You’ve inherited a house. If you want to sell it, what should the price be? See the info below for the main points to consider and how to price your inherited home in Norfolk for sale…
When you inherit a house the first feeling may be euphoria – you got a piece of real estate. But, in many cases these houses may become a pain, as they are a tax bill, and, they were likely not kept up with all the necessary modern updates. In many scenarios, selling the house “as is” may be the best option. That way, the equity you’ve inherited can be put to good use (usually as cash). Inevitably, a moment will come when you will need to come up with a price and we know it may be hard if you are not in the real estate business. The case becomes a little harder when the house needs a good amount of rehab. Here are the tips on how to price your inherited home in Norfolk for sale.
Tip #1: Avoid Pricing Based On Fond Memories Or Emotion
Many people connect pricing a house or dealing with the belongings in the house based on pure emotion. This happens all the time and it can hinder the process of the sale. We know that you may have a lot of fond memories from childhood or other times in the inherited house. Maybe you grew up there all the way through High School. Sometimes people get too much into their emotions and price the house too high. We know, to you this house may be worth a million, but that is not what the market will take. And beware, looking at the highest priced homes in your neighborhood will mislead you too. The high-priced homes were rehabbed in the last couple of months. When was your inherited house fully rehabbed?
Tip #2: Price Quick To Sell
Some sellers will connect with real estate agent and sell that way. The real estate agent will price the house pretty high to test the market and you will need to wait. Beware, that process can take months and often you will be asked to do cleaning, repairs, and do multiple showings too. Also, when the house sits on the market there are carrying costs – maintenance, mortgage, utilities, etc. and agent commissions (6%), so the higher price online may not be justified because of the aforementioned costs.
In some cases, sellers will opt in for a cash sale to an investor, like Coastal Edge Homebuyers. This way is faster, quicker, no showings, no repairs, no cleaning, no holding costs. Sometimes q quick cash sale is exactly what the doctor ordered, especially if you have your own life and thousand other responsibilities. Things can get harder if there are several heirs to the house. Imagine you need to talk to several siblings and try to arrange repairs, cleaning, rehab. Who will do what and who will pay and who will stay on top of the contractors if you want to rehab the house So, sometimes it just make more sense to price for a quicker sale and just sell to an investor for cash.
Tip #3: Build In Discounts For Repairs
In many cases in our experience inherited houses need work, sometimes a lot of repairs. Here is the kicker – some people think “well, the house needs just an updated kitchen and bathroom” and that should be around $15,000 because my friend told me that”. Here is the reality. Even if such repair may be exactly that amount, you cannot just reduce the total price by $15,000 subtracting that from the highest priced house in the neighborhood and think this should be the sale price. No contractor will by at that level. Why? Because they need to subtract for labor, risk of buying the house “as is” with no inspection, carrying costs of capital, and profit. So the sale price of the house must be aggressively lower than the retail amount. That is how all rehabbers work. But, you will save a lot of time and grief from having to pay agent commissions, wait months for the sale, do cleaning, repairs, pay holding costs, etc.
Summary
Selling an inherited house doesn’t have to be complicated. If you need help pricing the inherited house, besides the advice above, you can call us so we can look into your particular situation and recommend the best choice & pricing for you. You can sell your home in Norfolk easier than you think. Call us anytime for help.