Are you trying to decide whether to sell or keep your inherited property in Long Island? It can be frustrating spending money on a house in order to sell it, especially one that wasn’t yours. In our latest post, we help you learn more about your selling options!
Whether or not you knew about the inheritance, you might be faced with some unexpected challenges once the property is in your name. Owning a house can be expensive. The bills, the taxes, the maintenance, and the unexpected repairs can come as a shock. As any investor will tell you, the longer you own it, the more it is costing you. Before you make a decision about whether to sell or keep the inherited property, ask yourself a few questions. Take the time to learn about the market in Long Island and the property in question, to better help with your decision. Below, we will offer some tips to help you determine if you should keep or sell your inherited property in Long Island. Will will also offer some insight into the best ways to sell.
Ask Yourself These Questions
Do you have a use for the property?
Holding onto it for sentimental reasons is fine if that’s what you want to do, but don’t feel as if you are obligated to keep the house. Only keep the property if you have a sincere and practical use for it. There is no sense in holding onto a house or other inherited property that will just end up sitting there constantly eating up money.
Are there other heirs?
If there are other heirs to the property, everyone will need to sit down and come to a consensus about what is best for everyone involved. Try to work together to decide if the home should be kept or sold. If there is an odd person out, consider negotiating or buying them out as not to cause further disagreement. Remember, it is just a house, and the person who passed it down to you would never want to see their gift become an argument. Taking the time to resolve differences and come to a consensus on what to do with the property is vital to ensure that everyone’s interests are protected. Getting into arguments or even legal litigation should be avoided in almost all cases. Getting rid of the property or transferring it to one or more heirs should be completed as soon as possible. In a place like Long Island with high utility, insurance and property tax costs, the proceeds from a sale can be reduced rather quickly the longer the house sits.
If you decide you want to sell, how much can you spend upfront?
If the home has not yet been cleared out and you intend on selling it through traditional route with a realtor must happen and should happen first and foremost. A traditional property listing with a realtor will come with some upfront costs. You’ll likely need to make some repairs to the house in order to pass a home inspection and have it professionally cleaned. It’s tricky making repairs to a house you’ve never owned. Keep in mind that repairs typically take longer and cost more than most homeowners estimate.You may not know what you’re getting into. You don’t want to find yourself down a rabbit hole, spending thousands and thousands on a house you want to sell anyway. Depending on how you decide to sell, you could face not only repair costs but costs for marketing as well.
Ways To Sell
List It
Listing your inherited property in Long Island will require you to get the property ready for the Multiple Listing Service in Long Island (MLSLI). In order to determine what your inherited home may be worth, take a look at what other homes are selling for and how your property stacks up. This is called “pulling comps” or “comping a house”. When you do this please make sure to only include home in your analysis that have recently sold (generally in the last 6 months). Only using recent “comps” is important as the real estate market in Long Island is constantly changing and the value of properties can fluctuate over the short as well as the long term. You should also only compare homes that are in your same neighborhood (generally within a 1/2 mile) and are in the Same School District. Houses used in comparisons must also be of similar style and size. You cannot compare a colonial style house to a a Cape in Long Island. The value of a colonial is higher. Long Island Capes are generally worth more than ranches, etc. You should also not compare a 2400 square foot house to a 1500 square foot house. While the square footage does not have to be exact, you should generally try and be as close as possible and certainly within 20% below and 20% percent above your homes actual square footage. Finally, you have to consider the physical condition of the house you want to sell. You cannot compare a house in poorer condition with a “flip” house that was completely renovated by a cash home buyer like CoMax Properties.
Sell On Your Own
Selling the house using an FSBO listing will save you on the commission, but you will still need to pay for cleaning repairs, marketing, and other selling costs. In most cases, selling on your own to a regular buyer will take longer and ultimately put less in your pocket. Data consistently shows that homes sold directly by a home owner ultimately sell at a steep discount to other similar homes.
Sell To An Investor
When you sell your inherited property to CoMax Properties, you will not need to spend a dime out of pocket. Nor will you have to pay expensive commissions, agent fees, or administrative costs. By selling the property directly, you will be able to quickly receive your profits and move on from the house without spending months making repairs and waiting for the property to sell.
Hi! I am Joe Cordes and I am the owner of CoMax Properties, a local Long Island Home Buying company. If you need to sell an unwanted house in Long Island call me at 516-704-7025 or fill out the form below to get a no obligation CASH Offer.