Set These Three Deadlines When You Need To Sell A Home For A Deceased Family Member
When a family member passes away, one of the tasks that you may find on your to-do list is selling the house. Generally, you'll want to get the funeral out of the way first, but in the weeks after the funeral, it's often time to begin to think about selling the house. Doing so can be difficult emotionally; while parting with your own house can be difficult, selling a house for a deceased family member can especially be a challenge if you spent a lot of time in the house. It's a good idea to set some deadlines for yourself to keep things moving forward. Here are three suggested deadlines to consider.
A Date To Have The Personal Items Removed
One of your first priorities will be to remove personal items from the house. While you'll often want to leave furniture and other such items to give the residence a lived-in feel, it's common to remove personal things such as photos and specific mementos. Doing so won't usually be easy, and may involve a lot of tears. Still, it's a good idea to set a deadline for this task so that you aren't constantly putting it off — and thus slowing down the sale of the house.
A Date To List The House
You should also set a deadline for yourself to have the house listed on the market. You may wish to confer with a real estate agent before you set this date, as this professional can talk to you about the things that you'll need to do before the house is ready to sell. Sometimes, a house will require little in the way of work; in other cases, you may need to hire one or more contractors to update the residence in order to get as much money for it as possible. Setting this deadline will allow you to stay on track.
A Date To Sell The House
Even though selling the house may be bittersweet, you'll feel good about getting it off your hands. To avoid the selling process dragging on, you should also plan to set a deadline for having the house sold. This is another topic on which to confer with your real estate agent, as he or she can let you know how quickly homes in the area tend to sell. After you list the house, you can evaluate the interest that you're getting and potentially adjust the price, if necessary, so that you can indeed sell the house by your deadline.
