How To Sell an Inherited House in San Antonio [Updated 2023]

Are you inheriting a house in San Antonio?

Have you inherited a house already?

Would you rather sell that house for cash than make repairs, pay taxes, manage tenants, etc?

If you answered yes to these questions, this article will help you sell that inherited house fast so that you can get on with your life. Plus, having extra money in the bank doesn't hurt either! ;)

Selling an Inherited House Fast

Selling inherited property can be done very quickly in most cases.

How you go about selling the house depends on where you are at in the probate process.

What needs to be done depends upon whether the deceased has left a will.

The Deceased Did Not Leave a Will

A 2023 study by Caring.com found that '2 out of 3 Americans do not have any type of estate planning document'.

Image source: Caring.com

In this situation where no will was left, you could possibly get by with an Affidavit of Heirship.

You should be able to get by without needing to go through a formal probate process.

The affidavit of heirship allows identification of the heirs to the real estate owned by and in the name of the deceased. If the real property is located within Bexar County, this is where the affidavit will be filed.

Avoiding the normal probate process will save you a ton of time and effort. Title companies can use the affidavit of heirship to handle the transaction when you sell the house.

This is the quickest way to sell an inherited house as long as the deceased did not leave a will and the real estate is in their name.

The Deceased Left a Will

If a will was left by the deceased, the probate process will need to be followed.

The 8 steps of the Texas probate process as detailed by Forbes Law Office are as follows:

1. Filing
2. Posting
3. Will Validation
4. Cataloging Assets
5. Beneficiaries Identified
6. Notifying Creditors
7. Resolving Disputes
8. Distributing Assets

Most of the time the probate process will need to have been completed for you to take the next step in selling the house. Next, we will discuss how it can be possible to sell a house before probate is completed.

Can You Sell An Inherited House Before Probate

Yes, it is possible to sell an inherited house before probate is completed.

Selling the house (real property) before probate has finished is a choice that can be made by the probate court. Only the probate court can allow this to happen.

If the estate does not have a lot of assets and there is a reason to move quickly to sell the house (mortgage payments due, taxes owed, etc), the probate court is more likely to agree to allow the sale of the house right away.

What About Capital Gains When You Sell An Inherited House

Another aspect of selling an inherited house that needs to be considered is whether or not you will be required to pay capital gains taxes on the proceeds of the sale.

According to the law offices of Daniel Hunt:

If you own the inherited home for one year or less before selling it, the capital gain will be short-term and taxed as regular income. If you keep the property for more than one year, the long-term capital gains tax rate would be 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on your income bracket.

So there are consequences to selling the house right away. If your tax bracket allows you the benefit of a low tax rate, this may not be much of an issue.

If you've already owned the house (after probate so that it's in your name) for more than a year, the lower long-term gains tax rate would be much easier to swallow.

The taxes you are responsible for when selling an inherited house largely therefore depend upon your tax bracket and how long you've owned the house.

Sell Inherited Real Estate In San Antonio

Selling an inherited house is usually handled like the sale of any other house. Many will list with a real estate agent. Many will sell for sale by owner.

If the house is terribly outdated and/or needs a lot of repairs, they methods of selling might not be optimal.

When this is the case, a cash home buyer is usually your best option.

The benefits of selling to a cash buyer include:

• Avoiding paying thousands in Realtor commissions
• Avoiding having appraisals and inspections done (and the costs of those)
• Selling completely as-is without fear of a buyer coming back after finding a hidden problem with the inherited house
• Selling within 5 days rather months later

Ready to get a cash offer for your inherited house in San Antonio? Danny Buys Houses will gladly make you a fair cash offer.

Click here to find out how the process works and feel free to check out our reviews.

Conclusion

When inheriting a house in San Antonio, there are many things to consider. How the house is transferred into your name depends upon whether a will was left by the deceased.

Selling the house also has several considerations like how much in taxes you will be required to pay.

We hope this article helped answer your questions around these situations so that you are better equipped to sell your inherited house fast.