An In Depth Guide To Sell Your Parent’s House Quickly After Death

Over the next few decades, Baby Boomers are expected to inherit more than $27 trillion from their parents. A huge portion of that inheritance includes their parents’ houses.

In some cases, inheriting a house from your parents is a great thing. In other situations, it’s an additional burden you have to handle after your parents pass away.

Maybe you can’t afford to maintain the house or simply don’t want it. In these cases, it’s best to try and sell the house and move on.

If you’re in a situation where you need to sell a parent’s house after death in a hurry, keep reading. This guide will tell you everything you need to know.

Consult the Will

The first thing you need to do if you’re dealing with an inherited house is to consult your parents’ will. Look at it carefully to figure out whether there are any issues that need to be addressed before you can sell the house.

You also need to ensure that the executor of your parents’ estate has the authority to liquidate their property.

If the executor does not have authority over your parents’ property, you, as the beneficiary, are in control and can sell the property regardless of whether or not you have the executor’s consent.

Remember that every state has specific laws regarding the sale of an inherited home. Do some research or consult your attorney to make sure you’re in compliance with these laws before you move forward with the sale.

Pay the Bills and Deal with Debt

Remember, when you inherit a house, you also need to deal with the debt associated with that house.

You will not inherit the debt directly unless you co-signed your parents’ mortgage. Instead, those debts will have to be paid from your parents’ estate.

Do some research to figure out what, if anything, is owed on the house and make sure those debts get paid.

It’s a good idea to consult your lawyer when you’re going through this step, as it can be tricky to figure out the specific inheritance and estate laws in your state.

Collect Essential Documents

As you’re going through the process of getting the house ready to sell, be sure to take some time to gather up all the essential documents associated with the house.

The following are some of the most important documents you’ll likely need:

Your parents’ will
Copies of receipts from their most recent bills
Investment documents
Insurance documents.
Bank account documents

It’s not always easy to find these documents — parents often have a tendency to stash them in some weird places. You’ll likely have to search through their desk drawers and file cabinets to locate everything you need.

If you have no idea where to find something, reach out to another family member or family friend and see if they know where the documents might be.

Change the Locks

As you’re getting ready to sell your parents house, make sure you have total control over the property.

This includes changing the locks so that no other family members or friends can come over and try to sift through your parents’ things.

You ought to change the mail, too. This helps to enhance the security of the home and protects you and the property.

Clear Out the House

Now, you need to focus on clearing out and decluttering the house.

This is definitely not an easy task, especially if your parents lived in that house for a long time. You’ll likely need to block off several full days to go through everything and decide what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away.

If possible, try to recruit family members or friends to help you through this process.

You can also hire a decluttering service to come and handle it for you if the idea of going through your parents’ things is too difficult for you to handle.

Prepare to Sell

Once the house is cleared out and all debts are paid, it’s time to get the house ready to sell.

If you plan to sell your parents’ house on the market, you’ll likely need to hire a real estate agent — unless you decide you want to take on the added responsibility of selling the house by owner.

You’ll also need to take steps to get the house in good condition so that it will sell quickly and at a fair price.

This might include paying for repairs, renovations, and landscaping. You might need to handle decorations and home staging, too.

Consider a Cash Buyer

If the idea of clearing out a house and preparing to sell it makes you feel nauseated, remember that you have other options.

There are other ways to sell a house quickly without having to deal with open houses, appraisals, and all the other aspects associated with a typical home sale.

Instead of taking this approach, you might want to consider working with a cash buyer instead.

A cash buyer, as the name suggests, will give you cash for your parents’ house and buy it as-is.

This is a great option if you don’t have the time or energy to prepare their house for a sale.

Cash buyers work very quickly, too, so you’ll be able to get the money you’re owed and move on with your life much sooner than if you sold the house on the market.

Sell a Parent’s House After Death Today

It’s not easy to have to sell a parent’s house after a death.

It’s hard enough having to cope with the loss of your parents, and adding the stress of a home sale on top of that is just too much for some people.

If this sounds like your situation and you’re not equipped to handle selling a home through a real estate agent, consider working with us instead.

We’re here to make the process as quick and stress-free as possible.