Is selling parents' house after death difficult?
- Sell your house in as little as 7 days
- We will cover all your fees
- We are members of TPO & NAPB
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We understand that selling your parents’ house after their death can be difficult, but we want you to know we are here for you at every step of the way. Whether you left home at 16 and never looked back, stayed there until your late 20s, or never left, it’s still a place that will have immense sentimental value to you.
Which is why we want you to know that you’re in safe hands. At The Property Buying Company, we deal with a lot of inherited properties - in fact, 12.33% of all sellers that come to us, are trying to sell an inherited property. Of that, 3.51% are children who quoted they were selling their parents house.
Although that may not seem like a lot, trust us – it’s well into the thousands. Why do they choose us? Well, amongst many reasons, selling via an estate agent is often quite long & difficult, with average selling times currently sitting at 185 days. On average, we buy inherited properties in 91 days – more than half the time.
In addition, we handle most of the process, we can buy “as-is”, cover all selling & legal fees and do not need external funding to buy properties. If you are interested in exploring our service more, please enter your postcode below for a no-obligation cash offer:
We’re honoured to have been featured in the media by several leading outlets and major publications
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What is the best way to sell your parents' house after death?
If you’ve decided against keeping the property in some capacity, then the next logical step is to start researching the best ways to sell. As a cash buyer ourselves, we will obviously be slightly biased towards our own service, but we will try and give you an honest overview of your options…
Using a cash buying company
Selling an inherited property to a cash buying company is one of the fastest, most certain and reliable ways to sell. Most cash buyers in the industry can buy properties in as little as a week, but their average times will extend beyond that, just on the simple basis that people don’t want to sell in 7 days unless they have to!
For example, the fastest property we have ever bought at The Property Buying Company was a flat in 2 days, the fastest inherited property we’ve bought in the past 5 years was 28 days, but our average sale sits at 91 days.
Using our service also means you get a 99% chance of sale guarantee - while we would love to say every sale goes through, we aren’t wizards and can’t control the market. But, we will cover all your selling and legal fees, even in the case you become the very unfortunate 1%.
The negatives? Well, we do offer Below Market Value for our properties - with our average offer on inherited properties sitting at 81.77%.
That 18.23% off the market value, is exchanged for our speed and the fact we will most likely need to pay some form of renovations on it. If the offer is too low, then we do have other selling options available like our online estate agency and investor network, which will result in higher selling prices - albeit on a longer timeline.
Selling via an online estate agent
The biggest online estate agents, Purplebricks and Yopa, will offer a ‘sell your house for free’ service, which basically lets you sell your house on Rightmove and Zoopla without any fees. But, they often have additional packages which are necessary for the house sale, like hosted viewings and floorplans. These are especially important for inherited properties which may need a bit of boost on the market.
ENTER: The Property Selling Company, our online estate agency which operates more on a ‘modern’ or ‘hybrid’ model. Our estate agency allows you to actually sell your house for free, achieving around 93.14% on average, with no additional packages or hidden fees, as everything is included within the free service.
Like us, they operate on a faster-than-average sale time, helping many properties to sell as fast as 28 days - although the average sale takes around 166 days.
For properties which struggle to sell on the market, we also have a property auction which has a track record of getting properties over the line. However, we would rather explore other routes before using this.
Selling off market
Selling off market can mean two things really; selling privately, and selling to a network of individuals. If you choose to sell privately, you can avoid estate agent fees and have complete control over the selling process. It can also be a great way to keep the house in the family, as you can sell directly to a family member.
The issue with selling privately, is that it is a lot of work. Unless you hire a solicitor, you will be absorbing the work of an estate agent, conveyancer, all while trying to deal with the paperwork.
The other option, selling to a network of individuals – is something we can help with. In addition to our cash buying service, and our online estate agency, we do also have a network of over 3,000 cash, pre-vetted investors who are ready to buy.
Instead of some property investor networks in the UK, that send properties out on a list, we have a complex internal Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which can match investors to properties based on their preferences - which means it’s completely off market, and as confidential as you want it to be.
Again, the negative for this, would be that you are selling below market value, but not as low as our cash buying service. On average our investor network yields around 88.68% of the market value of properties, helping to sell in 68 days on average.
Is probate required to sell a deceased parent’s home?
After you lose your second parent, it’s totally understandable to just want to sell the property and move on. But, this is unfortunately not the case and probate will need to be granted before you can inherit the property, and sell it – unless your name is already on the Title Deeds.
Probate is a long process, with the average Grant of Probate happening in 2 months, where there aren’t any issues, and 5 months where there are issues. While it is possible for the executor of the estate to market the property (with HMRC’s approval) and find a buyer, the sale cannot move forward without probate being granted.
What if there’s no will?
If there is no will, the property will need to be distributed following intestacy rules. If you are the closest living relative, you will need to act as the administrator and apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration to authorise the sale. Once the Grant of Letters of Administration has been granted, the property can be sold.
Are there any alternatives to selling the property?
If you are the beneficiary of your parent’s home, and it has passed probate without needing to be sold to settle outstanding debts (mortgages, Inheritance Tax, unsecured loans), then you are in the fortunate position of having a few options available to you:
Renting out the property
In 2024, Zoopla, a UK leading property portal, reported that the average rent in the UK sat at £1,270 per month – totaling £15,240 annually. Obviously this is before you take into account council tax, utility bills and energy prices but it might provide you with a steady income.
There are also different types of rental properties which you can consider:
Buy To Let’s
Renting to long term Buy To Let tenants will give you some stability and consistent income with fewer ‘vacant periods’ to manage.
House of Multiple Occupations
If the house has more than one bedroom, and you are within a HMO catchment area (Article 4), then you can convert the property into a HMO, although there are quite a few hurdles to jump through like making sure the property is properly fitted for health and safety.
Short term lets
You can also turn it into a short term rental on online platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo, which can generate seasonal income from tourists. You can either manage the property yourself or hire a property manager to do this also.
Turning it into a home
Only around 1 in 10 people that inherit a property end up turning it into their main residence - but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. It can be a great way for first time homeowners to get onto the property ladder as they don’t need to save up for a deposit.
It can get a little tricky if you already own a property, as the original property will then become a ‘second home’, which will be liable to Capital Gains Tax if you decide to sell it.
Using it as a second home
You also have the option to turn the property into a family holiday home, or secondary property for studying, using it as a gym, the options are endless.
If you want to preserve the property within the family, you can also put the property within a family trust or partnership, which will allow multiple family members to co-own and share the responsibilities of the home.
Should you sell “as-is”?
One of the biggest issues most beneficiaries experience when inheriting a property from their parents, is that before they died, they didn’t have the time or energy to properly look after the property and it’s fallen into disrepair.
The good news is that most of the ‘quick house sale’ options allow you to sell your inherited home “as-is”. Which means that unless the property is going on the market, you don’t really need to do anything about cleaning the house, repairing fixtures or fittings, worrying about damp, or clearing out any hoarding.
Most buyers in the quick sale market will expect some poor conditions, as they are property investors - the only thing to keep in mind is that the worse the condition, the lower their offer will be (taking into account the cost needed to clear it).
We make selling easy
It’s not just our motto, it's our promise to you. What used to be a complicated, long, tiring, process, that could last upwards of 6 months – now, only takes 91 days on average.
We understand that this will be a very difficult time for you, and we will be here for you every step of the way, making sure you aren’t left out of the loop, and you always know where we stand with your property.
Want to see what the next step brings? Enter your postcode below for a no-obligation cash offer, and a chit chat with one of our property consultants.
FAQs
Can you sell your parents home from abroad?
Yes, you can sell your home from abroad – in fact, it’s quite normal, every year around 0.46% of our inherited properties come from people selling from abroad.
Just know that while you may have a few more taxes to pay, we will cover all your legal and selling fees, as well as sort out the property – so you don’t need to worry about booking a flight!
Why trust The Property Buying Company?
The Property Buying Company is one of the UK’s leading cash house buyers, with over 2,500 excellent reviews on Trustpilot. We have been active in the cash buying industry for well over a decade, and have over 200 years of combined experience in our team.
We are also members of The Property Ombudsman and the National Association of Property Buyers, which means we follow a strict set of guidelines that ensures you are protected at every stage of the selling process, in addition to allowing you access to a Redress Scheme if anything goes wrong.
Should you worry about empty house insurance?
Yes, although the executor of the estate should have made sure the property was protected with the correct home insurance. Once you have inherited the property, as the beneficiary it is your duty to make sure the right level of cover is actually in place. If there isn’t, then the executor can be held liable.
What should you do with your parents' belongings?
Obviously, there needs to be a line drawn between leaving a house “as-is”, and dealing with your parents’ belongings. We would never recommend leaving items or furniture in the property that hold sentimental value to you.
If you feel like you could donate some of their belongings to charity, or sell them on, then feel free to do so, after all it is your property.
When we say we buy “as-is”, it often means that we buy run down properties that need a lot of work, or properties that have been home to hoarders, where there is just so much stuff it’s impossible to clear out on your own.
If you’re looking to sell on the market, there are home clearing services which can do this on a professional level, but obviously they come at a cost.
Where can you get guidance for bereavement and grief?
Although we offer sales support, we aren’t therapists - if you are facing mental unwellness, we would recommend reaching out to one of the following resources:
*Data comes from analysing our internal database, across The Property Buying Company and subsidiary companies, between January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2024.
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