You do not have to empty the inherited house
The part people dread most about inherited property is the cleanout. Forty years of a parent's life, and somebody has to decide what happens to all of it.
You can take what matters to you and leave the rest where it is. We buy the inherited house with the contents in place and handle the clearing ourselves. There is no charge for that and it does not come off the offer.
Working through Nassau County estates with you
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 six-bedroom on Princeton Street. A five-bedroom on Flint Avenue. A three-bedroom on Carolina Avenue. All of them in Hempstead, all bought by us.
Hempstead is roughly 59,169 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11550, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, cape cod, tudor. Around Fulton Avenue and Main Street, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Hempstead stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Hempstead Union Free School District does to a resale price.
What the Nassau County process usually means for timing
An estate in Nassau County goes through the Surrogate's Court in Mineola. 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.
Inherited property: as-is sale or Hempstead listing?
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 Hempstead 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
The honest answer on an inherited house is that we work backwards from what it is worth once it is fixed, subtract what fixing it costs, and subtract what we need to make for the risk of being wrong about either. There is no secret to it and no algorithm.
- What it is worth repaired. Not the Hempstead median of $660,000 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 Hempstead the stock is largely colonial and cape cod, and on houses that age the mechanicals are usually the expensive part rather than the cosmetics.
- How long we will hold it. The median Hempstead house goes under contract in about 57 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. Opening a wall finds things. That risk is priced in, which is a large part of why a cash number sits below a retail number.
Why the number works for us and not for you
This is the part most cash buyers are vague about, so here it is plainly. We run millions of dollars of construction a year. That volume buys materials at contractor pricing and keeps the same crews working year round, which means the identical renovation costs us roughly half what a homeowner would pay to have it done.
That gap is the business. It is also why doing the work yourself before selling so rarely pays: you would be buying the same roof and the same boiler at retail, then hoping the market hands it back to you at resale. It usually does not. We are not making money because you sold cheaply. We are making it because we build cheaply.
And if the number does not work for you, say so. We would rather hear that than talk anyone into anything. We will look at your situation and tell you honestly what we think your options are, including the ones that do not involve us. Plenty of people are better off listing with an agent, and when you are one of them we will say so rather than let you find out later.
Houses we have bought around Hempstead
A six-bedroom on Princeton Street. A five-bedroom on Flint Avenue. A three-bedroom on Carolina Avenue. We have been buying on Long Island for 15+ years and we buy in Hempstead specifically, not as part of a national footprint that happens to include it.
The tax question almost everyone gets backwards
The most expensive assumption families make about inherited property is a tax bill that may not exist in the form they fear.
We are not going to state a tax rule as settled fact, because your circumstances decide it. What we will say is that the difference between the assumption and the reality is frequently large enough to change what a family decides to do with a Hempstead house. One conversation with a CPA, before the sale, is the whole of the advice.
What you do not pay when you sell an inherited house
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of an inherited house, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $33,000 at 5% of the Hempstead median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,200 on a $660,000 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
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities for the 102 to 117 days of finding a buyer and waiting on their mortgage none
What happens to the mortgage on an inherited house
If there is still a loan on the inherited house it does not disappear, and it does not automatically become your personal debt either. It stays attached to the property and gets paid off at closing out of the proceeds, like any other lien.
What matters is keeping it current, or at least keeping the servicer informed, while the estate works through.
Common questions
Can we sell a Hempstead house before the estate is settled?
You can sign a contract on inherited property before the estate is fully settled, but the closing waits on the executor having authority from the Nassau County Surrogate's Court. We are used to that sequence and we will wait it out on a signed contract.
There is still a mortgage on it. Does that stop you buying?
Not at all. What you should avoid is letting it fall into default while the estate is pending, because that creates a second and much harder problem.
Will we owe tax on selling an inherited Hempstead house?
That is a CPA question and worth an hour of one's time. Ask specifically about basis on inherited property. We can recommend accountants who handle estates if you do not have one.
What if the siblings disagree?
Every person on the deed has to sign. What we can do is put a firm written number in front of everyone at the same time, so the conversation is about one real offer rather than a range somebody guessed at.
Do we need to clear the Hempstead house out first?
No. Take what you want and leave the rest. We clear the inherited house ourselves and it does not reduce the offer.