Selling an inherited house does not have to be stressful. I just helped a homeowner who had inherited the family house several years ago. It was now vacant because the tenants and moved out. And she was relocating out of state and didn’t want to own a vacant house or do the repairs necessary to rent it out again. She responded to my I Buy Houses postcard and asked if I could help. She had an unwanted property that wouldn’t sell quickly because of all the repairs that were needed on the home.
When she first inherited the house, she thought about fixing it up then flipping it for profit. But managing a rehab would require more than just her time it also would take a lot of money. Her other option was to keep it as a rental. Keeping it as an investment property sounded like a good idea. So, for several years the home had been rented to family friends. They were doing the friends a favor by not charging them the market rent rates. And in return the tenants never made requests for repairs or updates. The house had not had any work done on it for over 10 maybe even 20 years. As long as the roof didn’t leak, and they had heat everyone thought this was a good deal. Until it wasn’t.
Over the years she had paid the property insurance and property taxes but had ignored the routine maintenance. Now that the tenants had moved out there was also the wear and tear that a family puts on a house so before she could rent it again she had to decide if she should spend the money on getting it ready to rent or was it time to sell? And if she did rent she was concerned about finding a good tenant.
I buy houses that need costly repairs. My partner and I buy houses at all price points. And we buy inherited houses with cash when homeowners need to sell quickly. Very often the homeowner also doesn’t want to list the home with an agent and pay the commissions. They already know the home has needed repairs so going through the inspection process would only delay them from closing quickly. They want to sell the house “as-is.”
We were able to help this property owner by simplifying the selling process for her. We bought the home “as is” at a fair price and paid the closing costs. She was able to focus on what truly mattered which was moving closer to family and starting her new job.
