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Experts Explain How You Should Sell Your Inherited House

What To Do With An Inherited House With Multiple Heirs?

Do you need a solution to a property with multiple heirs? Some people who inherit a house in Houston inherit more than just the house…they inherit title issues as well. And a house cannot be sold until title issues are resolved. One common issue that can cause conflict regarding an inherited a house is a house with multiple heirs especially if the multiple heirs are a result of the lack of a will. Big State Home Buyers can help you in figuring out what to do with an inherited house with multiple heirs. Laquita had several siblings who were not easy to track down – click here for her story!

If you own a property, make sure to have a will and have specific instructions regarding the will. When you die without a will, your descendants inherit the house. That includes your children, their children, and so on. When a property has multiple owners as a result of not being included in a will, it is referred to as heir property ownership.

Heir property ownership can be a precursor to losing the land. When a house is inherited and passed down, the number of interest holders increases exponentially with each passing generation. This increases the chances that:

Heirs do not live on or near the land.
Heirs do not live near each other.
Heirs do not know one another.
Heirs do not know how to locate one another.
Heirs do not have a connection to the land. (Reference)

If you inherited a house with other heirs and there is no will, there are solutions to owning the property without increasing the amount of interests over time.

Buy out the other owners

One solution is to buy out the other owners. When there are multiple interests in a property, it is common that they will have different desires for the same property. Some will want to sell, and some might want to hold on to the house. If you want to be the only owner of the property, you might consider buying out the share of your siblings or co-heirs.

Partition the property

Another option when it comes to sorting out what to do with an inherited house with multiple heirs would be for the heirs to partition the property. A partition is the dividing of lands so that they may be owned separately, and each partition can be converted to sole ownership rather than co-ownership.

Partitioning is great because each person gets sole ownership (of something), which helps avoid many of the conflicts that arise from joint possession. If the property is small, or cannot be physically partitioned for other reasons, then it can also be partitioned by dividing the proceeds from the sale of the property.

Sell the property for cash and distribute the money among the heirs

This is another popular option when it comes to figuring out what to do with an inherited house with multiple heirs, whether or not there is a will.

Executor can prepare house for sale on the traditional market. This will most likely help heirs to receive the most from proceeds, but it will also require a lot more time, money, effort and communication.
Sell to investor at a discount for cash for quick closing.

A large percentage of inherited homes are sold to investors. In many cases, heirs do not want to spend the time and money to fix up the house for sale. One of Big State Home Buyer’s clients, Peggy, was in a position where the family was not communicating well. Our client was the executor of the estate, and her and her siblings decided that selling quickly for cash and dividing it among the siblings would be the best for everyone.

Read more about Peggy’s inherited house and how she chose to resolve the situation.