How to Sell a Father-in-Law’s House With Ease

Ease is sometimes a difficult thing to find while selling a house, particularly if you’re selling a house in the family or helping an in-law sell their property. Real estate is already challenging enough. But adding family complexities into the mix can make it even more cumbersome.

However, selling an inherited property or a house on behalf of someone else can be done quickly and easily. You’ll just need concise communication, coordination, and tact to successfully complete on the house sale.

Here’s our guide on how to sell a house in the family quickly and easily, in particular, a father-in-law’s house.

1. Talk to the Family

Family comes first. This is true in all parts of life, including real estate. So, when selling a house in the family, speak to your family about who wants to be involved in the sale of the property and how much involvement they want to have.

Trying to sell your father-in-law’s house is not easy if family members argue and disagree throughout the process. But good communication with all family members who want to be involved in the process from the start should avoid conflicts later.

Sometimes, in situations when inherited houses or family houses are being sold, certain family members want to be involved from the start. Unfortunately, this isn’t always communicated well to these family members. But selling your father-in-law’s home is much more straightforward when the right people are involved from the start.

Talk to each family member to determine who should be involved in the process of the sale. Discuss deadlines, responsibilities, expectations, and the best ways to communicate with each other.

Remember, preparation is key when selling a home in the family. So, be proactive versus reactive when overcoming potential issues with selling your father-in-law’s house.

2. Decide How to Sell Your Father-in-Law’s House

There are many directions that you can go with selling a father-in-law’s house. First, consider asking any family members if they want to keep the house. This is the simplest and cheapest way to pass on ownership of the property.

Of course, all family members involved in the process need to form some type of cohesive agreement for this to happen. The house can be like a “hand-me-down” within the family. The price can be whatever is agreed on, or nothing at all!

For families that don’t want to keep the property, you’ll have to decide on how to sell the house. You can contact a local real estate professional to see if they can help you with the sale of your home. Real estate agents can help you list the property on the market via Zillow or Opendoor.

Placing your home on the market is a great way to generate interest in the property. Selling a house in the family can also feel less stressful when you have the help of a realtor that knows the area well.

Remember, when deciding how to sell, don’t forget to calculate the cost of selling your father-in-law’s house. If the house was inherited, you may need to consider things like taxes when selling. Review any liens or unpaid bills tied to the property, too. These will normally need to be paid at closing.

3. Clear Out Sentimental Items

Clearing out sentimental items is not something that you and your family need to do on day one. However, the earlier that this gets completed, the quicker (and easier) it is to sell a house within the family.

If you inherited your father-in-law’s house after their passing, it’s helpful to start this process sooner. You don’t want your family to feel rushed while clearing out a property. For homes that have many sentimental items in them, you want to have ample time to gather them.

After signing a listing agreement or signing with a homebuyer, you can still clear items out and clean the home, depending on how your arrangement is set up. Sometimes, it makes more sense to clear all items out and then list your father-in-law’s property. Other times, if there’s a ton of stuff, you can sell the house as-is.

Each real estate situation is unique and different from the next. Discuss the details with your family to determine what makes the most sense. If you’re selling your father-in-law’s house as-is, you can leave items you planned to discard in the property. You also don’t have to fix, clean, or repair the property before selling.

Summary

There are a variety of different real estate situations we’ve encountered (at Brotherly Love Real Estate) over the years regarding inherited homes and family properties. From our real estate experience, we recommend working closely with all family members that should be (and want to be) involved in the process.

Selling an inherited house or a home within your family comes with its challenges. Call Brotherly Love Real Estate for assistance with selling your family home. We buy houses as is, including inherited properties and those with code violations, quickly with no closing fees. You can sell a property to us in as little as 21 days with our expert team.