Selling an inherited home can either be straightforward similar to selling your own or a long, drawn-out complicated process. It all comes down to the specific details of your situation. Are there inheritance disagreements? Did the person who left you the home have any debts? Do you live in the area or on the other side of the country?
All these things can make the process of selling an inherited home a little more difficult. Typically, it won’t be a process that happens overnight. So, how do we sell an inherited home in Illinois?
Working Out the Inheritance
If you’re inserting the home through a will, or if there was no will left, you will typically go through the probate process. This is where the courts go through the entire estate and make sure everything ends up where it is supposed to, including settling debts.
In Illinois, it’s possible to have a transfer on death deed. With this in place, you will be allowed to skip the probate process entirely. Upon their death, the home will transfer to the beneficiary immediately and you can sell the home as soon as you’re ready.
The third option, and likely the best in most situations, is a living trust. With a living trust, you will inherit the property immediately and avoid the probate process and some taxes. With this trust, the trustee will manage their assets until the time of their passing.
If you are not the only heir, you need to find out what other heirs there are and who was named executor. The executor will be in charge of making final decisions about the sale of the house. The executor will also need to make sure all debts have been paid off.
Taxes on Inherited Homes
It’s also important to figure out what taxes you need to pay during the inheritance and house selling process. In the state of Illinois, there is no inheritance tax. You won’t have to pay an estate tax either unless the value is more than $4 million.
Assuming you’re planning on selling the house rather than living in it, you might be looking at capital gains. Luckily, the rules on capital gains are a little different for inherited houses than typical homes. Instead of paying taxes on the difference between purchase and sales prices, you pay on the difference between the selling price and the appraised value. This will likely lower your capital gains taxes dramatically.
Selling Your Inherited Home
If you and all the heirs have agreed on selling the inherited home, there are a few ways you can go about it. You will need to go through the house and handle the personal effects and get the house in shape to be sold. This process can vary depending on the state of the house upon inheritance.
Ideally, you will find a real estate agent who has experience selling inherited homes. This way, they can help you navigate any of the complicated, high-emotion issues that may arise between you and the other heirs. By having an agent who has been through the process, they are likely to be able to help smooth over any issues.
Another popular option for inherited homes is to sell the home for cash. If you don’t feel like going through the entire long process of getting a home ready and then selling it, you can find a cash buyer who will purchase the home as-is. This is especially a good idea for homes that aren’t in the best condition, as repairing them will be costly and timely.
By accepting a cash offer, you can be finished with the transaction quickly and easily divide the profit with the other heirs.
Property Pals USA Makes Selling an Inherited Home Easy
If you’re considering selling your inherited home for cash in Illinois, Property Pals USA can help! Not only will we make you a cash offer to purchase your home as-is, but we can help with the rest of the process too. Whether that means helping you skip the probate process or taking care of the lifetime of possessions that are left behind, we can handle the hard parts so you and your family can start to move forward. We have experience helping multiple heirs get on the same page to avoid emotional issues during the process.
Sell your inherited home to Property Pals USA to make the prices stress-free and avoid closing and commission costs too! Get a no obligation fair cash offer for your home today.
