Repairs to house before probate - Final update

CruisingSaver

BooJewels said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm with others on this - don't get involved with the stress and delays of trying to do up a house just to sell - when the buyer might well come in and undo it all anyway.  My parents' house was in a mess too - and I was very embarrassed getting the EA in to value for probate - as the house was in poor repair in some areas and they were hoarders, with a significant mouse infestation.  We didn't actually put it up for sale until we'd evicted the furry squatters and filled 3 skips with junk.

Buyers who intend to develop prefer an 'honest' house to one that looks like it's been patched up to look better.  Once we had Probate, we spoke to the EA on Tuesday about how we'd go about putting it up for sale.  He put it up for sale on Thursday as a 'fabulous development opportunity' and it sold to the first viewer on the Saturday morning, we had a formal offer with proof of funding on the Monday - with a queue of people who were interested if it fell through.  Most of the internal walls are in a skip on the drive at the moment.  It will be unrecognisable once finished - a builder bought it for his own family home - he'd already registered with the EA to be advised if it came up for sale.

When you get it valued for Probate, err towards a bit on the high side of what you think it will sell for, so if it does sell for more, your CGT liability is minimised.  There was a delay for us for various reasons and house prices rocketed in that time, so our estate has it to pay.

Thanks for this, all very useful. After talking to my husband last night I’ve decided to phone an EA tomorrow to see where we are in terms of valuation as is and if it was done up and go from there. 

I can see where you’re coming from re: developers as there’s a house a few doors down from my Mum’s that went on the market the day before she died, one more bedroom than hers and in a slightly better condition which is under offer already so hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to sell.

I’ve applied for probate already and did estimate the value of the house slightly higher than I think it might sell for. I’ve also done some CGT liability calculations which show it would be more tax efficient if my husband was a joint beneficiary in the house but unfortunately he isn’t.

I’ve read about a deed of variation but don’t know if it could be used in this instance.

shiraz99

CruisingSaver said:

BooJewels said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm with others on this - don't get involved with the stress and delays of trying to do up a house just to sell - when the buyer might well come in and undo it all anyway.  My parents' house was in a mess too - and I was very embarrassed getting the EA in to value for probate - as the house was in poor repair in some areas and they were hoarders, with a significant mouse infestation.  We didn't actually put it up for sale until we'd evicted the furry squatters and filled 3 skips with junk.

Buyers who intend to develop prefer an 'honest' house to one that looks like it's been patched up to look better.  Once we had Probate, we spoke to the EA on Tuesday about how we'd go about putting it up for sale.  He put it up for sale on Thursday as a 'fabulous development opportunity' and it sold to the first viewer on the Saturday morning, we had a formal offer with proof of funding on the Monday - with a queue of people who were interested if it fell through.  Most of the internal walls are in a skip on the drive at the moment.  It will be unrecognisable once finished - a builder bought it for his own family home - he'd already registered with the EA to be advised if it came up for sale.

When you get it valued for Probate, err towards a bit on the high side of what you think it will sell for, so if it does sell for more, your CGT liability is minimised.  There was a delay for us for various reasons and house prices rocketed in that time, so our estate has it to pay.

Thanks for this, all very useful. After talking to my husband last night I’ve decided to phone an EA tomorrow to see where we are in terms of valuation as is and if it was done up and go from there. 

I can see where you’re coming from re: developers as there’s a house a few doors down from my Mum’s that went on the market the day before she died, one more bedroom than hers and in a slightly better condition which is under offer already so hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to sell.

I’ve applied for probate already and did estimate the value of the house slightly higher than I think it might sell for. I’ve also done some CGT liability calculations which show it would be more tax efficient if my husband was a joint beneficiary in the house but unfortunately he isn’t.

I’ve read about a deed of variation but don’t know if it could be used in this instance.

If you're thinking with this is that you can used your husband's CGT allowance if he was a beneficiary then that would only apply if you actually transferred the property over. As it stands if you sell, it will be on behalf of the estate and you can only use the estate's own allowance. 

CruisingSaver

shiraz99 said:

CruisingSaver said:

BooJewels said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm with others on this - don't get involved with the stress and delays of trying to do up a house just to sell - when the buyer might well come in and undo it all anyway.  My parents' house was in a mess too - and I was very embarrassed getting the EA in to value for probate - as the house was in poor repair in some areas and they were hoarders, with a significant mouse infestation.  We didn't actually put it up for sale until we'd evicted the furry squatters and filled 3 skips with junk.

Buyers who intend to develop prefer an 'honest' house to one that looks like it's been patched up to look better.  Once we had Probate, we spoke to the EA on Tuesday about how we'd go about putting it up for sale.  He put it up for sale on Thursday as a 'fabulous development opportunity' and it sold to the first viewer on the Saturday morning, we had a formal offer with proof of funding on the Monday - with a queue of people who were interested if it fell through.  Most of the internal walls are in a skip on the drive at the moment.  It will be unrecognisable once finished - a builder bought it for his own family home - he'd already registered with the EA to be advised if it came up for sale.

When you get it valued for Probate, err towards a bit on the high side of what you think it will sell for, so if it does sell for more, your CGT liability is minimised.  There was a delay for us for various reasons and house prices rocketed in that time, so our estate has it to pay.

Thanks for this, all very useful. After talking to my husband last night I’ve decided to phone an EA tomorrow to see where we are in terms of valuation as is and if it was done up and go from there. 

I can see where you’re coming from re: developers as there’s a house a few doors down from my Mum’s that went on the market the day before she died, one more bedroom than hers and in a slightly better condition which is under offer already so hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to sell.

I’ve applied for probate already and did estimate the value of the house slightly higher than I think it might sell for. I’ve also done some CGT liability calculations which show it would be more tax efficient if my husband was a joint beneficiary in the house but unfortunately he isn’t.

I’ve read about a deed of variation but don’t know if it could be used in this instance.

If you're thinking with this is that you can used your husband's CGT allowance if he was a beneficiary then that would only apply if you actually transferred the property over. As it stands if you sell, it will be on behalf of the estate and you can only use the estate's own allowance. 

Thanks I think I’d already got to that point last night and discounted it on that basis plus I don’t need the additional hassle at the moment with everything going on.

BooJewels

Wait and see what the EA advises - I'd already been advised on the housing board here to leave the house in an honest state and the EA endorsed that totally.  It was clearly going to need a lot doing anyway, so why make work for ourselves.

And as has been pointed out - there's only one allowance for CGT, for the estate itself. At the end of the day, we were happy enough to actually need to pay it, as we got £20k more for the house than our earlier best case scenario, so it's still a bonus.  Largely because there was quite a long delay for us.

GDB2222

CruisingSaver said:

shiraz99 said:

CruisingSaver said:

BooJewels said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

I'm with others on this - don't get involved with the stress and delays of trying to do up a house just to sell - when the buyer might well come in and undo it all anyway.  My parents' house was in a mess too - and I was very embarrassed getting the EA in to value for probate - as the house was in poor repair in some areas and they were hoarders, with a significant mouse infestation.  We didn't actually put it up for sale until we'd evicted the furry squatters and filled 3 skips with junk.

Buyers who intend to develop prefer an 'honest' house to one that looks like it's been patched up to look better.  Once we had Probate, we spoke to the EA on Tuesday about how we'd go about putting it up for sale.  He put it up for sale on Thursday as a 'fabulous development opportunity' and it sold to the first viewer on the Saturday morning, we had a formal offer with proof of funding on the Monday - with a queue of people who were interested if it fell through.  Most of the internal walls are in a skip on the drive at the moment.  It will be unrecognisable once finished - a builder bought it for his own family home - he'd already registered with the EA to be advised if it came up for sale.

When you get it valued for Probate, err towards a bit on the high side of what you think it will sell for, so if it does sell for more, your CGT liability is minimised.  There was a delay for us for various reasons and house prices rocketed in that time, so our estate has it to pay.

Thanks for this, all very useful. After talking to my husband last night I’ve decided to phone an EA tomorrow to see where we are in terms of valuation as is and if it was done up and go from there. 

I can see where you’re coming from re: developers as there’s a house a few doors down from my Mum’s that went on the market the day before she died, one more bedroom than hers and in a slightly better condition which is under offer already so hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to sell.

I’ve applied for probate already and did estimate the value of the house slightly higher than I think it might sell for. I’ve also done some CGT liability calculations which show it would be more tax efficient if my husband was a joint beneficiary in the house but unfortunately he isn’t.

I’ve read about a deed of variation but don’t know if it could be used in this instance.

If you're thinking with this is that you can used your husband's CGT allowance if he was a beneficiary then that would only apply if you actually transferred the property over. As it stands if you sell, it will be on behalf of the estate and you can only use the estate's own allowance. 

Thanks I think I’d already got to that point last night and discounted it on that basis plus I don’t need the additional hassle at the moment with everything going on.

You don't need to decide about that yet. It's not a great deal of hassle to do a DOV, and the solicitor handling the sale can transfer the property into joint names before the sale contract is exchanged. Obviously, you'll need paid-for advice on this, but it appears straightforward. 

thegreenone

How have you been able to apply for Probate without an official valuation?  

GaleSF63

Speak to more than one EA. They don't always tell the truth give accurate information. One EA who came to my mother's house said it should go to auction because no-one would be able to get a mortgage because there was no central heating. The house sold (through another agent) to someone who got a mortgage. 

marymary12

Very sorry for your loss. Even though you have recently done up your own home it probably is not worth doing work on your mum's unless you absolutely need to in order to sell. It would be difficult to be detached and not overspend. Just getting the house cleared is likely to be physically and emotionally draining.

I don't want to hijack this thread but the discussion around CGT has me wondering. If a house is being sold several years after it was valued for probate, because somebody else had a life interest to reside, is CGT due on any increase in value? By the estate or the eventual beneficiary?

Soundgirlrocks

CruisingSaver said:

Thank you. Not had an EA in as to be honest I’d be too embarrassed to let anyone in. The roof needs repairing as part of the ceiling in one of the bedrooms has collapsed and it looks very mouldy. The whole house is in quite a poor state of repair which really shocked me when I saw it as my Mum was generally really house proud but she had clearly been struggling for some time.

For clarity we hadn’t been allowed inside the house since the start of the pandemic as she was terrified of catching COVID so we had no idea what was happening.

Sorry for your losss, whilst I'd agree not spending too much time or money on it before selling but I'd look to get the roof repaired, given we are about to head in to the winter months and any sale may take a while you don't want the condition to deteriate further 

shiraz99

marymary12 said:

Very sorry for your loss. Even though you have recently done up your own home it probably is not worth doing work on your mum's unless you absolutely need to in order to sell. It would be difficult to be detached and not overspend. Just getting the house cleared is likely to be physically and emotionally draining.

I don't want to hijack this thread but the discussion around CGT has me wondering. If a house is being sold several years after it was valued for probate, because somebody else had a life interest to reside, is CGT due on any increase in value? By the estate or the eventual beneficiary?

Is this somebody a spouse?