My father has passed away, and now I am in the position of being a partial owner of my father’s condo, along with my father’s wife’s two children. They want to do renovations. I don’t want to be involved at all with renovations. Has anybody had a similar situation or know of anybody who has?
Do you want the condo? If not, then speak with a real estate lawyer, and work out the best way to sell your share to the other owners.
I do not want the apartment. I would like to sell it, but I don’t see how that can be done when we have such differing opinions on everything.
My condolences on the loss of your father. Depending on the state, there may be laws that would force a sale. Do contact an attorney or a legal aid clinic for basic information.
Thank you, TQ. I will be talking with an attorney, but I would like to hear what others have experienced in this regard.
When a property is co-owned and one person wants to sell and the others don’t, I agree that generally it is sold–either the owners who don’t want a sale offer fair market value to buy out the one who wants to sell OR the court can order it sold and divide net proceeds among the parties after subtracting all expenses of sale, attorneys fees and other costs.
In the case I’m most familiar with, when a co-owner died, the remaining co-owning brothers were able to figure out how to divide properties that worked for both of them, so no sale was needed. Each brother got one house in his own name and they continued co-owning a small rental together.
When my cousin’s mother died, the condo was left to her three children. One cousin wanted the property and paid her brother and sister the fair market value.
Twice, I have been left a partial share in a home, with my sister getting the other share. In both cases, we sold the property because neither of us wanted it.
But even in that situation, there can be disagreements. For example, one person may want to spend a lot of time and effort fixing up the place to get the highest possible price, while the other may consider this extra work a burden and prefer to sell the property “as is.”
My sister and I were able to reach agreements on such issues fairly easily. But others might not be. So I can see why one person buying out the others might be a better solution – provided, of course, that one person can afford to buy out the others, which is not always the case.
Who, if anyone, lives there or uses it? If it’s empty it’s a lot easier to sell than if someone decides to move in.
Do they want to renovate to sell, or to keep?
I am sorry for your loss. If it is recent, it may be best to wait a while before making any financial decisions.
When you are ready to proceed, have the condo appraised by a couple of appraisers to get an idea of its market value. Then ask the two people who want to keep it to buy you out at 50% of the fair market value. If they refuse, then your lawyer can work out an equitable plan with theirs, but I hope they are willing and able to buy your share.
If they are not able to buy out, I would think they could get a mortgage for the OP’s share?
How young are these “children?” Are they in a position to buy out your share or just wishing they can have what they want?
If they can afford it, fine. Sometimes, you don’t even go with your share of "fair mkt " accept a tad lower, just so you can exit. Keep a level head and aim for what works for you.
Any mortgage remaining, that affects all this?
You need to speak to a lawyer about having these kids buy out your share of the condo. That’s a little different than listing it with an agent to sell.
It’s been a long time since I took Trust and Estates and Property in law school, but the above posts give you good suggestions on how to settle this practically. When it comes to specific legal rights, that will be driven by the exact words in the Will, the estate laws governing your father’s Will, and property laws of the state the condo is located in. Condominium bylaws may also possibly affect what you can or cannot do. Unless it is stipulated in the Will or the Will is contested and as part of the settlement or resolution all or certain real and personal property is to be sold and proceeds divided, I am unaware of any laws or court authority that could force parties to dispose of their interest against their will.
First choice is to come to an amicable agreement for you to sell your share. If you cannot come to an agreement because you cannot agree on a price or terms, then perhaps you can enter into a contract that will bind all parties to a resolution (now this can be enforced by the courts). For example, rather than just informally agreeing on hiring an appraiser(s) to set a price where any of the parties may back out if they don’t like the price, you can enter into a binding contract that all parties will accept the price with a closing within xx days after the determination. If an issue is that your step siblings cannot afford or are unable to finance the purchase, you can also agree beforehand to a seller financed scheme: you agree to a time period and interest rate, the appraiser(s) determine the value and you plug that into an amortization formula which will yield a monthly payment. You either hold onto title until the payments are made or you secure a recorded mortgage on the property. Not ideal, but better than the bickering if there is no resolution.
Going out a bit on a limb, my recollection of what happens when there is joint ownership of real property, if one party decides to put money into the property for capital renovations/improvements without agreement from the other party(ies), they have no recourse against the other party(ies) for contribution and cannot claim a higher % interest in the property. So in this regard, you kinda have the upper hand. Your step siblings can make the condo a Taj Mahal, but you would still own 50%. I am definitely getting out of my depth here, and you will need to get advice from a real estate lawyer in the applicable jurisdiction.
Your recourse is called an ‘action for partition’. Talk to a lawyer.
Was there a trust by chance? If there are other assets to distribute it is sometimes possible for the executor/successor trustee to reapportion the distribution so that you get the more liquid assets and the others keep the property.
Sorry about your father. Did dad have a will, trust? If yes who is the decision maker for the probate estate (executor/personal rep), or Trust (Successor trustee)? What powers/authority did the will/trust give the decision maker? Who has authority to sell condo? If no will, probably will have to petition court to get a decision maker named. Heirs can get very weird/unrealistic. Agree you should talk to an attorney, not only because of sale of condo, but all estate issues need to be addressed (eg did dad have any creditors, final tax returns, etc). Being an executor/personal rep, or Successor Trust can be very stressful, can be expensive (meaning less $$ to heirs), take up a lot of time. Hopefully the three of you can play nice as every time estate attorney needs to be called/emailed, the meter is ticking. When my wife was both Successor Trustee (mother) and personal rep of sister’s probate estate, both who lived in another state, she was lucky as wife and other sibling played nice so things went pretty smoothly. Good luck.
My father left my sister and myself his home. He had lived in the home 40 years and it was in disrepair.
My sister wanted to buy me put and flip the house. I really felt and continue to do so today that my father would not one of us to benefit financially more from the house than another.
In addition she wanted me to step down from being co executor. I declined.
She did not like my responses. She ended up displaying passive aggressive behavior. It took literally years for our relationship to recover
You asked for other’s stories, here is a thread on Bogleheads about siblings disagreeing about Mom’s house, hopefully this is allowed by CC TOS:
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=221324
I hope she forgave your for not letting her take advantage of an opportunity.