The cleanout is our job, not yours
Families stall on inherited property for months over a job that has nothing to do with the sale: the emptying of it. Meanwhile the taxes run and the insurance gets complicated.
So we remove that step entirely. The inherited house is bought as it sits, furniture and all. Clearing it afterward is our cost, and it is not quietly deducted from what we pay you.
What we bring to an inherited house, beyond the money
Most families arriving here have had one confusing conversation with someone and come away less certain than before. What we can offer first is somebody who has handled a great many inherited houses telling you plainly what stage you are at and what usually happens next.
If selling suits you, we buy the inherited property as-is and close on your date. If the house is sound and a listing would net more, we will say so and introduce you to an agent. Selling is what we do, and we do it well enough to know when it is not the answer.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A four-bedroom on Judith Drive. A three-bedroom on Winside Lane. An one-bedroom on Skyline Drive. All of them in Coram, all bought by us.
Coram is roughly 40,220 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11727, and the housing stock is mostly hi-ranch, ranch, colonial. Around Route 112 and Middle Country Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Longwood and Middle Country school district does to a resale price.
Surrogate's Court timing on inherited property
An estate in Suffolk County goes through the Surrogate's Court in Riverhead. Until the executor has authority to sell, the sale of inherited property cannot close.
That is normal and it is not a problem for us. We hold a signed contract while the estate catches up, and we do not charge for the wait or renegotiate because it took longer than anyone expected.
Selling inherited property as-is versus listing it
The comparison worth making on inherited property is not offer against asking price. It is money in hand on a date you choose, set against a listed number minus commission, repairs, concessions and several months of carrying a Coram house nobody lives in.
We will lay ours out in writing so it can be compared honestly. If the listing wins, take the listing.
How we arrive at a number on an inherited house
On an inherited house we start from the end: what it sells for once the work is done. From that we take away the cost of the work and a margin for the chance that we have misjudged either one. That is the whole method. Nothing is hidden in it.
- What it is worth repaired. Not the Coram median of $575,000 on its own, but what houses like yours on your street actually closed at recently.
- What the work costs. Roof, boiler, electric, the kitchen and bath. In Coram the stock is largely hi-ranch and ranch, and on houses that age the mechanicals are usually the expensive part rather than the cosmetics.
- How long we will hold it. The median Coram house goes under contract in about 38 days once it is showable, then waits 45 to 60 days more on the buyer's lender. Ours has to get to showable first, and we carry taxes and insurance across the whole of it.
- What we are wrong about. Walls and floors hide things until they come up. We price for that uncertainty, and it accounts for much of the distance between a cash offer and a retail price.
How we can pay this and still make it work
Most cash buyers skip this part. We do not. We run millions of dollars of construction a year, so we buy materials at contractor prices and keep our crews busy all year. The same renovation costs us roughly half of what you would be quoted as a homeowner.
That difference is how we make money. It is also why renovating before you sell seldom comes out ahead: you would pay retail for the roof and the boiler and then hope a buyer pays you back for them. Most of the time they do not. Our margin comes from building for less, not from buying from you for less.
If our number does not work for you, tell us. We would much rather hear it than push. We will go through your situation and give you a straight view of your options, including the ones that leave us out. A lot of people do better listing with an agent, and if you are one of them we will tell you now rather than have you find out later.
Inherited houses we have bought nearby
A four-bedroom on Judith Drive. A three-bedroom on Winside Lane. An one-bedroom on Skyline Drive. We have been buying on Long Island for 15+ years and we buy in Coram specifically, not as part of a national footprint that happens to include it.
The inherited property tax question people get backwards
Ask about basis. That single word is the reason so many people are relieved after talking to an accountant about inherited property.
How an inherited house is valued for tax purposes is a different question from what a parent paid for it decades ago, and the two answers can be very far apart. Get a CPA to run it against your situation. If you do not have one, we know several who handle estates here.
What you do not pay when you sell an inherited house
These are the costs of putting an inherited house on the market through an agent. None of them apply when you sell to us.
- Agent commission
- $28,750 at 5% of the Coram median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $11,500 on a $575,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities for the 83 to 98 days of finding a buyer and waiting on their mortgage none
What happens to the mortgage on an inherited house
A mortgage on inherited property worries families more than it should. It is a lien, it gets satisfied at closing, and the balance of the proceeds goes to the estate.
The risk is not the loan itself but neglect. A loan that quietly falls into default while an inherited Coram house sits in probate turns a straightforward sale into a foreclosure problem stacked on top of an estate problem. Call the servicer and tell them what has happened.
Common questions
Can we sell a Coram house before the estate is settled?
A contract can usually be signed early. Closing on inherited property follows the Riverhead court's timeline, and we hold our number while that runs rather than repricing at the end.
There is still a mortgage on it. Does that stop you buying?
No. It gets paid off at closing out of the purchase price, like any lien on inherited property.
Will we owe tax on selling an inherited Coram house?
Ask a CPA, and ask before you sell rather than after. Inherited property is treated differently from property you bought, and people routinely assume a much worse outcome than the real one.
What if the siblings disagree?
It is the most common holdup on inherited property. One written offer, sent to everyone at once, usually narrows the argument fast. If it does not, an estate attorney is the right next call and we know good ones in Suffolk County.
Do we need to clear the Coram house out first?
Never. Contents stay where they are. The cleanout on inherited property is our cost and it is the task families are most relieved to hand over.