Selling Your Parents’ Los Angeles Home After They Pass Away
We often get requests from clients, both those living in Los Angeles and those who live outside the area, to sell a deceased parent’s Los Angeles home. The Bienstock Group is one of the best real estate companies in Los Angeles for handling home sales of this kind. We specialize in selling Hancock Park, Mid-Wilshire, Miracle Mile, and adjacent neighborhoods for top dollar. We pride ourselves on our knowledge, experience, sensitivity and attention to detail, allowing you to focus on your family during a difficult time. We handle estate home sales in Los Angeles so that you don’t have to.
How to Sell a House You Inherited in Los Angeles
Inheriting a Hancock Park house from a loved one can be both a challenge and a gift. You have to decide what you’re going to do with the property and your options are usually narrow. Either you move in, rent the house out, or you decide to sell.
Once you’re sure that you want to sell, it’s a matter of reaching potential buyers quickly and with minimum stress. There’s a good chance that if you’re selling, you’re not local to Los Angeles or California. You’ll want to close for top dollar and possibly without needing to make multiple journeys back. A real estate sale company that can take care of the day-to-day business of selling a property for you will prove to be invaluable.The first hurdle to surmount is the legal status of the inherited property. Is it part of a will? Is it owned by your deceased loved one? Is it owned as part of a trust, partnership, or corporation (and if so, what kind)? Does the property need to go through probate? The Bienstock Group can assist you in finding legal representation to [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”11991″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” eltd_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]Related to this: the economic status of the inherited home. Are you inheriting with anyone else? Does the property come with an outstanding mortgage or other debts attached? Are there property or estate taxes that have accumulated? Luckily, California is one of the states that does not have an inheritance tax.Another issue to consider: fix up and list, or sell as is? Selling inherited properties for top dollar can prove difficult if the house hasn’t been maintained over the past decade or two. However, fixing up the property can be expensive and time-consuming. You may have the option of selling to a local Los Angeles real estate investor for cash. This is a means of selling an inherited house fast, when the time and money you would need to pour into the property to get it in list condition is more valuable than the difference between the unimproved property price and the improved and listed property’s sale price. We can work with both options. We have cash investors on hand who will buy a property in “as is” condition and we also have staff to help coordinate and facilitate improving the property and then selling for top dollar to a conventional end user.
Selling an Inherited Home Fast
There are hurdles to cross before selling an inherited home and we are experts at helping you navigate the process. Estimating the value of the property, managing the delicate balance between pricing too low and being too ambitious on your asking price and overshooting the market, navigating the multiple negotiation points in the deal… it can be dangerous to manage it by yourself. These issues can be magnified when you aren’t the only inheritor— when the estate is split between multiple beneficiaries (your siblings, for example), coming to an agreement on everything or securing consent to manage the property on their behalf can be a challenge. You may need to sell off or dispose of clutter in order for the property to be stageable for sale. We manage the entire process successfully all the time with great professionalism and expertise so that you can sit back and collect the top dollar proceeds from the sale.
Do I Have To Pay Taxes On The Sale Of My Deceased Parents’ Home?
When handling the sale of your decased parents’ home in Los Angeles or elsewhere in United States, you may be concerned about the tax consequences. There are several types of taxes related to owning and selling a house:
- Estate Taxes
- Inheritance Taxes
- Capital Gains Taxes
Typically, the capital gains tax is calculated after the sale of a home, based on the difference between purchase price and sale price. However, there’s a special exception for property you inherit: the capital gains tax is calculated based on the value of the home at the time you inherited it. This is referred to as the “step-up basis.” For instance, although your parents’ may have purchased the home decades ago for $100,000, if you inherit it today, when it is worth $1,000,000, and sell it next year for $1,050,000, the capital gains tax will only apply to the $50,000 difference between the sale price and the “step up” value at the time you inherited the property. In short, if you sell your inherited home shortly after your parents’ death, you will likely owe little or no tax. As always, please consult with your CPA or tax professional for your specific situation.
Best Estate Sale Realtor in Los Angeles
The Bienstock Group offers expert guidance to those selling properties in Los Angeles County. We are proud to be among the finest real estate firms in Los Angeles. Our dedicated, responsive staff embody our company values of customer service and excellence in real estate representation. They provide a process that is stress-free and exceptionally profitable for our clients. When you’re handling the sale of an inherited estate, you don’t want to have to take a crash course in the real estate market in order to avoid getting ripped off. You want to be able to trust someone to represent your interests faithfully and to get you top dollar. That’s why we build our client relationships based on no-nonsense expertise and communication. We will be frank, ethical, but above all, smart and respectful in our interactions with you. Trust us to sell for your house for top dollar for you. We closed $115 million in volume in 2019. We bring all the local expertise, market knowledge, expert representation, and guidance you could need to sell your home. Call us on 323-332-1985 to begin the process of selling your inherited Los Angeles property for top dollar.
