update to make it current. How you proceed will likely determine how much you will actually net when your inherited house sells. In the above example the seller actually lost over $2,000 and they were not at all getting along at the end of this 17 month saga.
Preparing Your Inherited House For A Fast Sale — Tip #5: Weigh Your Options
The final tip is to slow down and weigh your options. If you want to sell your inherited house fast then more than likely a real estate investor will be your best option, but you won’t know unless you contact them. Most if not all investors will provide a free, no obligation offer to you. You really have nothing to lose in contacting JPHomeBuyers to see what our offer would be.
On the other hand you can go the traditional route and contact an agent to list the house. This will surely be a slower process to get the house sold, but it can at times net you more. Make sure to factor in all the fees associated with selling through an agent. These add up fast and many people don’t take the time to consider how much money they’re going to give up.
In SummarySelling an inherited house in Roanoke doesn’t need to be complicated. Hopefully this post has provided some much needed information. As you consider these 5 Tips To Prepare Your Inherited House For Sale In Roanoke please consider contacting us for a free offer on your inherited house.