Five stages, no surprises
How a sale of an inherited house works, start to finish
Selling a house you inherited has more moving parts than selling one you bought, so here is the whole path in plain order. You can stop at any stage and owe nothing.
- Heirs and co-heirs welcome
- Belongings can stay
- Written offer before you commit
- Title work handled by a local firm
Stage one: you tell us what you know
Fill in the form, call the number in the header or email us. The useful basics are the address, the name on the deed if you know it, whether anyone else shares the inheritance, and a rough sense of where the estate stands. If you do not know, say so. Plenty of heirs reach out in the first week, long before any papers have arrived, simply to learn what is possible.
We reply with questions, not a sales pitch. If the property is outside the part of San Tan Valley we cover, we say that right away. Browse the San Tan Valley area guide if you are unsure whether your address qualifies, or read about us first.
What helps
Address, who inherited, whether a loan exists, and whether the house is occupied or empty.
What does not matter yet
Repairs, cleaning, a clear value. We handle those later.
What we never ask for
A bank password, a card number or a Social Security number in an email or on the form.
Stage two: we look at the house and the paperwork
Next we want to understand two things: the condition of the property and who can legally sell it. For the first, a short walk-through or a set of phone photos usually does it. Someone with a key, whether an heir, a neighbor or a property manager, can let us in. If you are out of state, tell us and we will plan around that instead of asking you to travel. Houses in older communities such as Johnson Ranch sometimes carry extra association steps, which we flag early.
For the second, we ask what documents exist. That might be a will, a trust, a court appointment, a deed or just the news that an attorney is working on it. We are not the ones who decide who has authority. An Arizona probate attorney does, and a title company will want proof before it closes anything. What we can do is tell you early what we will need to see so nothing arrives as a surprise on closing week.
The walk-through
Brief, scheduled around the family, and about the bones of the house rather than the housekeeping.
The documents
Anything you have is useful. Missing pieces are normal at this stage.
The authority question
Ask an Arizona probate attorney who may sign. We take their answer, not our guess.
Ready to send the address?
Those few lines start everything described above.
Stage three: the written offer
The offer is a document, not a phone call. It sets out the price, who pays which closing costs, how belongings are handled, the date everyone is aiming for and the route we are proposing, cash or taking over the loan payments. If several heirs are involved, it is easiest if one person receives it and forwards it, or if we send the same copy to each of you.
Read it with whoever you rely on: an attorney, a CPA, an older cousin who has been through this. Ask questions. Offers on inherited houses are usually below what a fully repaired and staged listing might fetch, because we take the repairs, the cleanout and the waiting on ourselves. You are free to counter or decline. The offer routes page explains how the two options differ.
We send the offer
One document with price, dates and what stays in the house.
You and your advisers read it
Take the time you need. There is no countdown clock on our end.
You counter, accept or decline
Any answer is a fine answer.
A purchase agreement is signed
Only after everyone with authority is ready.
Stage four: title company, signatures and the clock
An Arizona title company handles the closing. It confirms who owns and who may sign, collects any association or lien payoff figures, prepares the settlement statement and holds the money until the deed is recorded. Nobody hands over cash across a table. If you live elsewhere, signing can often be arranged by mail or with a mobile notary, and the title company tells you what it will accept for your documents.
The closing date is not something we set from a calendar. It depends on how soon authority is confirmed, how quickly the loan or association figures arrive and how soon the family is ready. When there are no hurdles it can be quick. When there are, it takes as long as it takes, and we say so up front. If you would like to see what circumstances tend to slow things, the situations page goes through them.
Who holds the funds
The title company, never us in a handshake.
Remote signing
Often possible. The title company confirms what it needs.
Releasing the house
After closing the keys, garage openers and mail change hands as agreed in the offer.
Stage five: after closing
Once the deed records and the funds are disbursed, the house is no longer your responsibility. The utilities, the insurance and the property tax bill all move to us. If the sale involved taking over the loan payments, the paperwork states who pays what from that day on, and you will have it in writing from the attorney and title company who worked on it.
Keep a copy of the settlement statement with the estate's records. A CPA or the estate's attorney will probably want it. If any question comes up later, you can reach us through the contact page. And if you are still deciding, start with the heir questions page where the common worries are answered in a few lines each.
Records
Hold on to the settlement statement for the estate's file.
Utilities and mail
Handled per the offer. Say what you want forwarded.
Questions later
Contact page, phone or email. We answer.