[Angie]

My dad recently passed away. My sister and I will be selling his house. I would like to keep it as a rental property, but she would prefer to sell it outright. Any options on which option is best?

[Connie]

All of the advice given are great if doing rental…. however, reality is if one of you wants to sale, you need to sale. Unless you can afford to buy her out and do rental responsibilities on your own.

[Laura]

That’s tough when u have to share the decision. When my dad passed my mom was impulsive! And I think she regrets some things but it’s already done.

Anyways, I think it best to try write your pros and cons for keeping it as a rental and talk about it with your sister. If the home needs alot of repairs and fix up, you have to see if its worth the expense. Not to mention it’s good to have a rental management company (usually there is a fee for service) to help you. These days, it’s hard to find the “perfect” tenant.

Management company can deal with credit checks, non payment, eviction, and other issues. Some tenants may cause damage and u will have to fix it. You guys might want to build an EF for emergency situations, such as a water heater replacement, water leaks, and repair other major things that breaks. It’s your responsibility as the landlord. In some states theres laws that you have to fix within a certain amount of time if an emergency happens. You guys both will need to put in money for that. Also get insurance in case of fire, water damage etc.

If you sell it, you and your sister can split the money and do your own thing. No drama.

It’s alot to think of especially when it’s not just your decision. I wanted to rent out our condo too after my mom passes but I think Im going to sell. My condo has too many repairs and I’m going to need to invest at least $20K and I don’t want to deal with tenant drama too. These are just my thoughts. Just something to think about.

Good luck & I’m sorry for your loss.

Explore these too: I’m looking for some advice with my rental property

[Jaime]

I would personally sell as I see way too much drama with “professional tenants” Pay first and last and never to pay again and can’t evict them and takes months if not years to get them out.

For me it’s definitely made me never want to be a landlord.

[Lindsey]

Buy it from your sister and then rent it yourself. I love having our rentals as extra income. Fix it so that it’s not cheap rent and attract great tenants.

We have med students in ours and they are awesome.

[Sarah]

Sell it. Rentals are difficult to begin with and harder when you don’t own it outright.

[Sara]

I’m sorry for your loss. Like others have said, you need to sell or buy her out. Whatever happens, remember- people first, money second.

I’d sell and then use the money to generate income in other ways. Pay off debt first if you have it and load up your EF and sinking funds.

CDs are paying well and likely will with interest rates being high.

I use a financial planner with Stifel. Always always use a fiduciary.

Our focus is long-term growth, not income right now. I use a planner because inherited IRAs can be weird.

You can learn to handle your investments yourself. Lots of great resources out there.

First thing though- save your relationship with your sister, get the house sold and then figure out what to do with the proceeds.

Also, check out: For those who invest in real estate do you finance a rental property or pay it with cash?

[Brooke]

Realtor here – I think it really depends where you live, if you need the money and how the rental market is. You could likely use your portion of the sale to buy something else, maybe smaller, so you could continue investing in real estate.

Where I live, housing prices are so high with detached housing that an inheritance would allow the beneficiaries to buy property themselves that they probably couldn’t have before.

[Megan]

I have rental properties. You will have to sell or buy her out. If it were me, and it was my first time being a landlord, I would probably choose to sell and put the money towards an investment property that you have researched and feel good it will produce income.

But, I would put the $ aside until you are 100% ready. And make sure you keep some aside for repairs (I have about $10k per property set aside for emergencies).

[Jade]

You would need to buy her out. But it can be very tricky. My mum wanted to keep nanas property and one sibling agreed to sell but the other siblings husband wanted more than the original agreed price.

Mum ended up selling to avoid bad feelings with her sister.

B.T.W. Don’t forget to take a look at: For those with rental property, are you seeing insurance rates increase?

[Brooke]

First make sure you’re not making the decision you want to keep it based on missing your dad and not wanting to part with the property. Maybe it makes sense to pay the utilities and upkeep for a month or two to grieve and settle in the feelings before making such a decision either way (keep or sell).

But, I can tell you rental isn’t easy- my father had a rental property with a management company helping collect rent, manage repairs under a certain dollar figure etc and it was just one thing after another.

It may not be worth the headache it will cause and to create possible tension between you and your sister.

[Annie]

If you want to keep it then buy her out and the rent will cover the mortgage you have and you will ver likely have cash flow coming in for repairs and to help pay down the mortgage even faster.

When you borrow for the mortgage make sure you get a little extra as a cushion in case repairs need to be done soon afterwards.

[Nichole]

Unless you are prepared to immediately pay for major repairs if they come up, sell. You have a responsibility to your tenants first and foremost, even if you can’t afford it.

My dad passed and as a Realtor, I insisted my mom have an inspection done of the house. She was very insistent that nothing was wrong with the house… we are 9 months out from him dying and we have had to spend about $30k on repairs that needed done immediately.

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