So you have inherited a piece of real property, but now what do you do with it, is selling to a cash buyer an option for you?
There are now steps you have to take as the new owner of the property. It can be especially difficult to determine what to do with an older home, as it might not sell quickly or for a good price.
Some people have this idea in their heads that inheriting a property is a quick way to make money. They picture this wonderful home in good condition that sells itself. However, this is often not the case. For one, if the home is still under a mortgage, you will have to continue making the monthly payments to the bank or risk losing the home to foreclosure.
Another situation is if the will is disputed, requiring a lengthy probate process before the property can be claimed. Still another situation is if a large amount of taxes are owed on the property, which needs to be paid by you as the new owner. Finally, the home might be in poor condition, making living there, selling, or renting it out difficult without significant renovations.
Tough decisions need to be made on any inherited property. In the case of multiple owners, such as occurs if more than one child is named as the inheritor of a parent’s home, the easiest and least contentious course of action is generally to sell the property. However, if this is an older home, significant investments in the form of repairs and renovations will need to be made before this sale can easily occur. Traditional buyers are generally looking to purchase homes that don’t require a lot of time, effort, and cost to renovate before moving in.
However, sometimes people feel reluctant to sell property they inherited, due to the sentimental value, such as if it was a childhood home. They want to keep the property even knowing it is not the best choice. They might decide to renovate and repair it to move in or to rent it out. Generally, this ends in regret because instead of becoming a source of income, the property becomes a liability and a burden. Of course, leaving you a burdensome property was not the intention of the person who left the inheritance!
Usually, the best choice for an inherited property is to sell it to a cash buyer.
Many investors are on the lookout for properties being sold as-is for cash.
Anyone who has previously sold a home will be able to tell you how time-consuming and difficult the traditional home selling process is. Prospective buyers have to be brought through the home, and then negotiations take place, yet sales can fall through even in the late stages, starting the whole thing over again.
A cash sale avoids many of these challenges. Rather than having a home on the market for weeks or months, the sale completes in days. You simply inform a cash buyer that you are interested in selling a property, and an assessment of the current value of the home is performed. The buyer makes an offer based on this assessment, and leaves you to make a decision on their offer. There’s no obligation to accept this offer, and you can have as long as you like to think it through.
Instead of putting the potential buyer in charge of deciding what needs to be fixed before the sale goes through, a cash sale puts you in the driver’s seat. You determine how fast things go. This is especially useful if you need the cash from an inherited property quickly, such as to pay back taxes, medical bills, or final expenses. It is also useful in situations with multiple owners, as everyone can see the value of the full offer and split the money easily.
This speed of sale can occur because there are only two involved parties – you and the buyer. A traditional sale involves you, agents for you and the buyer, your lender, and the buyer’s lender. A cash buyer has the money in hand and doesn’t have to wait for a lender to come through. Once the offer is made, you simply have to accept it and sign over the house to receive the cash.
This is true regardless of the condition of the home. A cash buyer is typically buying the house as-is, and won’t quibble over repairs being required before the sale can be made. Since there is no lender with a vested interest in the home, you don’t have to worry about whether the home is legally up to code before selling. Any necessary renovations become the buyer’s problem.
You might choose to go the traditional sale route in the interest of getting a higher offer. Bear in mind there are hidden costs you might not consider. When you accept a cash sale offer, that is the amount of money you will receive. In a traditional sale, you have to pay out real estate agent commissions, renovation costs, closing costs, and more. In the end, it is possible to end up with significantly less money on the table than the cash offer.
Talking to a cash buying company can take the stress out of dealing with the sale of an inherited property.
