“You Have Just Inherited a House!” These words often come as an unexpected surprise and can turn into a large time-consuming hassle. The property is often located out of town or in an area that you do not know well. In addition, your schedule is already filled with other priorities like family, and your own home. The expenses related to inheriting can also be very large.
So what should you do when you inherit a house in Richmond, VA? Often, your first reaction is that you may want to keep the house for sentimental reasons. Other times, you realize that you may be forced to sell the property because of the associates costs, maintenance fees, and management time that is necessary. Selling an inherited house can be a very demanding and difficult task. However, with the right help and guidance from RVA Home Buyers, you can sell the home quickly and with no hassles.
The Challenges of Selling an Inherited House in Richmond
Individuals can face many difficulties and complications when trying to sell an inherited house. Based on our research and experience, here are 3 of the top challenges:
- Dealing with the emotional aspect and personal feelings of selling a loved one’s home
- The financial cost of making the necessary repairs and updates required to sell the home through “normal” channels (e.g., realtors)
- Finding potential costly liens and other hidden title challenges and hidden expenses while in the process of selling
Preparing for the Emotions of Having to Sell the Inherited House
Selling a loved one’s house can be such an emotionally draining and very time consuming activity. You will most likely have to remove and dispose of belonging of the person from whom you are inheriting the house. Sorting through all of the items and determining what to save and what to throw away can be very draining. When in these situations, many of us will tend to make unwise business decisions. During these times, it is very important to work with people who have extensive experience buying and selling homes in probate. They can lead you step-by-step through the process and make recommendation based on experience, not emotions.
Should I Just Turn the Sale Over to a Realtor?
Sometimes selling a house the traditional way with a real estate agent is simply not the best for everyone, especially when the house has been inherited. As you know, there can be lots of pitfalls when selling a house the agent route, including: having to clean up and repair the property so it shows well, finding an agent who you can trust and who can deliver on their promise (selling your house quickly), signing a contract that binds you to an agent for a certain term, the piles of paperwork you have to sign, shuffling paperwork back and forth from buyer … to agent … to you… and back. Realtors simply do not have much experience will selling inherited houses.
Negotiating and Managing the Sale of the Inherited House
After spending the money to make the needed repairs and upgrades to the house, you still may face other challenges and obstacles as you move forward with a sale. Often, problems are not found until close to the settlement and will often derail and void the contract. The seller would then need to start the process all over. Plus, there are also potential legal and taxation issues which a seller may encounter. For these reasons, it is very important to get the correct profession advice to avoid potentially devastating consequences.
Ok, I Now Understand the Challenges, What’s My Next Step?
If you are interesting is selling an inherited house now or in the foreseeable future, you should contact an experienced buyer that understands the full process of inheriting and selling a house quickly. RVA Home Buyers can help with the end to end process in Richmond, VA.