One of the first things many people do when they inherit their parents’ home these days is put up a for-sale sign.
Deciding what to do with a family property is often both an emotional and financial decision, but the rising costs of renovations, property taxes and utilities are making it harder for adult children to hold on to the real estate, financial advisers say. Higher home prices and mortgage rates have often also made it impractical for heirs to buy out their siblings, said Dick Stoner, a Realtor in Rockville, Md.
The high home prices of the past few years have made the decision to sell even more attractive. If inheritors can unload a house in a hot location for a high price, the proceeds from the home’s sale can help secure their finances and fund goals such as retirement, advisers say.
“For inheritors, cash is king,” said Paige Wilbur, Wells Fargo’s head of estate services.
Cash over sentimental value
Leaving a home to children remains a common way to transfer wealth, according to financial advisers and estate planners. There is no recent data that tracks home inheritance nationally.
More than three-quarters of parents plan to leave a home to their children when they die, according to a 2023 Charles Schwab survey of more than 700 American investors between the ages of 27 and 95. Some children may be reluctant to sell for sentimental reasons, but finances and simplicity of unloading a property often win out. Nearly 70% of those who expect to inherit a home from their parents plan to sell it, the survey found.
When Heidi Whaley and her sister, Melissa Mills, inherited their parents’ home, they chose to put it on the market. They recently listed the Charleston home for just below $3.5 million. The sisters, both retired, felt some sadness letting go of the home they grew up in and where their parents hosted many waterfront parties.
“My father wanted to build a house that would be strong, one which would be passed from generation to generation,” said Whaley.
Both sisters are empty-nesters with their own nearby homes, and said they couldn’t justify the expense of maintaining a nearly 4,000-square-foot house for the sake of fond memories.
Rising costs are a bigger part of the calculus these days when heirs decide whether or not to keep an inherited house, real-estate agents say. For instance, the higher cost to insure coastal homes in the Southeast is pushing more heirs in the area to sell, said Ruthie Ravenel, a Realtor in Charleston.
Inflation has also made repairs and upkeep on older properties more expensive, leading some to favor newer properties that may be cheaper to maintain and insure, she said.
