When a family member passes away, the house is usually the biggest thing left to deal with, and in Florida, you generally can’t just sell it the week after the funeral. Most inherited houses here go through probate first. This guide walks through how that works, who is allowed to sell, when a sale can happen, and the options in front of you. We’re a local family with PropExit.com. Your main contact is Lina. We’re not attorneys, and this isn’t legal advice. It’s the plain-language version we wish every family we talk to had read first. For advice about your specific case, talk to your probate attorney.
What probate actually is
Probate is the court process that settles a person’s estate: it proves the will (if there is one), pays the person’s debts, and transfers what’s left to the heirs. In Clay, Putnam, Nassau, and Duval counties, the case is filed with the Clerk of Court in the county where the person lived. The court appoints a personal representative, often called the PR or executor, who is the one person legally in charge of the estate. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that’s you.
Who can sell the house?
The personal representative, once the court has issued their Letters of Administration. Before those letters exist, nobody has the legal authority to sign a deed for the estate, and a title company won’t close a sale without them. If several siblings inherited the house together, the PR still usually handles the sale, but the proceeds get divided according to the will or Florida law, and in some cases the court has to approve the sale before it closes. Your attorney will tell you whether your case needs that approval.
The part nobody warns you about: the house still costs money
While probate runs, and in Florida it commonly runs six months to over a year, the estate is paying to keep that house:
- Property taxes and homeowner’s insurance (and an empty house sometimes needs a different, pricier policy)
- Lawn care, utilities, and basic upkeep so the property doesn’t slide
- Repairs that can’t wait, like a leaking roof, because a small problem in an empty house becomes a big one
Meanwhile the house sits empty, and empty houses in Florida draw code complaints, break-ins, and storm damage nobody notices for weeks. This carrying cost is the main reason many families decide to sell sooner rather than later, and why they sell the house exactly as it sits.
Your three options
Keep it. If the family wants the house, an heir can often take it as part of their share. Just go in with eyes open about the taxes, insurance, and repairs.
List it with an agent. This can bring the highest gross price, after repairs, cleaning, months of showings, commissions, and the buyer’s lender approving both the loan and the house’s condition. On a house that needs work, that last part falls apart more often than people expect.
Sell it as-is to a buyer like us. We’re a local family that buys inherited houses for ourselves, for cash, in whatever condition they’re in, full of belongings, behind on repairs, tenants or no tenants. You take what your family wants to keep and leave the rest. There’s no commission and no fees charged by us, we coordinate with your probate attorney, and the closing follows the court’s timeline. The honest trade: a cash offer will be below what a fully repaired, retail listing might bring. What it buys you is certainty, speed, and an end to the carrying costs.
When can the sale close?
Once the PR has their letters and any required court approval is in place, a straightforward sale can close in as little as 7 days through a local title company. If the estate is still early in the process, we can often get everything lined up, offer, paperwork, title work, so the closing happens as soon as the court clears it.
The bottom line
Probate is paperwork, but the house is a responsibility with a monthly bill attached. Understanding who can sell, when, and what each option really costs puts you in charge of it. If you’d like a no-obligation cash number on an inherited house in Clay, Putnam, Nassau, or Duval County, call Lina at 904.600.3207 or fill out the form on this page. And if you sell to us, you sell directly to the buyer. We’re not agents or brokers, and we don’t represent anyone. We buy houses and land for our own family, as-is.