Inherited a house. Want to sell.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Bill - He does not need a 1031. He has a fresh base that is likely above the present value. It is a clean sale.

My guess is that you are right, and that his base is higher than the current value, especially since he put some money into repairs. But we aren't sure. That's why I threw out the possibility, but didn't bother with all the details.

[dubstyle247]

the house is not rented "legally". according to my uncle he gets around that by allowing his nephew (me) to live there for free.
i would just like to go to him with some facts that could possibly make it seem like a good idea to sell it to me for a really good price so he doesnt have to go thru all the BS of selling it "normally" with a realtor. speaking to him prior to this he has been very set on a price and hasnt really been willing to negotiate with me. him and my aunt suffer from a slight case of greediness and i think now that he is going through the steps to sell the house he is realizing it isnt going to be a simple as he thought. does that make sense? thanks.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by dubstyle247

.... speaking to him prior to this he has been very set on a price and hasnt really been willing to negotiate with me. him and my aunt suffer from a slight case of greediness and i think now that he is going through the steps to sell the house he is realizing it isnt going to be a simple as he thought. does that make sense? thanks.

Congrats for working out a deal to get free rent. It really works out nice - your uncle gets someone to live in the property and watch over it and you get a nice benefit on rent.

I'm not surprised that your uncle doesn't want to negotiate (i.e., drop his price). Many other sellers feel the same way.

As I posted earlier, deals with family get tricky. Here's my suggestion: I'd write up a formal offer on the property and let him think about it. You can see sample forms on the Internet if you're savy. You could contact a real estate agent or closing attorney to write one up for you (for a fee) if you would like help. Whichever way you choose, simply present a written offer to your Uncle and let him mull it over. Let him know that it's a sincere offer but you understand if he wants to see what the market will bear. Make sure your offer has an expiration date (say 2 weeks). (I'm assuming that your Uncle actually wants to sell it and would be receptive to you making an offer. Since you're getting free rent, you want to proceed carefully.)

If he puts it on the market, then you can resubmit an offer through the real estate agent or let him know that the offer is still there. If you're offering a fair market value, he should take it. If you're offering less than full market because you know he got the house for free, then you're probably asking too much.

In any case, your Uncle won't sell it for more than full market value. You won't go wrong if you offer full market value to your Uncle. If he rejects - well, that's his loss and longer you can live there for free!

[dubstyle247]

im sorry if you didnt sense the sarcasm. i am not living there for free. i was simply saying how nice it would be if one could live somewhere for free. it was in reference to someone asking if the house was legally rented.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by dubstyle247

im sorry if you didnt sense the sarcasm. i am not living there for free. i was simply saying how nice it would be if one could live somewhere for free. it was in reference to someone asking if the house was legally rented.

Speak to a lender and get pre-qualified. You need to make sure you can buy it before you worry about all this.