Inheriting a house is one of the few big surprises that life brings us sometimes. But what happens when you inherit a house in TX? As much as you may want to keep an inherited house, sometimes you may be forced to consider putting it up for sale. Well, selling an inherited house can be a demanding task, but definitely not impossible! With the right information and assistance from Texas Best Home Buyers, you should have no problems selling your inherited house. So where does the difficulty come from with selling an inherited house in TX?
Exactly what happens when you inherit a house in TX?
There are a number of factors that should be taken into consideration when planning to sell an inherited house in TX. Some of these factors include…
- Dealing with the emotional aspect of selling a loved one’s home
- The financial cost of making necessary updates intended to attract buyers
- Dealing with potential costly liens and other hidden challenges
- Dealing with the probate process and taking ownership
- Understanding how the inheritance will affect your taxes
First, know it’s normal if you’re dealing with a rollercoaster of emotions.
Selling a loved one’s house can be such an emotionally draining activity… This really cannot be stressed enough. If there are multiple heirs it can be difficult to sort things through and make important decisions when everyone is grieving the loss of the loved one.
If there is a single heir or if the heirs are in agreement it helps things go a lot more smoothly. But sometimes if emotions are high and heirs have different views it can really challenging. For example, some may be in favor of selling while others are against it. Or maybe there are disagreements about what price to sell the home for. If this happens it is important to involve your real estate lawyer and or a mediator. It can actually save a lot of time and money to get outside help if needed at this stage.
Another emotionally challenging stage is if you do decide to sell on the open market it may involve removing the belongings of the deceased, and depersonalizing everything in the home.
Throughout this understandably difficult situation, try your best not to let your emotions carry you away though. We often don’t make the best business decisions when feeling emotional. So take some time to process emotions if needed before jumping into big decisions. And then reach out to professionals like real estate agents who have experience with probate, and/or a mediator or a real estate attorney.
Times like these are when you need people with experience buying and selling probate homes in TX to help walk you calmly through the whole process.
Assessing the status of the mortgage and making the decison to sell
The first step to take is to find out the status of the mortgage and if there are any liens on the property. Your real estate professional can be a valuable resource if this is the case. It is best if you clear up any liens on the property before selling on the open market though. It is not likely a property will sell on the MLS if there are liens. Buyers who are going to be getting a mortgage themselves will need to have a clear title when they purchase a home.
However, if the property is yours and there are no liens to manage you still need to confirm ownership. Try to get a sense of when you will actually take ownership of the property. If you inherited the property via a living trust or life estate deed the process will be much faster than if you have to go through probate. When you are ready to sell your house in Fort Worth, you can inform the executor of the estate to petition the court in order to get the “go ahead” sign and proceed with the sale.
Apart from that, you will have to meet the financial cost needed for maintaining the property and making the required updates to make the property competitively marketable.
Tax consideration The tax basis of your property is the house value on the date that the person who willed you died. The difference between the amount you realize from the sale and the value of the house on the date the original homeowner passed away is basically the gain on which you owe the taxes. If you plan to sell the property in a few years you might be able to get a home sale tax exclusion if you live in the home as your primary residence for a total of at least two of the previous five years. It is best to discuss the sale and any proceeds with your tax professional so you don’t end up owing.
3 ways to sell
You could sell your house on the open market and hire a real estate agent, but know this will take time (usually 3-6 months) and effort even though you have an agent. You’ll still need to declutter, deep clean, spruce up your curb appeal, stage the home and have showings to get the top price for your home.
You could also sell the home FSBO or for sale by owner. If you do, know that you will have even more work to do!
If you’re pressed for time or if you don’t want to have more work on your plate to deal with the process of preparing to sell and then selling, consider selling to a cash buyer. If you house qualifies, it can be faster, easier and a whole lot less stressful than selling on the open market.
These are tough decisions to make. If you want or need the help of real estate professionals who have experience helping many people sell their inherited properties, reach out to Texas Best Homebuyers! Give Texas Best Home Buyers a call now at (817) 808-4911.
If your local Fort Worth house meets a few simple qualifications, we can buy your house fast. We can close on the sale in as little as a week. And you can move whatever you want to take with you on your schedule. We can take care of everything else. There’s no need to declutter, clean, make repairs or have showings. We do our best to make the process as easy on you as possible and there won’t be any real estate commission fees or closing fees to come out of your proceeds. Let us know if you’d like to discuss your situation. We look forward to hearing from you!