Selling a Late Parent's Home as Price Cuts Hit 15-Year High

Home sellers cut asking prices on more than 3,000 properties a day in September, the highest level for 15 years, according to Rightmove figures reported by the BBC. The average reduction was nearly 7%, around £21,000 on a typical home, and homes that needed a price cut took 119 days to find a buyer, compared with 39 days for those priced right first time. Several of the sellers who spoke to the BBC had something in common: they were selling a late parent's home. If you're an executor in that position, a slow market creates pressures that ordinary sellers don't face.

Your Duties as an Executor When Selling a House in Probate

When you sell a property as an executor, you're not selling for yourself. You're acting on behalf of the estate and its beneficiaries, and the law expects you to act prudently and in their interests. In practice, that means aiming for the best price reasonably obtainable in the market, not holding out for the figure the family hopes for, and not accepting a quick, low offer for convenience either.

This is where a falling market gets tricky. Beneficiaries may disagree: one wants to wait for prices to recover, another wants their inheritance now. Keeping a clear record of valuations, marketing advice and offers received helps show you acted reasonably if anyone later challenges a decision.

Pricing a Probate Property in a Buyer's Market

Rightmove's data shows the cost of starting too high. Once a property has been reduced, buyers start asking why. For an executor, the practical steps are:

• Get more than one valuation, and treat the highest with caution.
• Look at the probate value. The value declared for inheritance tax purposes should be a realistic market value at the date of death. If your asking price is far above it, ask why.
• Be honest about condition. Many inherited homes need updating. Pricing that reflects this tends to attract buyers rather than put them off.
• Watch for leasehold issues. Sellers quoted by the BBC said leasehold flats were especially hard to shift. Gather the lease, service charge history and management information early.

Timing: Market Now, Exchange After the Grant

You can put a property on the market before you have the grant of probate, and in a slow market there's a case for starting early. But you can't legally complete a sale until the grant has been issued, and most buyers' solicitors won't exchange contracts without it. Be upfront with agents and buyers about where you are in the probate process.

Meanwhile, the empty property still costs money. Check the home insurance: many policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for 30 or 60 days. Council tax, utilities and maintenance continue too, and they all come out of the estate.

Tax Points Executors Often Miss

Price movements after death can have tax consequences:

• Selling for less than the probate value. If the property sells for less than the value declared for inheritance tax, the estate may be able to claim loss on sale relief, substituting the lower sale price and potentially reclaiming tax. Strict time limits apply, generally within three years of death and in some cases four.
• Selling for more. If the property sells for more than its probate value, capital gains tax may be payable by the estate on the increase, after allowable costs.

Both are worth discussing with your solicitor before you agree a price.

What Should You Do Next?

Selling a parent's home is emotional, and doing it as an executor in a market like this one carries real responsibility. You don't have to do it alone. Our first contact team will listen to your situation and match you with an experienced solicitor near you in the QualitySolicitors network, who can handle the probate and conveyancing together and help you make confident decisions for the whole family. Get in touch today for a friendly, no-obligation conversation.