selling part of estate for pess than appraisal to Uncle?

Submitted by alieck523 t3_10px8r2 in personalfinance

I'm going to call my accountant and lawyer later but seeking reddit for some help before...

Upon my mom's death, I have inherented 25% of my grandparents old house. Mt uncle owns 50% and my brother owns the other 25%.

The property appraised for $500,000.

My uncle wants to buy my brother and I out of our shares. However, he wants to pay us less than the appraised value - 180k (or lower he says!) instead of the 250k.

There are so repairs to be made and he is telling us lowering the prices will pay for it. But he's not lowering his basis too? Just ours? he claims the repairs are worth 75k* Something seems weird as I thought appraised value is FMV which is the state of the house as is? Who should I go to to talk to this... I doubt my uncle would take 180 for his half.

I don't want to start a family argument but does anyone have suggestions of what I should do? Who to talk to about this?

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kveggie1 t1_j6mlnto wrote

Get a realtor's market analysis to determine what this house will sell for. Get 3 of those and take the average.

Uncle's opinion is useless.

The will was poorly set-up.... family feud to be expected.

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TheDarkHelmet1985 t1_j6mp3vv wrote

Estate attorney here. Never sell for less than your share is worth. I deal with these types of cases where a family member tries to get the better of other family members. YOu are entitled to the full value of your share regardless of what he wants to offer. If he can't agree or afford that cost, you have the option to buy him out or force a sale to recoop the value through the market. The open market will almost always give you more value than a private sale. Houses are still selling for above market in most places near me.

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oh and you can most likely get better value as-is without the repairs unless then are serious repairs that are needed.

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mpie0 wrote

How grateful I am for this comment. Thank you. I have a newborn and the last thing I want to deal with is an argument. I'm tired from my baby and my mom, best friend, just died.

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TheDarkHelmet1985 t1_j6mqj6r wrote

I would highly recommend getting an estate administration attorney to talk with, if for no other reason than to consult with him/her and know your rights here based on where you live. If you stand to inherit about $125k, a one time consult fee or even if you decide to retain, will usually cost less than $5-10k unless there is litigation involved which can exponentially increase the cost. By doing so, you will have someone negotiate on your behalf who knows what you are entitled to which in turn will allow you to focus more on your family and your grieving. If your uncle gives you shit over protecting your own interests, he is not looking out for your own interests.

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[deleted] t1_j6mlxy4 wrote

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mnpkn wrote

So for more context... Uncle is multi multi millionaire. Just very cheap. He wants to live here until he dies. My family lives in this house right now. We are ok to move and let him live here. However, I will be re-inheriting this house upon his death (my brother and I are his heirs). So I am wondering if there is an argument if he cuts us out entirely. House is on family land since 1800's. 12 acres. I would like to settle in this house eventually. His health is not well and I would imagine with that in consideration and his age, he will pass in within 10 years.

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[deleted] t1_j6moikr wrote

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mpr4w wrote

Very interesting. I like this a lot!! I will bring thus up to my brother.

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f2j6eo9 t1_j6mobj4 wrote

My word, this is complicated. You may wish to edit your post to make it clear that your family is currently living in the house in question. Where is your brother living? Were your grandparents living with you until they passed?

Given that you're talking about not only a large sum of money but also your home, I think you might want to enlist a lawyer to serve as a professional arbitrator.

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beagletronic61 t1_j6my731 wrote

If it’s a fair discount, tell your uncle that you and your brother would like him to consider selling his hand to both of you a the equivalent discount and just see what he says.

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umassmza t1_j6mqs1h wrote

List the house and let the market decide.

If uncle doesn’t want to list it you tell him it’s $250k or we file a partition action and everyone loses. Though if it is worth $500k, you might do better than what he is offering in the end even with legal costs.

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mr4pv wrote

It's a family home from the 1800s on land owned by my family since the early 1800s. Want to keep it in the family. Which add such a level of headache

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umassmza t1_j6msjmt wrote

Fun thing about partial ownership. Even if you have 1% ownership in the property you still have full rights to its use the same as the person who owns 99%.

If you want it keep it. Do you think your uncle will leave it to you someday? Or eventually lose it due to end of life costs or leave it to someone else?

Place it in a trust, set up so it passes to you and your brother after your uncle. Have him pay rent to the trust that you collect as beneficiaries.

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mu3u9 wrote

Yes, he said I will inherit it upon his death (no children, brother and I are heirs). He is extremely wealthy.

Thank you so much for your reply!!

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guest0112 t1_j6mze4l wrote

You’re saying he is extremely wealthy but is he really? I get the sense from your post and comments that he’s not exactly all that wealthy. And it’s nice that he says you’re inheriting it, but unless there’s some sort of iron clad signed agreement, I’d take that statement from him lightly. You’re entitled to the full 25%. Don’t get intimidated or rushed into something that you’ll potentially regret later. Be civil. Contact an estate attorney to really look things over and be patient. Try to get as much contact with your uncle in writing as possible (emails, texts)

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alieck523 OP t1_j6mr7xb wrote

I do like the idea of listing it on market to see what it may be worth! That's smart

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chelsea_liz t1_j6n214i wrote

Are you planning on selling? Listing it means selling. You can get it appraised to find out what it’s worth. I really think you should consult an attorney to help you with all this.

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alieck523 OP t1_j6n2a19 wrote

We did get it appraised and we do have an estate attorney, I just am waiting to hear back :) thanks!

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Longjumping-Nature70 t1_j6n9zpl wrote

If you are close to your Uncle and he has been nice to you and your late mother(his sister) then maybe sell it to him at a 10% discount, $225,000 FIRM.

Bring in a realtor to do a COMPS for what the house is worth. You can sort of do that on your own with your recorder or register of deeds office and tax assessor, those offices are all online nowadays.

I keep a list of all the sales of my neighbors houses. I also have the realtor sales listings from all the houses. I also have a list of what everyone's property taxes are and their last assessments. (I might be a little to nosy)

If he has not sat down and gone through numbers and what needs to be fixed and costs, then don't believe him. Do not let him bring in a contractor friend, you hire your own contractor to give their estimates.

If he has been an ass, then go all in on selling the house outright. Divvy the money up 50/25/25.

He plans on buying you out cheap, use what should have been your money and MAYBE fixing it, and then selling it. He is going for a quick flip.

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