House left to 4 of us, they want to sell

ladylucklynne

Dad left a will leaving the house to be shared amongst 4 of us, I am the excecutor and have the probate. Two of my brothers want to sell the house as quick as possible and are not bothered that it will sell for less than it was previously valued at, whilst myself and my other brother want to hold off selling until the market increases, as we feel my dad worked hard to buy his house.

At present I have been letting the house rather than leaving it empty and they all recieve a portion of the rent each month. I would like any advice on this matter, I have been told by friends that as excecutor I have the say when the house can be sold, but would like to get more information if you can help.

Marcheline

Hi, sorry I don't know much about this sort of thing, but just wanted to say that it might be an idea to post this on the House Buying, Renting and Selling board as well, as you may receive more response there.

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

Georgie4

ladylucklynne wrote: »

Dad left a will leaving the house to be shared amongst 4 of us, I am the excecutor and have the probate. Two of my brothers want to sell the house as quick as possible and are not bothered that it will sell for less than it was previously valued at, whilst myself and my other brother want to hold off selling until the market increases, as we feel my dad worked hard to buy his house.

At present I have been letting the house rather than leaving it empty and they all recieve a portion of the rent each month. I would like any advice on this matter, I have been told by friends that as excecutor I have the say when the house can be sold, but would like to get more information if you can help.

It depends how the house was left to you - are you all joint tenants to it or tenants in common - if you are joint tenants then if 1 person wants to sell then the property should be sold - although the two of you that don't want to sell it could buy the share of the other two at a knock down price if they want it sold regardless of price

Kaz2904

As far as I'm aware, you have to wind up the estate as executor. This means that you will know when everything is at the stage where assets can be disposed of. I don't think that you can withold the inheritance from your siblings which is what you would be doing if you try to stop them selling the house.
Why don't you and your brother raise a mortgage to buy the other 2 siblings out? You would only need 1/2 the current value of the house and then everyones happy, they get their money and if you're right about the housing market recovering then you would make a profit.

I do think that even if you are able to stall the sale of the house it would be very unfair of you to do so. You are denying your siblings of what is rightfuly theirs and you may end up losing everything with a court case if they start proceedings to recover their money.
I don't wish to be harsh but do try to see it from their point of view, you could be jeopardising their inheritance by not selling and it could become worthless. You don't know what is going to happen to the housing market any more than I do.

lincroft1710

As executor you are responsible for administering the estate according to the terms of the will. So unless your father stipulated house was to be sold/kept and let out/occupied by child 1 only etc, etc, all 4 siblings are going to have agree a way forward before this ends up splitting family and getting messy and expensive if lawyers/courts involved.

There is no knowing when market will pick up, in some areas prices seem to be levelling out. The house is no doubt worth more than your father paid for it, but renting out may mean that you have to redecorate/repair when you eventually sell and the income from rent could be taxable.

Robert_Sterling_3

I think the fact the your "dad worked hard to buy his house" is a red herring.

You are the executor. Your father's intention is that the four of you should have equal shares in his assets. So if you discuss what to do with your brothers and the four of you split 2 for and 2 against selling the house you could clearly have the casting vote.

I think the idea that the two of you who want to keep the house should buy out the two who want to sell the house is excellent.

House prices are falling. Get a valuation from a building society. Agree a price and go ahead. This way you can all live happily after.

ariba10

The only other way as I see it, is for the two of you that want to hang on to buy the other two out.

poppysarah

HOw much did your dad pay for it? And how much is it worth now?
Buy the others out for the the valuation at probate time. Your delay to sell has caused the drop in value.

Gorgeous_George

Sell it as fast as possible and share the money. You can do whatever you want with your money. Doing anything else will bring nothing but heartache.

Option 1 - Keep the house
Outcome 1
The other two hate you even though prices rise. You and the other property speculator can (eventually) laugh in the face of the other two and say 'I told you so' - but your profit will be only 25% of any rise in prices - less tax.

Outcome 2
The other two hate you and prices fall. They spit in your face and say 'I told you so' - but your loss will be only 25% of any fall in prices.

Option 2 - Sell the house
Outcome 1
Prices rise. You may have used your inheritance to gamble on house prices. Well done, you were right.

Outcome 2
Prices fall. You gambled your old dad's hard-earned money on the housing market and blew it. He'll be spinning in his grave. Why not gamble it away on horses?

Please, sell it and move on. You know it's the right thing to do.

If your dad had left just cash, would you have asked your siblings to club together and buy a house? No? I thought not.

GG

bluejake

ladylucklynne wrote: »

Two of my brothers want to sell the house as quick as possible and are not bothered that it will sell for less than it was previously valued at, whilst myself and my other brother want to hold off selling until the market increases.

Just bear in mind you may have a very long wait before prices start to substantially increase. In the mean time they may fall a lot further. We recently witnessed the near complete collapse of the banking system. It surprises me that many people think the 'credit crunch' is some kind of blip that was nothing to do with house prices and as soon as it is over in another 12 months time we will be back to normal i.e house prices doubling or tripling every 5 to 10 years.

I do not think the banks will replay and exceed the behaviour which caused their collapse. And the strange mysterious wealth creating merry go round of bundles of mortgages whose value nobody knew being sold round and round is over. Do not assume everything will return to 'normal' in eighteen months. It may be a very long time.

In the mean time I think it is reasonable for other family members to receive their inheritance in a timely fashion without someone gambling it on the property market against their will. Why not invest your share of the proceeds of the sale in the property market if that is want you want to do? Alternatively, buy out those other family members if you want to invest in this particular house.

Remember other family members may need their inheritance now. They may not be in a position to make an investment now. Personally, I think an inheritance should be distributed as soon as possible. It is not right for one person to try and cause delay for their own investment reasons. Don't let greed blind you to what is fair and reasonable.