Inheriting a house often follows a passing of a family member or close relative, which may either be expected or sometimes even a surprise.
Inheriting a house is – more often than not – a major part of a person’s last will and testament, which in fact, can be the ideal solution in assigning properties and belongings to selected people. Most common among people with material belongings to their name, an inheritance is a legal process and a practical way of distributing or sharing possessions among surviving kin in the event of an owner’s passing.
The most common of these possessions is a house or real estate property, aside from jewelry and other valuable items. Inheriting a house through a properly executed last will and testament can definitely settle conflicts as to who gets what.
Are you ready to inherit a house?
For some, inheriting a home can be a blessing. After all, who doesn’t want to own another house in their name?
But wait, not all minds think and react alike. In fact, some people may find it a tad more worrisome to consider having something that can make them reach deeper into your pockets. Here are some of the reasons why.
More houses mean more taxes
Let’s face it, the moment you become a subject of an inheritance, especially a house, you have to pay an estate tax. This is a tax requirement that applies to the process of transferring a house or property through a will or through intestate This is a part of the United Gift and Estate Tax in the US.
Another one is the gift tax, which applies to property transferred during an owner’s lifetime. So, the more houses or property you have in your possession, you are required to cough up some money to pay for these federal and regulatory taxes.
Undisclosed obligations
Inheriting a house does not mean that it is free from obligations. This means that there’s a possibility that the previous owner may have it under a mortgage, perhaps as collateral to a loan or substantial delays in amortization payments.
To avoid getting a surprise by any of these possible scenarios, try to seek assistance from a real estate professional who can help you check on the status of the property to see if there is a mortgage or not.
If so, you could be facing two options. First, if you have cash to spare, you could settle it by paying the remaining balance of the mortgage. Second, in the absence of available cash, you may need to sell the house to pay the bank.
Additional burden of maintenance costs
If you think that one house is already eating up your money to maintain it, what more could happen if you added another house to your regular budget? Imagine having another house to look after what with all the cleaning and maintenance tasks that could certainly eat at part of your finances.
Why not go ahead and sell after inheriting a house?
These are just a few of the common consequences that many people get to encounter when faced with inheriting a house. Are you up for it? Will you take the mantle of looking after the house or property? Or would you rather sell it and take it off your hands with one less worry to deal with.
Let VA Real Estate Solutions help you deal with your options after inheriting a house. A company established by a group of real estate investors, VA Real Estate Solutions can be the answer to your inheritance concerns. Armed with more than 40 years of experience in the real estate industry, it has bought and sold homes for many homeowners in Hampton Roads, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
To save you the trouble of finding the right buyer that could take months or years, why not let VA Real Estate Solutions give you a fair cash offer for your house or property- regardless of the condition it is in. You don’t have to spend a single dime for repairs or renovations when you can have cash paid out for the house right away.
So, if you feel that inheriting a house could be too much of a burden, then make the right choice in getting VA Real Estate Solutions to help you get through it.
