I Inherited A House In Omaha, NE

Losing a loved one can be a very challenging time for many reasons, and taking ownership of a property that you do not know what to do with can add to the anxiety. You may be thinking, “I inherited a house, what should I do now? Should I rent it? Should I sell it? Who should I talk to? Who can I trust help me make a decision on what to do? Or one of many other options that are available to do for the house you just inherited.

We can help! We’re seasoned investors in Omaha, Nebraska and surrounding areas in real estate. We are homebuyers looking to buy houses each month in the Omaha, NE area. If you have inherited a house and looking to sell the property fast, for cash contact us. Every month we get calls from individuals who have inherited a house and are looking to sell the house… the info below are some tips to help you navigate the process.

You Inherited A House, What To Do Next?

Here are a few important considerations to help you make the right decision:

1) Make sure you know about the mortgage

This may sound obvious, but if the person who left you a property also had a mortgage (unless it had no mortgage and was paid off, which is great!), you will have to continue to pay the mortgage in order to keep the property (assuming you want to keep the home). Some banks will allow you to assume the loan, while others may force you to refinance into a new loan. If you don’t qualify for a new loan, renting may not be an option for you because you will be able to get financing for the house you inherited. You will also want to check to see if any liens are on the property. These could be liens from debts that have not been paid in the past, county code violations like weed cutting to some type of internal revenue lien. It pays to do your due diligence.

2) Having a property Investment is only as good as the manager

If dealing with real estate brokers, maintenance issues with tenants calling you in the middle of the night with a clogged toilet or drain, tenants constantly contacting you in general with little issues, rent collection every month with all the excuses why they either can’t pay rent this month or why they will be late. If all the nuances of property management aren’t the best use of your time you have an option to hire a professional property manager to assist you in managing your house. Hiring a property manager comes along with an added expense in exchange for additional freedom. Some people who inherit homes decide to keep the house and rent it for extra income. That’s a great strategy for sure. You just need to be prepared to manage the property and the hassles that can go along with tenants and toilets. Or you have the option to sell your house quickly for cash to a qualified homebuyer like Harter Investments.

3) Property ownership can be expensive

When inheriting a house it’s rare to see a building that’s been perfectly maintained throughout the years. Most inherited houses need major improvements. A lot of the houses are older and many may have structural damage in the basement walls from may years of extremely hot summer temperatures to bone-chilling freezing in the middle of the winter. Is the electrical and plumbing up to code? How old is the HVAC system? How old is the water heater? The roof is also another major expense that needs to be looked at. The list goes on and on.

Hiring a professional property inspector to give you a detailed rundown on what you’ll need to do within the next five years, along with estimated costs is a great way to see if keeping the house and becoming a landlord is something that makes sense to do. Surprises can be very, very expensive. Also, when looking at a house to rent you really want to look at houses that would be free of maintenance for at least 8 years. This way you will not have to be paying for any type of maintenance expense the first few years while saving the positive cash flow and paying down the debt.

4) Selling a property for top dollar can cost you big dollars

If you have decided on selling the property and want to get top dollar for the house this means you will need to bring to house up to code and update the house above the level of other houses in your area. We have already mentioned some of the possible major repairs you could run into if keeping your house or updating the house to get top dollar. We can help you analyze the value of your property today versus the long-term benefits of renting. If you can use the equity in your property in another way that outpaces the performance of the real estate market, you should. If you don’t have anything better to do with the money and the neighborhood is rising in value, hang on – real estate can be a great investment if you know how to correctly read the market. There are also holding costs associated with keeping a house you inherit. These holding costs include taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance costs such as yard upkeep, snow removal, watering lawn, HVAC system, water heater, appliances etc.

6) Uncle Sam will want their share of your inheritance

It’s very important to discuss your inheritance with real estate tax and legal professionals before you make any decisions. There are major property and income tax consequences that will dramatically impact the cost of owning your investment and the direction you decide to go with the property. This is an extremely important part of any decision made as to what the next step would be with a property you just inherited. Homebuyers like Harter Investments can help guide you through some of those decisions. 

7) Take a look at all of your options

You may also have an option to structure a lease-option agreement that allows you to rent and sell at the same time – capturing the best of both worlds. These kinds of deals can be complicated, but with our investment experience, we help you with this option. Several other options you have working with an experienced homebuyer like Harter Investments would be if you want to sell your house quickly for cash. We have the ability to close on your schedule, pay you cash and make things easy for you during this stressful period. Other advantages to selling your house through a company that specializes in purchasing homes are you do not pay expensive real estate commissions, closing costs, costs to repair the home to get it ready for sale and other miscellaneous costs that may come up. You also can walk away from the house as is. We buy houses in any condition, even if the house is full of things you don’t want. No need to worry, we can take care of that also. Selling your house to a qualified homebuyer quickly also means you will not have the ongoing holding costs associated with owning a house which includes insurance, taxes, the monthly utility costs and maintenance costs of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc.

8) Compare a few scenarios

We can help you determine the fair market value (FMV) of any property in Omaha or Lincoln NE, Council Bluffs, IA and the surrounding area. We can also help you determine a price as if you sold it today without doing any work, the highest price the market will bear, and the projected value of keeping it as a rental (along with the associated costs).

9) Why consider a qualified homebuyer

When you are looking to sell your house fast working with a homebuyer like Harter Investments makes a lot of sense. We are a local family owned business that has the ability to buy houses, as is, with no contingencies. If you have inherited a house and just don’t know where to start, you want to sell the house you inherited fast, you don’t have the money to make the necessary repairs to sell the house, you just want cash fast and be done with the whole process or any other reason. Call us today at 402-939-6556. We can assist with any questions you may have regarding your options when you inherit a house and are not sure what to do. You can also visit our website at www.harterinvestments.com. To learn more about us click here. If you are interested more about how the process works you can click here. We look forward to helping you.

Just call us today at 402-939-6556 or visit our website at www.harterinvestments.com for more information on how we can make you a fair cash offer on your inherited house today!