Selling the Family Home: How to Let Go of Your Family Home

Oct 09, 2020 | Hometown Development

The house where we grew up is important in our formative years and is the backdrop of many of our youthful memories. However, there comes a time when we have to say goodbye and part ways with these spaces. Selling the family home can be difficult, not only because of the emotional attachment to a home that’s been in your family for years, but also because preparing a home to sell on the traditional real estate market can be time-consuming, expensive, and frustrating — especially when you have other grown-up responsibilities and your own home to take care of. Fortunately, when it comes to selling the family home quickly and painlessly you have options. Let’s talk about how to make the process of selling the family home as easy as possible.

Pack Up the Family Home

When you first take ownership of the family home, whether you’ve inherited the property or taken it over from other family members, that first walk-through can be difficult. From getting distracted by memories to feeling overwhelmed by the work ahead, you likely need to prepare for an initial wave of emotion. This is an important time to reflect on what the home meant to you, and take an inventory of everything in the home. Work your way through the home and decide what can be sold or donated, or what you absolutely can’t part with. Go through the belongings with your siblings to make sure everyone is involved in these important decisions. Consider that even some extended family may have an interest in keeping some items, especially priceless ones like family photo albums or other keepsakes. Unclaimed furniture, clothing, kitchen supplies, or decór can be sold in an estate sale or donated to a local charity.

Selling the Family Home

Once you have gone through the home and divided up the important belongings, it’s time to start thinking about selling the family home. In these situations, it’s often better to sell the home quickly rather than hang onto it, because even the best childhood memories can be soured when you have to take care of property you no longer want. When it comes to selling the family home, you have a few options: You can either sell it on the traditional real estate market by working with a Realtor, or sell it in a quick cash sale to a real estate investor.

Sell on the Traditional Market

Before you can sell on the traditional real estate market you’ll need to assess the home’s condition, make any necessary repairs, consider upgrading parts of the home to make it more appealing, hire a realtor, and show the home to potential buyers. Traditional sales take time — especially for older homes that might need a bit of work, maintenance, or updating. If you want to sell the family home quickly, pricing it correctly is important. Understand that you can’t put a price on your memories. It’s special to you because of the people you shared the memories with, not the home itself. Even if you think the home deserves a high price, potential buyers won’t factor the good times you spent in the home into their decision. Pricing the home too high will make it more difficult to sell, and if you have to keep readjusting the price later, buyers may become more wary and your home will lose appeal. If you don’t want to deal with making repairs or maintaining the property during the selling process you may consider selling the home to a real estate investor.

Sell to a Real Estate Investor

When you sell to a real estate investor, you don’t have to wait through the long sales process. Real estate investors prefer to close on home sales with a cash offer in as few as five days. Investors will also purchase your inherited home in as-is condition, meaning you don’t need to worry about making repairs or updates to the home. They will walk through the home with you and make you a fair offer for its market value, no Realtors necessary. The advantage of selling the family home to a real estate investor is that they have the time and capital to give the home the care and repairs it needs. They can wait for the right family to move in to make new memories. Meanwhile, you can sell quickly for cash and move on.

Say Goodbye When Selling the Family Home

When selling the family home, it’s important to acknowledge the importance of the space to you and its place in your memories. On your final walkthrough, reminisce where you and your siblings opened presents during the holidays, the place in the kitchen where the family dog used to lie, where you would sit at the dinner table and tell stories over vegetables you didn’t want to eat, where you once backed into the garage door before you got your license — and remember that the characters of those stories are the key to the memories, not the setting. Rather than let an additional home become a stressful responsibility, sell the home and hang onto the memories you made there, instead. Realize that, although it may hold a special place in your heart, it’s not your house anymore — at least not in the same way. If you sell the home, another family can move in and enjoy the space. Parting with the property will be tough, but in the long run, it will save you time, money, and stress. If you’ve recently inherited a family home, and just aren’t sure what to do with it, the Hometown Development team can help. We’ll clearly explain all of your options so you can make the best choice for you, and your family. Give us a call or reach out online to learn more.