Th is will have a major e ff ect on trying to sell the house. Th e seller can’t reasonably a ff ord to sell below the market value of the home, plus the value of the repairs and updates they’ve had to install. Th is may cause the heir to hike the price of the property unrealistically, though, in an e ff ort to recover the expenses incurred by trying to make the home salable — ironically making its sale diffi cult, if not impossible. Th e sale of a property like this can be diffi cult because it must be priced more expensively to compensate for the higher cost of sale preparations, only for the price to become a barrier to potential buyers, causing the property to take longer to sell. Sometimes, even decently kept houses are crowded with a lifetime of belongings. In such cases, the heir to the house will have to make repairs, clean out the late person’s belongings, make necessary updates, and stage the home to market it. Clearing and cleaning out houses usually involves many stages and processes. Th e number-one thing to do is for the family to remove any relevant or essential heirlooms, papers, documents, and expensive items. Th is process may take days — or even longer, if the heirs are separated by distance from the home, from one another, or both. A ft er this, an auction service or a consignment shop can be contacted for the sale of valuable items at fees that average around 25% to 30% of the sale price. Th e other items that aren’t sold can be given away or donated to charity organizations. Th is might be a tedious task because the heir to the house could be living far from the property’s location, making it diffi cult to locate a charity establishment in that vicinity with any real certainty of its quality. Items of no importance or of minimal value that are le ft in the house can be hauled out by a cleaning company at prices dependent on the contents of the house and the size of items to be hauled away. If there are many items to be carried away, the price might become a cause for concern.
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