Inherited Homes
You inherited a house. Now what?
An inherited home arrives with more than square footage. It comes with a garage nobody has opened in a decade, a sibling who wants to keep it, another who needs the money, and a quiet feeling that whatever you decide, you might get it wrong.
Chris has walked hundreds of families through this. The first conversation is not about listing anything. It is about getting the situation out of your head and onto one page.
Who this is for
Adult children of a parent who passed
The family home is now yours to figure out, on top of everything else you are carrying.
Siblings who disagree
Keep it, rent it, sell it — three reasonable people, three different answers, and no shared set of facts.
Out-of-state heirs
You cannot fly in every weekend, and you need a local person whose read on the house you can trust.
Anyone facing a house full of belongings
Decades of furniture, papers, tools, photographs, and things nobody has the heart to throw away.
Keep it, rent it, or sell it
These are three genuinely different lives, and the right answer depends on numbers most families have never laid out side by side: carrying costs, deferred maintenance, what the home would rent for versus what it would cost to make rentable, and what it would actually net if sold today.
Chris builds that comparison from a real walk-through. Not to steer you toward a listing — several of the families he has helped kept the house, and that was the right call.
- Carrying cost per month: taxes, insurance, utilities, upkeep, and any loan.
- Cost to make the home safely rentable, and realistic rent for the area.
- Net proceeds if sold as-is today.
- Net proceeds after a defined scope of preparation, with cost and timeline.
The contents come before the condition
Almost nothing about the property can move until the contents question is handled, and it is the part families dread most. Chris's process is deliberately slow at the beginning: sort into keep, gift, donate, sell, and haul, with the family deciding and vendors doing the lifting.
Photographs first. Nothing irreversible in week one. Estate sale partners for what has value, charity partners for what does not, and hauling for the rest.
Then the property decision gets easy
An empty house tells the truth. Once the contents are cleared, the actual condition is visible and the repair conversation stops being speculative. That is the point where Chris prices the paths — as-is, targeted repairs, or a fuller preparation — and the family picks one.
Common mistakes we help families avoid
Hauling everything immediately
The fastest way to lose items with real value, and the fastest way to create family regret.
Assuming repairs must happen
Plenty of inherited homes sell well as-is. Preparing a house is a choice, not a requirement.
Letting the home sit empty for a year
Carrying costs, insurance complications, and deterioration all compound quietly.
Skipping the tax conversation
Basis, holding period, and property tax treatment can meaningfully change the math. Ask a CPA early — Chris will tell you when it is time.
Why Chris, specifically
- 80-plus Southern California homes purchased, renovated, and resold personally.
- Clean-outs of homes that had not been cleared in thirty or forty years.
- Families coordinated across states, with photo and video updates as the default.
- Honest repair estimating on site, from a construction and remodeling background.
More about his background is on the About Chris page, and the process page walks through what working together looks like.
Common questions
Do we have to fix up an inherited house before selling?
No. Many inherited homes sell as-is, and for some families that is the better financial and emotional outcome. Chris shows both the as-is number and the prepared number so the choice is informed.
What if my siblings and I disagree?
Disagreement is usually a symptom of missing information. Getting a written condition report, honest repair costs, and two clear net-proceeds numbers resolves most of it. When it does not, that becomes a conversation for the family's attorney.
What happens to everything inside the house?
It gets sorted, not dumped. Family keeps what matters, estate sale partners handle items with resale value, charities take usable goods, and the remainder is hauled. Everything is photographed before it moves.
Can we sell quickly if we need to?
In many cases yes, and a direct cash purchase is one of the options Chris will lay out honestly alongside a traditional sale. No specific timeline or price can be guaranteed.
Is there a cost for the first conversation?
No. The first conversation and walk-through are how Chris understands the situation. There is no obligation and no pressure to list.
Chris Trainotti is a real estate professional — not an attorney, CPA, or tax advisor. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice, and no outcome, timeline, or sale price is guaranteed. Legal and tax questions should go to your own qualified counsel, and Chris is glad to coordinate with the professionals you already work with.
You don't have to handle this alone.
Start with a conversation. No listing agreement, no pressure — just a clear read on what you are dealing with and what your options actually are.
Schedule a ConsultationOr call Chris directly at 562-754-3032 · send a message
Where to go next
Probate home sales
When the property has to move through the California probate court.
Trust home sales
When the home was held in a living trust.
Cash offer option
A direct, no-repair purchase — presented as one option among several.
Success stories
How other Southern California families worked through this.
Talk with Chris
Start with a conversation, not a commitment.