Ascent Home Loans

The reason for writing this is due to the fact that I recently had a client who tried to sell a home he had inherited from his parents. When there is a death in the family, many thoughts and feelings go through our minds. After the wills are read and the mass of paperwork begins to wind down, we can still remain in a state somewhere between fuzziness and confusion. It is there, where our emotions get the better of us, that we tend to forget some of the less obvious tasks that need to be dealt with.

My client , who inherited his family home from his last remaining parent, went through all the necessary steps of keeping the items that brought back good memories, and cleaning and repairing the home in preparation of selling it. Once the quick renovations were completed, he put the house up for sale. Over the course of 4 months, his Realtor found a buyer for the home. When the buyer applied for a mortgage and the title was pulled, lo and behold there were two outstanding  liens on the property.

He did get the judgments taken care of quickly, and the sale did go through. However, when someone inherits a property, it is a good idea to have a title search done prior to putting it up for sale. One has to remember that when you or your siblings inherit a property, you also inherit everything that goes with it.  Death does not cancel any unpaid taxes, mortgages, judgments or liens.

So before you decide to sell the inherited property, make sure you call a local title company and have a title search done. It will be worth it in the end, when you get that quick close on the property.