It’s a fact of life that we all age and its likely that some form of adjustment to our lifestyle will be needed to accommodate our ageing. When its our parents or relative its often the children that need to make these arrangements. One of the many factors may be that I have to sell my parents’ house. This could be before their death to pay for medical or care expenses or after they have died and you’ve inherited the property. This is an important, stressful and time consuming task – it is not something that is required everyday. However, selling a parents’ house before or after death is a task faced by many people.
Selling Your Elderly Parents’ Home
There are a number of options available to you when selling your parents’ house, so its important to understand them and consider whether they suit your situation. Selling your parents’ house before or after their death will involve ensuring the legal requirements are put in place. Its important that these are examined and legal advice sought as necessary.
Preparing to sell your parents’ house
Its important that the house is made ready for sale. For many of the traditional ways of selling your parents’ house you will have no choice to do this. You’ll need to ensure the property is cleared and accessible at evenings, weekends and times during the day when potential buyers want to view. This can mean dealing with the host of memories and carefully dealing with siblings or relatives when clearing items, to ensure individuals to not disagree and fall out.
Most home buyers will want to inspect the home and are likely to require a full survey. If there are repairs and you don’t have the time or inclination to do them it may put off potential buyers and may lead to a lower valuation. There could be disappointment when potential sales fall through. All because the survey or inspection revealed something. This brings another challenge for you – organising the repairs. If your parents are alive, it can be very unsettling for your parents, especially if they are suffering from dementia or alzheimers and any change to their environment will lead to stress. There will also be a financial cost to the work and monies will need to be found to pay for the work.
Legal formalities for selling your parents house
If you’ve inherited a property due to the death or your parents you will need to follow the details within the departed person’s will. This is likely to involve applying for and gaining probate before any sale can continue.
If your parents are still alive you will need to gain their permission to sell the house. If you parents do not want to, or are deemed unable to make their own decisions, a power of attorney will be required. This is a legal document that grants someone the power to make decisions on their behalf. A solicitor will need to assist you with creating the power of attorney.
How to sell your Parents’ home
There are a number of options when selling your parents’ home. We briefly outline each to allow you to understand the choices you have.
Sell your Parents’ House yourself
People often consider selling their parents’ house themselves. This can often be a way to reduce selling costs by using some of the low-cost internet agents. Many of our clients have tried this route before they look to us to help them with a quick, hassle-free sale. For some people, this can be a way to achieve a sale. However, from our experience you are trading money for time – your time spent dealing with viewings, cancellations, staging, chasing viewings and feedback, and marketing the property. This can be manageable for some, but for others where, for example, the house is distant from them, it can be too much to cope with. Importantly, you’ll need to set the price correctly. Internet agents will provide you with limited details about how to do this; it’ll need to be at a fair price, but also one that attracts interest. Setting the price too high can mean that properties languish for months or years unsold. This is something you want to avoid if there are medical or care costs that need to be paid for.
Sell your Parents’ House Using an Estate Agent
Using a professional estate agent can be a way of reducing the time you have to spend selling your parents’ house. Estate agents are professionals, who should help you to understand the local market, what is realistic in terms of price and selling time. At the very least, they should handle the marketing for you.
Many of our clients have reported that using an estate agent unsettled their parents. An over enthusiastic estate agent using a range of industry jargon can be confusing and unsettling. Many reported their parents didn’t like the idea of a stranger being in their home, giving access to a number of other strangers (potential purchasers). If this takes a relatively short amount of time it can be manageable but if it takes weeks, months or years, this has been known to put severe pressure and stress on parents. remember, you’ll have to pay for this service, both in terms of the marketing undertaken and a sizeable chunk of any sale price.
Sell your Parents’ House for Cash
Selling your house for a fair cash price can be an attractive option for those needing to sell their parents home. There are professionals investors that are willing to pay cash for the house and complete the sale quickly and without hassle. This can be a perfect solution for some.
It means that there won’t be strangers viewing the house at inconvenient times. It eliminates the needs for the repairs that may need doing as this will not worry a cash buyer. Past clients have said that this can be a huge relief as it minimises the disruption to their parents.
As it’ll be a cash sale, you will be able to move forward quickly, whether to secure a place at your chosen care home, pay for private health care, or simply to move them closer to you. If your intention is to buy another property for your parents because they are downsizing, it will make them a cash buyer, allowing a favourable price to be negotiated.
Selling quickly and for cash often leads to less costs. Often legal fees are paid for by the cash buyer. Additionally, as there are no estate agents involved there are no costs associated with them. Not only does this save money on these fees but also speed up the sale process and reduce the time and stress involved with the sale.
Selling a house is known as one of the most stressful events in a persons life. If your parents are elderly, minimising this stress can be a huge advantage. In comparison to a traditional sale, which can have multiple buyers in a chain, a cash sale can be quick and hassle free. It could be the ideal solution for your parents problem of selling their house. If you are selling your parents’ property on their behalf, it can mean you have less stress, worry and time spent dealing with the sale process. You won’t need to take days off work to deal with viewings, legal paper work, repairs or clearing the house.
Need to Sell Your Parents’ House quickly?
K&G Lettings Limited specialise in quick, hassle-free sales so that you can focus on the important things in life. If you need to sell your parents’ house, whether because you’re inherited the property and its in probate or because they need to move or release equity we can help. Call us for a no obligation conversation about your situation – we’d be happy to answer your questions. We often make a free, without obligation offer within 48 hours of the call. Contact us today.
