My mother passed away and my brother and I are on the deed to her house. The house is in MA, I am in CA, and my brother is in Asia. My husband and I are handling most details of the sale of the house, along with our attorney. We quickly found a buyer, but the home inspector found multiple problems and the buyer backed out. Now we are trying to decide: 1. Sell the house as-it for a very low price. 2. Make some of the repairs, the most important repairs that are deemed unsafe if left undone. 3. Bring the house up to standard and sell for a higher price.
Several issues: -My brother has dementia and just dealing with his wife is difficult as she is stressed out. I know they need the money since she had to quit her job to take care of him so they do have incentive to do what they need to do to get this sale done. However, she has told us that they will not contribute money to help with the upgrades. She is of the mind to sell as-is because anyone who buys it “will gut it anyway”. -My husband called a realtor we have known for decades to ask his advice. The realtor is of the mind that buyers want a perfect house they can move into immediately. So now my husband is convinced that this is the way to go. However, this realtor is accustomed to dealing in $1 Million + properties. My Mom’s house is in a small rural town in which most of the homes are very old and not fancy. At best after upgrades, her home could be worth $425,000. There are few homes for sale and probably not many buyers.-We are already $30,000 into what we had to contribute to keep Mom afloat in her last 2 years before we got her on Medicaid so I feel it would be a bad deal to spend even more money, not knowing when or if we can recoup our investment. Even doing the most important upgrades for safety reasons (i.e. electrical) will cost $10,000 or more, I imagine. -If the house does not sell for many months or a year or more we will still have to pay taxes, maintenance, heating oil, etc which we have been doing for a year. Does anyone have experience dealing with a house you inherited but it seems it may cost more time and money and headaches and you just want to be done with it ASAP? (No, I am not sentimental about this house.)
This is too much to handle from afar. Along with the cost of the repairs, you may be paying for the attorney for a longer period of time so that will cut into the profits.
Since the house is in Massachusetts, you'll need a property manager to check it regularly, especially in winter, to prevent frozen pipes, leaking in the basement, flooding, electrical outages, etc. Snow removal can be important to prevent leaking and damage to the driveway and the roof.
I know a woman in Massachusetts who inherited her childhood home. She planned to move into it after retirement. She checked it on weekends. She arrived one weekend to find a pipe on the upper level had burst, and the house was a combination of flooded and iced. It was beyond repair. I don't know what she eventually did with it. I know of another childhood family home that was vacant and a drug addict vagrant broke in and it caught fire from his use of drugs in the basement.
Regarding the lien, how long ago was the property deeded to you? If it was through inheritance and was your mother's while she was alive, then the lien would have been placed on the home then.
Sometimes in rural areas people buy rundown homes primarily for the land, especially if zoning isn't strict.
It sounds like your family has been through a lot. Keep it simple and just unload this part of your mother's estate as simply as possible. I hope you can get closure and peace of mind soon.
Even in over priced California, you don't fix up an older house in a rural area, it will be Pandora's Box when walls are opened. House flippers will buy it and fix it up. Don't waste your time or money!
Couples wanting "move in ready" homes are looking in urban areas, not rural. Near their jobs with good schools.
Of course the RE Agent wants you to fix it up, so he can get a bigger commission. Your Husband should have seen that coming.
Can you and your husband afford to put in the money that it would cost?
If so you could put in the money needed.
When the house is sold for the higher price you and your husband get back everything that you have put in towards the reno PLUS any interest PLUS a "fee" for the risk that you have taken. (also include any expenses that you had while taking care of mom)
The profit after that is then divided between you and your brother.
given what you have said about the rural area, and the expenses it might be best to sell "as is" but you need to talk to a realtor that knows the area...not one that deals in property that usually costs way more than what this area can handle.
When my Dad moved to senior living, he had me sell his house. My parents did no remodeling the 30 yrs they were there, oh an occasional new appliance and a new roof. I had the house appraised by a licensed Appraiser, and went along with his recommended value. The house sold quickly to a flipper.
Cut your losses and do not sink any more time or money on speculation that you’ll make more money.