Selling a Probate or Inherited Home in Wellington, Florida
When a Florida homeowner dies, the house usually cannot be sold until the estate's authority to sell is established. That is a legal question your probate attorney answers, and it depends on the will, the court, and whether the property was the decedent's homestead. Once authority is settled, the real estate side is ordinary work done under unusual conditions: the property often needs a clean-out before it can be shown, the personal representative is frequently the only person authorized to sign, heirs may live in different states and disagree about price or timing, and the paperwork has to survive review by the estate and sometimes the court. Chris and Sue Kull work with personal representatives, executors and heirs selling probate and inherited homes throughout Wellington and western Palm Beach County. Of the more than 1,000 homes they have sold since 1994, more than 100 have involved probate or an inherited property and more than 100 have been senior relocations. We prepare the property, market it to the full market rather than to a single cash buyer, keep every heir informed, and coordinate with the estate's attorney and title company from listing through closing.
Talk to Chris
After hours, or in a different time zone? Tell us about the property and we will call you back.
Chris Kull here.
If you are reading this and someone in your family has passed, a house in Wellington may now be your responsibility. You may be the personal representative. You may be one of several siblings trying to agree on what happens next. You may be doing all of it from another state, on the phone, between work and everything else.
Most of what you will read online about probate is written for lawyers. This page is about the house. What happens to it, who can sell it, and what the real estate side actually involves.
Probate, inherited-property and estate-related home sales are a specific part of our practice. Of the more than 1,000 homes Sue and I have sold since 1994, more than 100 have involved probate or an inherited property, and more than 100 have been senior relocations. We work regularly with personal representatives, executors, heirs and the attorneys who represent them.
Chris and Sue Kull
Chris Kull. Licensed in Florida since 1994, with over 1,000 homes sold across three states, more than 100 of them probate or inherited-property sales. Chris handles pricing, preparation and execution: what the property needs before it goes to market, what it should be listed at, how it is marketed, and how offers are evaluated and negotiated on the estate's behalf. He coordinates directly with the estate's attorney and the title company through closing.
Sue Kull, SRES®. Sue holds the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation from the National Association of REALTORS®. More than 100 of the homes Chris and Sue have sold have been senior relocations. She works with the family side of these sales: older homeowners moving to assisted living or a smaller home, adult children coordinating a parent's property, and the communication between heirs who live in different places and want different things. When a probate sale follows a long illness or a difficult year, that part of the work is usually the hardest part.
Together, we manage both sides of an estate sale: the property itself, and the people responsible for making decisions about it.
What we do
Work with the personal representative and the estate's attorney
In most probate sales the personal representative is the only person who can sign the listing agreement and the contract. We take direction from that person and coordinate directly with the estate's attorney and the title company so the transaction matches what the court and the estate require.
Keep multiple heirs informed
When three siblings own a house between them, the hard part usually is not the market. It is that one wants to sell in thirty days, one wants to wait until spring, and one has not returned a call in a month. We send the same information to every heir at the same time, in writing, so nobody learns something second-hand. We do not take sides and we do not push a family toward a decision.
Handle the house when nobody lives there
Vacant homes need attention. We arrange clean-out and contents removal, coordinate contractors for the repairs that are worth doing, and make sure the property is secured and maintained while it sits.
Manage the sale for heirs who live out of state
You do not need to fly to Florida to sell a house here. We handle walkthroughs by video, meet vendors and inspectors at the property, send documents for electronic signature, and stay in touch on your schedule and your time zone.
Expose the property to the whole market
Estate properties attract cash investors quickly. Sometimes an as-is sale to an investor genuinely is the right answer, when the house needs more work than the estate can fund, or the timeline demands it. We will tell you when that is the case. What we will not do is take you there by default without showing you what the open market would pay. The first offer is not necessarily the best outcome for the estate.
Produce documentation that holds up
Estates get reviewed, by beneficiaries, by the attorney, and sometimes by the court. We keep a clear record of how the property was priced, how it was marketed, what offers came in, and why the accepted offer was accepted.
Not sure where you are in this yet?
Most people call us before they have decided anything. Sometimes before probate is even open, sometimes before the family has agreed on what to do. That is a normal place to start.
There is no listing pitch and no obligation. Plenty of these conversations end with us saying you need the attorney first, or that the house is not ready to sell yet, or that keeping it makes more sense than selling it.
(561) 440-0777
or tell us about the property and we will call you back.
What this looks like in Wellington
Three generations, and then the grandparents' house
A lot of our Wellington work comes from families we have known a long time. We have helped three generations of the same family buy and sell here, and often, eventually, we get the call about the grandparents' house. One parent has died and the other is ready for assisted living, or both have passed and the house is now the family's to deal with.
Those sales usually involve everyone: the adult children, sometimes their kids, all volunteering to help get the house ready. That is genuinely useful, and it also means a lot of opinions in one place about what the house needs.
So we start by walking the property with you and sorting it into three piles. What has to be repaired. What could be repaired, depending on what the return would be. And what does not need to be touched at all, which is usually the longest list. People spend money updating things buyers do not care about, and on an estate property that money comes out of what the family takes home. Then we lay out the plan and set expectations before anything starts.
“Could we rent it instead?”
In Wellington this question comes up almost every time, and there are two versions of it: an annual lease, or seasonal for equestrian season. We walk through what each one realistically requires.
The seasonal answer surprises people. Bringing a home to the standard an equestrian family expects for a season usually means upgrades and repairs the new owners had no idea were part of it. Sometimes the numbers work. Often they do not, once you have priced what it would actually take. Either way you should see both before you decide, rather than hearing “you could rent it” and assuming that means as-is.
The clean-out is harder than anyone expects
This is the part we warn families about first, because it is where plans come apart.
Usually one or two adult children live locally and the rest are out of town. The local ones step up, with the best intentions, to clear the house. They already have full lives and full schedules, and now there is a timeline attached.
Then there is the other part. Going through your parents' things is not a weekend project. The photographs, the keepsakes, your mother's closet. We have watched a single closet take weeks, and we say that without any judgment, because it is a completely normal thing to happen. But it blows the schedule, and the painting somebody promised never gets started.
What follows is friction between the heirs. It is almost unavoidable when the grief and the deadline land on the same people. We have seen families genuinely strained by it, and it was never about the house.
So we say it out loud at the beginning, and we bring in people who can help. Professionals who handle the repairs, and who can sort, sell, donate or remove everything the family does not want to keep, without the emotional weight that makes it so hard to do yourself.
What we don't do
We do not give legal advice
Whether probate is required, who has authority to sell, how the homestead is treated, what happens if an heir objects. Those are questions for your probate attorney, and we will say so every time.
We do not determine who has authority to sign
We will not accept a listing agreement until the attorney or title company has confirmed who is authorized to sign it.
We do not give tax advice
Basis, capital gains, the estate's tax position. Take those to a CPA.
We are not paid by contractors or clean-out companies
We will recommend people we have worked with, and you hire them directly. We are paid by you at closing and by nobody else.
We do not take sides between heirs
And we do not push a family toward selling when keeping or renting may be the better answer.
Three things worth knowing before you list
A Florida homestead can be treated differently from other property in an estate. Florida's constitution and probate laws give homestead property protections that can affect who inherits it and how ownership can be transferred or sold after death. Those rules can differ from the rules for a rental, a second home, or other real estate. Whether the property qualifies as protected homestead is one of the first things the estate's attorney should establish. Sources: Fla. Const. Art. X, §4; Fla. Stat. §732.4015.
Who can sell it depends on the circumstances. For real property that is part of the probate estate, Florida law addresses when a personal representative may sell and when court authorization or confirmation may be required, and a will that grants a power of sale can affect that. Protected homestead is a different matter and generally is not treated as an estate asset in the personal representative's hands. So the answer is rarely the same twice. Your attorney confirms the property's status and what authority is required before anything is signed. Sources: Fla. Stat. §§733.608, 733.613.
Inherited property generally gets a new tax basis. Federal tax law generally bases inherited property's tax basis on its fair market value at the date of death, though exceptions and alternate valuation rules can apply. If the property is a capital asset, gain or loss on a later sale is generally treated as long-term regardless of how long the beneficiary held it. What that means for a particular estate is a question for a CPA. Sources: IRS Publication 559; IRS Publication 551.
We include these because they often surprise families. We are not determining homestead status, interpreting probate law, or giving tax advice. Your attorney and your tax professional decide how these rules apply to your situation.
Questions we get
How do I choose a Realtor to sell an inherited or probate home in Wellington?
Ask about function, not about years in the business. The agent should be able to explain how they coordinate with the estate's attorney and the title company; how they handle a property nobody lives in, including clean-out, repairs and keeping it maintained while it sits; how they communicate with several heirs who may want different outcomes; how they price and market a property in this specific area rather than in Palm Beach County generally; how they document pricing, marketing and offers so the record holds up to review by the estate or the court; and how they compare what the open market would pay against an as-is investor offer. Ask each one directly: how many estate or probate sales have you handled as the listing agent, and what did you coordinate with the attorney and title company? Those are the functions Chris and Sue Kull and The Kull Group are structured to provide.
Can the house be sold before probate is finished?
Often yes, depending on the type of administration and what authority the personal representative has. It is a question for the estate's attorney, and it needs answering before a listing agreement is signed.
Do all the heirs have to agree?
It depends on how the property is titled and whether it has passed through probate. When the estate still owns it, the personal representative usually signs. When heirs already hold title directly, they generally all sign. Your attorney will tell you which situation you are in.
Should we clean it out or sell it as is?
It depends on the house and on what the estate can fund. We walk the property, tell you which repairs would return more than they cost and which would not, and price both paths so you can compare them with real numbers.
What if I live out of state?
That is a common situation and it is manageable. We handle the property side locally and keep you informed remotely.
Who should I call?
Chris Kull at (561) 440-0777, or email chris@thekullgroup.com. We serve Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, The Acreage and the western communities of Palm Beach County. If you do not have a probate attorney yet, tell us. That is usually the first call, before the real estate one.
Talking it through costs nothing
If you are early in this and not sure what you are dealing with, call before you decide anything. There is no listing pitch.
Chris and Sue Kull · The Kull Group at Keller Williams Wellington
1400 Corporate Center Way, Wellington, FL 33414
(561) 440-0777
chris@thekullgroup.com
Florida real estate since 1994. Over 1,000 homes sold across three states, including more than 100 probate and inherited-property sales and more than 100 senior relocations. Sue Kull, SRES®. Google rating 5.0 across 31 reviews.
Serving Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, The Acreage and western Palm Beach County.
The Kull Group are licensed Florida real estate professionals. Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Questions about probate, title, homestead status and taxes should go to a Florida probate attorney and a CPA.