How do you sell inherited property as is for a fair price?

Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin, Tribune Content Agency on Jun 26, 2025

Q: We are going to sell our mom’s home in Pennsylvania. We still have to get it appraised. But we know it has issues: the basement has a wall that has caved in, the roof is leaking and the home needs a new water heater.

Our neighbor would like to buy the home but wants to get it for almost nothing. He runs a successful business next door. Also, his utilities run through my mom’s property. We are going to use a real estate agent to sell the home, but we live in a small town where people talk. How can we protect ourselves while selling this property so we don’t get taken advantage of?

A: Neighbors talk, whether you’re in a small town or a big city. Regardless, you’ve got a property to sell and have to determine what that property is worth.

It’s nice that your neighbor has “kindly” offered to take your mother’s property off your hands. But, before you do that, you need to understand what true value is in her neighborhood. And, you need to know a variety of things relating to the sale of the property.

We’re glad to know you’re planning to use a real estate agent. A good real estate agent will represent your interests and advocate for them, and will help you understand what the market conditions are like in the property’s immediate area. A really great agent will help you be realistic about the market conditions and set expectations according to the physical condition and the aspects of the property that may be less desirable.

Because neighbors gossip, do your homework before inviting a few real estate agents to do a comparative marketing analysis of your mother’s home.

Why before? You already know the home has some major issues with the foundation, roof and mechanicals. What you don’t know is what it will cost someone to repair those issues. But that’s exactly what a prospective buyer will want to know. If you were buying the property and saw there were issues, you might bring along a contractor to give you a ballpark price. The contractor will likely quote you the highest price possible to cover themselves for any unexpected issues that may arise.

Then, the buyer will come back to you and take those costs into account when making an offer.

That’s why it’s important to know more about what specific issues you’re dealing with and what it will cost to fix them. For example, you might find out the roof repair is an easy fix that might cost $1,000. Or, you might learn that you not only have to replace the roof shingles, but some or all of the roof support structure and perhaps even mold remediation. That kind of repair could cost you $25,000 or more, depending on the damage and size of the roof.

You should also know the difference between what the property is worth in “as is” condition and what it would be worth if you took the time to fix the issues at hand. For example, your home might be worth $200,000 as it stands today, or $400,000 if you spent $50,000 to fix the issues and repaint.

We recently met with home sellers who had been living in their home for 50 years. The owners, like most, saw their home as a perfect place to live and raise a family.

While the home may have been perfect for them, the home actually needs a total makeover to meet the standards of today’s homebuyers: an open floor plan, a new kitchen, updated mechanicals, new bathrooms, new flooring and paint. It would probably cost $250,000 to make those changes, but given the local market, it could add more than $500,000 to the final sales price, if done correctly.

When you’re trying to sell an older home with significant issues, you’ll naturally limit the number of prospective buyers. Most won’t have the time, knowledge or cash to fix up that property. The buyers you want to attract might be people looking for a particular school district or neighborhood, who are willing to live with the issues (until they can’t), rehabbers, and home flippers.

These buyers are looking to make a profit and won’t pay a premium for your home. They, like your neighbor, want to pay the least amount possible. So back to your question. What should you do?

First, decide whether you’re willing to do the work. Talk with a few agents about what they think would need to be done. If you decide not to do the work, find an agent who works with rehabbed projects or decide to cut your losses and sell to your neighbor (after finding out how much the property is worth in “as is” condition.

If you do want to fix up your mom’s home, then get some estimates. If you’re going to do the work, then hire the contractors you need. After, engage an agent who has a lot of experience selling homes similar to your mother’s, in that same area. Get the marketing plan set, and then list the property.

If sellers use attorneys to help close deals in your area, you should hire one sooner rather than later, so you have a second set of eyes on your deal. They should also be able to help structure the contracts with your contractors.

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(Ilyce Glink is the author of “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” (4th Edition). She is also the CEO of Best Money Moves, a financial wellness technology company. Samuel J. Tamkin is a Chicago-based real estate attorney. Contact Ilyce and Sam through her website, ThinkGlink.com.)