***You can watch the YouTube video by scrolling down and clicking on the video*
Did you know that you have five choices when you inherit real estate? So which choice is best for you?
Hello and welcome. My name is Chip Carmack, I am a realtor with ReMax properties, as well as an adviser, counselor to investors, family and friends. But I’m also a certified probate expert that specializes in the process of probate and in regard to real estate here in beautiful, sunny southeast Florida. So today’s topic is the five choices that you have if you are inheriting real estate here in Florida. The first choice is that you could do nothing. That may not sound like a choice, but it is. And when I say nothing, I don’t mean nothing, literally. I mean that you could basically just go through the process of inheriting the property and decide to keep it, especially if there is no mortgage. You know, you would still be responsible for the upkeep and the taxes and if there’s an HOA in that kind of thing. But South Florida is a haven for people as a second home, and it’s a great place to spend the winter.
So you may decide that you want to keep it for now or for the future to retire or semi retire. Whatever you want to do with it. As part of that process of deciding whether you may want to keep it, you may decide you want to keep it and rent it. So that would be a second choice. You could rent it out to professionally or as a business. MANY people make a very good living as landlords of multiple properties. Or, if there is still money owed, renter could pay the mortgage until the property is paid for.
I know people that have rentals where that’s all it is. It’s a rental. And then I know others who do a mix. I just put a contract on a condo and the buyer is basically going to use the condo for family and friends during the winter. And when they are not using it, he’s going to rent it out in the other months. So he’s going to use it as a dual purpose for enjoyment, personal enjoyment for friends and family, And he’s also going to make some rental income off of it.
So that’s two choices right there. To just put it in your name or a second choice would be to rent it out. So that leaves choices three, four and five, which all pertain to the sale of real estate. The third choice would be the easiest choice of all, which is to basically do as little as possible, sell it for as much as you can get, and basically just get out and move on with your life. And there are people that do that all the time. This entails selling it to an investor. While this is could be the best choice for you, I would caution to be careful with investors because not everybody is as honest as they may seem, and they may not be looking out for your best interest. As a matter of fact, as an investor and a wholesaler, I can tell you that they are looking to make a profit. So basically, what they are going to do is trade their time and their investment into this property to make a profit. So, if you’re not willing to do that, there are people that are willing to take the financial risk and invest time and money and do that.
I just would caution to be careful about who you sell to.
The fourth choice is to sell the property, but to fix it up a little bit. You might put on a coat of paint inside, outside, maybe change the carpet out. Just some minor things by investing a couple of thousand dollars, you could maybe get ten to twenty thousand dollars more just by doing some simple, basic things. Now, as part of this process, we would have you as the family come in and pick up any mementos, personal property that you may want to keep. And then we would come in as a team and we would remove anything that you didn’t already take. And we would find homes for that stuff. Either Goodwill, Faith Farm, or the dumpster, and we would get it cleared out and cleaned up and make it look as presentable and as simple as possible so that we can stage it for pictures and for sales presentation. And when we are doing the listing on the sale of the property, that is part of our process and that’s included in our services when we sell the property for you.
And the fifth choice that you have is to fix it up and to sell it for the maximum. What we call the retail price. That is going to get you the best, what we call net or the best profit on the sale of the house. What this will entail is making sure that the kitchens are updated. That is the number one selling feature in most houses. Updated kitchen. The second thing is the bathrooms. And the third thing would be the flooring.
Also, paint, of course, needs to be freshly painted. There are certain colors that help the house sell quicker. Especially when you’re dealing with retail house sales, neutral colors are always the best for a quick sale.
An important note to know is that if you decided that you wanted to fix the place up, but you lack the money to do so, BUT you can see where it would be a good investment to do that, we have a company that we recommend that will loan you money in order to do either minor repairs, like painting and carpet and things like that on up to full renovations, upgrading the kitchen and the bathrooms and the flooring. Basically, what they will do is to loan you the money and they will collect their money, plus interest, at the closing. They are a very fair company, and the process is pretty quick. Basically, they’re using the property as collateral and they’ll get paid at the at the sale of the property. So it’s a good way for you not to pull money out of your pocket, if that’s an issue for you. But yet still get top dollar as a retail sale in our hot, hot market of South Florida. The truth is, houses and condos tend to sell faster and for more money if they are upgraded and “move in ready”. Right now, we are lacking inventory. And so houses do tend to sell very quickly here. The nicer that you have it, especially if somebody can just move right in and maybe they’ll decide to paint or something like that, but basically, if it’s move in ready, there is a plethora of buyers. I love that word. So with a plethora of buyers in today’s market, especially here in South Florida, where people from the Northeast are looking to get away from the cold winters and maybe some health issues and get down to sunny, warmer south Florida, the market is FANTASTIC for Sellers. Low inventory equals less competition. Highest price points since Before “the great recession”. And Buyers can borrow money CHEAP (lowest interest rates in HISTORY). It is a PERFECT environment for Sellers.
Hopefully, you found this very helpful and informative. And remember, our Primary goal is to help you. Whether you decide that you want a quick sale, you want to do a sale that requires a little bit of fixing up. We have a team that can help out with that. Or if you want to do major renovations, I also have a team that can do that as well. So basically, any step along the process that you want to do, we are here to help you in any way that we can.
Thank you very much for your time. And stay safe. Stay healthy, and we look forward to sharing more useful information that helps you make the best choices for you and your family.
Chip Carmack
**Here are some Testimonials to view: https://probatehelppalmbeach.com/testimonials/