Find the one closest to yours
Six common inherited-house situations, and how each is handled
Every family handles an inheritance differently, but the knots tend to repeat. Here are six we hear about most, with an honest view of what each means for a sale.
- Heirs and co-heirs welcome
- Belongings can stay
- Written offer before you commit
- Title work handled by a local firm
Several heirs, one house
Co-heirs share a house the way four people share a rowboat: it only moves when everyone paddles in the same direction. If one sibling wants to keep the place, another needs cash for a mortgage of their own and a third has not returned a call in months, a traditional sale can stall for a very long time. A buyer who can close on a schedule the family sets, as is, with no repairs to argue about, takes some of the heat out.
In general, a house held by several people needs all of them, or someone with legal authority to act for them, to sign. If the family cannot agree, that is a question for an Arizona probate attorney, since the court has tools for it that we do not. What we can do is send the same written offer to each heir so nobody feels they are the last to know, and let you compare notes. Start on the how-it-works page if you want the order of events, or write to us through the contact page.
Same paper for everyone
We send one offer, not a different story to each person.
Silence is common
If one heir is hard to reach, an attorney can advise on what is required.
Splitting the proceeds
That is for the heirs and their attorney or the estate to decide, not us.
You live out of state
Plenty of heirs to San Tan Valley houses live in another state, sometimes several time zones away. Flying in with a week of vacation and a to-do list that would fill a month is a recipe for burnout. A lot of the work can be done from where you are: the call, the photos, the offer, the paperwork and, with the title company's agreement, signatures through mail or a mobile notary.
Tell us who has a key. A neighbor, a family friend or a property manager can open the door for the walk-through, and we can arrange access around their schedule. If nobody has a key, say that too, because the title company and an attorney can help sort out access. Questions about handling an estate from a distance are common, and our heir questions page has short answers.
No trip required
Many sales are handled entirely remotely, subject to what the title company accepts.
Key access
Neighbor, friend, manager or locksmith. We work around whatever you have.
Time zones
Tell us which hours and which time zone suit you, and we will plan the calls around them.
Which of these is closest to yours?
Say it in your own words. Nothing needs to be sorted out first.
The house is still full of belongings
A lifetime fits into a three-bedroom house with room to spare. Closets, a garage, a hall cabinet nobody has opened since the move, a shed. Sorting what to keep, sell, donate and toss can take months, and the longer it takes, the longer the carrying costs run. Some families rent a dumpster and push through a weekend. Others cannot face it, or cannot be there, or simply are not ready.
We buy houses with the contents in them. Walk through and take every item you want, which might be a recipe box, a quilt and a set of tools. If you would like to be paid for furniture, an appraiser or estate-sale company can help, though that is optional. Whatever stays is written into the offer so everyone knows what has been left behind. Look at our offer routes page to see how condition and contents are treated in pricing.
Take what you value
Photos, papers, jewelry, tools. Go at your pace before closing.
Leave the rest
Written into the offer, so nobody argues about it later.
Valuables
If you think something is worth money, have it appraised before the sale. We will not guess.
Probate has not finished
A house can sit in a holding pattern while an estate is handled. Depending on how the house was titled, some estates go through probate and some do not. Who is allowed to sign, and when, is for a court and an Arizona probate attorney to say. We do not decide it and we do not guess at it.
What we can offer is information and patience. Tell us where things stand, who the attorney is if one has been hired and whether a personal representative has been named. If it is not time to sell yet, we will say so and leave the door open. If the right person can sign now, we can talk about timing. A title company will want to see proof of authority before it closes any deal, so the sooner your attorney can describe what is in place, the sooner we can plan around it.
Ask the attorney first
Who can sign is a legal question with a legal answer.
We wait if we have to
A house we cannot lawfully buy yet is a house we check in on later.
Share the news
Tell us when something changes and we will adjust the timeline.
The house is vacant and costing money
Empty houses are not free. Property tax and insurance keep arriving, utilities run at a minimum if you want the air conditioning on during an Arizona summer, and a lawn, even a gravel one, needs someone to look at it. Some insurers treat a house that sits empty for long differently from an occupied one, so ask your agent what applies to yours. Add association dues if the neighborhood has one, and the monthly total can surprise families who assumed the house would cost nothing while they decided.
Do the arithmetic for your own case. Multiply the monthly costs by the number of months you expect to wait for a traditional listing, then compare. That is a better basis for a decision than a feeling. We help by being able to move on a schedule the family chooses. Read about carrying costs in San Tan Valley on the area guide.
Monthly basics
Tax, insurance, utilities, association dues and yard upkeep.
Summer risk
Heat can damage an unattended house, so keep a plan for cooling and checks.
Break-even view
Add up the cost of waiting and weigh it against the offer.
There is a loan on the house
The mortgage did not end when the owner passed away. Payments keep coming due, interest keeps running and the servicer will want to know who is responsible for the account. Heirs often learn this the hard way, a few weeks in, from a notice in the mail. What happens next depends on the loan documents, the estate and the servicer, so ask an Arizona attorney about your loan and call the servicer to learn what documents they need from heirs.
If you would rather not keep paying a mortgage on a house you do not plan to live in, a cash sale can pay it off at closing. For some houses we can instead take over the payments, with the details written down and reviewed by an attorney and the title company. Either way, send us the latest statement and we will say plainly which route fits. The offer routes page puts the two side by side.
Payoff at closing
The title company asks the servicer for a payoff figure and pays it from the sale.
Loan payment takeover
Possible for some houses. Needs attorney review and clear paperwork.
Behind on payments
Tell us. A late account changes the numbers and the order of steps, but not our willingness to talk.