Is a Direct Sale the Best Way to Sell Your Inherited House?

Inheriting a property can be an unexpected and stressful experience. After getting through Georgia’s lengthy probate process, you might not want to worry about the hassle of getting your inheritance market-ready, searching for a realtor, and listing the property. Luckily, if you don’t want to invest your time and money into the traditional home selling process, you can sell your inherited house through a direct sale. This option allows you to bypass the usual hassle of home selling and offload your inherited property as quickly and easily as possible. If you’re looking for a simple alternative when trying to sell an inherited house, a direct sale might be the best choice for you.

What is a direct sale?

A direct sale is a method of home selling where you, the seller, can directly approach a buyer to close on your inherited house. This means you don’t have to commission an agent to list or market your property to different buyers because you already have a buyer lined up. There are different options for finding this buyer, depending on your situation: you may already have a friend or family member who is interested in buying your inherited house, but if that’s not the case, you can seek out a reputable homebuying company or real estate investor in your Georgia area. These companies make free, no-obligation cash offers on properties, and their buying process eliminates any need for you to deal with the hassle of traditional home selling.

Benefits of selling your inherited property through a direct sale

When you inherit a house, it’s likely that you don’t want to deal with the lengthy checklist that comes with selling a property. This includes tasks like decluttering, deep cleaning, investing in repairs, waiting for an offer, and dealing with roadblocks like appraisals and inspections before finally closing. The direct sale option offers multiple benefits that can help you avoid these tasks when selling your inherited house.

Save Time

One of the best parts of a direct sale is that you can save time. After going through Georgia’s lengthy probate process in order to transfer the title of your inheritance into your name, you might not want to spend another several months getting your the house ready to sell, looking for a realtor to list with, and waiting for an offer. In Georgia, it can take weeks to months to bring the house to market-ready condition, 2 months on average to get an offer, and an additional month to close with the buyer. If you want to avoid investing additional time into offloading your inherited house, a direct sale is the way to do it. When selling directly, you bypass spending time on trying to find a buyer by making repairs and hiring a realtor to market your property. You also don’t have to wait for an offer through months of showings and open houses. Instead, you eliminate time-wasting uncertainties by approaching your buyer directly, getting an offer on your inherited house as-is, and closing as quickly as possible—often within a week for many professional homebuyers.

Save Money

Another benefit to a direct sale is saving money. With the traditional selling method, you would have to invest in agent commissions and making repairs to your inherited house. In Georgia, a listing agent’s commission is usually around 2-3% of your home’s final selling price, and repairs can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars of investment. By directly approaching the buyer for an offer on your property as-is, you can avoid these additional costs. You may also be able to avoid closing costs if working with a professional homebuyer, as these companies usually handle closing costs themselves. Also, because a direct sale gets you to closing more quickly that the traditional selling method, you are able to avoid spending money on things like utility bills while holding your inherited house for months of waiting.

Less Hassle

Listing a property is a hassle, especially when its been inherited. You suddenly own a previously lived-in home that you now have to deep clean, declutter, and depersonalize, while also worrying about potential repairs or updates that might be necessary. You also have to worry about keeping the property tidy for showings and open houses while you wait for the right offer. Even after you accept an offer, you might still be delayed before closing by things like contingencies, renegotiations, or sales that completely fall through.

Opting for a direct sale gives you the chance to avoid these issues. You don’t have to clean or declutter for a showing with a professional homebuyer: these buyers know that they are buying as-is properties and usually operate on a “take what you want, leave the rest” basis. You also don’t have to worry about the sale falling through before closing because professional homebuyers don’t have contingencies or use bank financing. As long as you make sure to select a reputable company to do business with, you can count on a fast closing and a cash payment in your hand.

More Flexibility

The house-selling process of listing with an agent doesn’t usually give you a lot of flexibility. You work on your agent’s schedule, and you have to wait on buyers for offers, appraisals, and inspections. In other words, the process is controlled by the schedules of other people. This an be especially frustrating after you have already had to deal with the schedule of Georgia’s probate process. A direct sale puts you in control: you select the buyer to approach, and you can set your own schedule and terms. This allows you to be in control of how quickly you can offload your inherited house and move on.

Are there drawbacks to a direct sale?

The biggest drawback to a direct sale with a professional homebuyer is that your inherited house will likely sell for less than it would on the market. This is because cash homebuyers purchase as-is properties, so you won’t be investing in the repairs that are necessary to bring the house to its highest market value. The offer you receive from a cash buyer will reflect your property’s as-is condition. However, this might also be a good thing: because of Georgia’s capital gains tax, if you sell the property for more than it was worth when you first inherited it, that profit will be taxed. On the other hand, if you sell the property for the amount that it was appraised for during the probate process, you can avoid the capital gains tax. It’s up to you to determine which of these outcomes will be better for your situation.

One other thing to be aware of are scams. If you are looking to complete a direct sale with a local real estate investor or homebuying company, it’s important that you ensure they are reputable. Look at reviews from the buyer’s past clients, contact the buyer directly to ask questions about their process, and see if they are an accredited business. This will help ensure that you aren’t scammed by an illegitimate business. Also make sure that any closing you attend is overseen by a legal professional, as it is required by Georgia law that all real estate closing are overseen by a lawyer.

Summary

There are many benefits to selling you inherited house through a direct sale. When you directly approach a cash homebuyer, you can save both time and money by not listing your property with a realtor, avoid the hassle of getting the property market-ready and waiting for an offer, and give yourself more control over the home selling process. When you are dealing with a stressful and potentially unexpected situation like selling an inherited house, these factors may be the best way to make the most of your inheritance and to quickly and easily move on.