Update: My sister wants $400,000 for the house we inherited in Tustin do you guys think this is too much?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
B

babymaradona1_IHB

New member
Hi everyone, my sister has decided that she wants $400,000 for the house we inherited in Tustin, meaning that I would have to pay her $200,000 to buy her half of the house. I was thinking the house would probably be worth closer to $300,000 or at least reach that point within a year any thoughts? Should we hire a professional apraiser for this house? Will they take into consideration we are in a declining market?



What do you guys think I should do? I think housing prices may decline further but one advantage as some of you mentioned in my previous post is that the property taxes would be very low for this house since my parents purchased the home so long ago at some point in the future I could even give my son this house so the property tax benefits may offset paying a bit more now. My sister is going to invite a real estate agent over in a few days to look at the house. So should I try to make an offer to my sister before a real estate agent gets involved? Someone said that a real estate agent would probably tell my sister she could get a lot of money for the house just to get the listing then it probably wouldn't sell so later the agent would probably tell us we should lower the price. If I decided to buy my sisters half of the house lets say a year down the road, would we still have to pay a 6% commission even though the house is being sold between family members?





Thank you for any insights.
 
My opinion has not changed. Your relationship with your sister is more important than any of the details. Either pay her the $200,000 or sell the home and pay her half.
 
I have a similar problem.

My mother died over a year ago. She never did a will or living trust as she told me she would do when I asked.

Now the home in Culver City worth about $600K is owned by the 3 of us once we get it through Probate.

In the mean time my Brother and Sister are both moved in and living there.

When I ask them to buy me out or lets sell the house. It falls on deaf ears.

They are happy as a duck in mud. Rent free living. But rather than do anything and upset my sister

I just am going to let it go. Her health is not doing well and she has major issues with her teenage daughter who lives there too.

Heck I think her boyfriend is camped out in the house as well.

I look at it this way. The house was never mine in the first place. Sooner or later when we

get it through Probate it will shake out and right now the most important thing is my sisters health.

The house is paid off and they cant put a loan on it. So its just money in the bank for later years.

It would be nice to clean it up and put it on the market. But its just not going to happen without

destroying the relationship I have with my little sister.
 
[quote author="bltserv" date=1247088026]I have a similar problem.

My mother died over a year ago. She never did a will or living trust as she told me she would do when I asked.

Now the home in Culver City worth about $600K is owned by the 3 of us once we get it through Probate.

In the mean time my Brother and Sister are both moved in and living there.

When I ask them to buy me out or lets sell the house. It falls on deaf ears.

They are happy as a duck in mud. Rent free living. But rather than do anything and upset my sister

I just am going to let it go. Her health is not doing well and she has major issues with her teenage daughter who lives there too.

Heck I think her boyfriend is camped out in the house as well.

I look at it this way. The house was never mine in the first place. Sooner or later when we

get it through Probate it will shake out and right now the most important thing is my sisters health.

The house is paid off and they cant put a loan on it. So its just money in the bank for later years.

It would be nice to clean it up and put it on the market. But its just not going to happen without

destroying the relationship I have with my little sister.</blockquote>


I feel for you. What a tough situation to be in.
 
Since your sister thinks the house is worth $400k, will she pay you $200k cash for giving up your share of the property? If she is reluctant about that, maybe her demand was a bit too high, even for her own taste.



At any rate, when you need to deal with money issue with family, there are other parameters besides $$$. I see a lot of good siblings that were together for decades fall apart when it come to issue of inheritance, loan, and other small matters. I am still a bit resentful about my grandfather's watch, for example. Good luck with that.
 
I'd just sell it and get out ASAP. Keep it simple and just split the cash.



Either way, it looks like your thoughts of it being worth 300k NOW are not correct. While it may be there in the not so distant future, it does not look like its there now.



The lowest sale around the park in the past 6 months is 386k. And the two lowest ones look like they back right against the train tracks. And most of the places sold in the 400's, so looks like you could sell it for 400k if you put it on the market now. If you do last 3 months sales, nothing has sold below 400k. Not sure if Birchfield is considered the same community but that street is the only one that has sold in the low 400's in the past 3 months. Everythign else has been 436k or higher.
 
[quote author="babymaradona1" date=1247070169]property taxes would be very low for this house since my parents purchased the home so long ago at some point in the future I could even give my son this house so the property tax benefits may offset paying a bit more now</blockquote>How are you going to perform a Parent to Child Reassessment Exemption if both parents are dead and cannot sign ?
 
Why not rent it and split the rental income with your sister, minus management fee's & property taxes?
 
[quote author="babymaradona1" date=1247110769]Thank you for the insights the real estate agent just came over and seems to think we should try to sell the house for about 420k.</blockquote>


420,000 * .06 = 25,200



Just saying...
 
If you want to keep the house and buy your sister out, then you need to take emotion out of the equation entirely. Hire two (or perhaps three) appraisers and have them each perform an independent evaluation. Take the average of all appraisals, divide by two and that is what you will pay your sister.
 
[quote author="newport guy" date=1247361917]If you want to keep the house and buy your sister out, then you need to take emotion out of the equation entirely. Hire two (or perhaps three) appraisers and have them each perform an independent evaluation. Take the average of all appraisals, divide by two and that is what you will pay your sister.</blockquote>
Divide by two AFTER deducting 8% of the sales price for closing costs.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1247373493][quote author="newport guy" date=1247361917]If you want to keep the house and buy your sister out, then you need to take emotion out of the equation entirely. Hire two (or perhaps three) appraisers and have them each perform an independent evaluation. Take the average of all appraisals, divide by two and that is what you will pay your sister.</blockquote>
Divide by two AFTER deducting 8% of the sales price for closing costs.</blockquote>


Other than 6% commissions, what does the seller have to pay?
 
[quote author="awgee" date=1247086196]My opinion has not changed. Your relationship with your sister is more important than any of the details. Either pay her the $200,000 or sell the home and pay her half.</blockquote>


The first response is the right response. Good show man.
 
[quote author="awgee" date=1247086196]My opinion has not changed. Your relationship with your sister is more important than any of the details. Either pay her the $200,000 or sell the home and pay her half.</blockquote>


Tough one. By her holding her side of the fence, she is essentially destroying how you feel about her. If you let yourself get pushed around by her, the relationship can still get destroyed - but from the other direction.





My advice: talk to her and try and find agreement on a process to value the home and divide the value. My bet is neither of you two know the true value of the property. Don't trust the real estate broker. If she can't agree to a fair process, then she's not being reasonable - thats a different issue.



Some independent appraiser/buyer should be willing to evaluate the fair market value as of today - that should be some basis for dividing the value. If you're going to live in it, I don't think it's fair to subtract the future commission paid to a realtor today ~ because you would have to pay that if you bought a comparable house.







I wouldn't depend too much about the low property taxes, those exemptions may be a thing of past as our state budget deficit continues to expand. All bets are off in an environment like this.
 
[quote author="Roo" date=1247437068][quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1247373493][quote author="newport guy" date=1247361917]If you want to keep the house and buy your sister out, then you need to take emotion out of the equation entirely. Hire two (or perhaps three) appraisers and have them each perform an independent evaluation. Take the average of all appraisals, divide by two and that is what you will pay your sister.</blockquote>
Divide by two AFTER deducting 8% of the sales price for closing costs.</blockquote>


Other than 6% commissions, what does the seller have to pay?</blockquote>
Owner's title policy, escrow fees, prorated property taxes/HOA fees, bank reconveyance fees, etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top