Inheriting a house is rarely simple and almost never happens at a convenient time. Here is the order to work through it.
First, find out who actually has authority to sell
This is the question that stalls more inherited property sales than any other. Owning a share of a house emotionally is not the same as having legal authority to sign a deed.
Depending on how the property was titled and whether there was a will, authority may sit with a personal representative appointed through probate, with a trustee if the property was held in trust, or with joint owners automatically. Until you know which, nothing else can move.
A Minnesota probate attorney can usually answer this quickly. It is worth the call before you spend energy on anything else.
Second, find out what is owed
Pull together the mortgage balance if there is one, the property tax status, and any liens or judgments recorded against the property. Estates often carry unpaid taxes, utility liens, or a reverse mortgage that must be satisfied.
You may also inherit ongoing costs. Insurance on a vacant house is different and more expensive than a standard homeowner policy, and many carriers will not cover a vacant property at all past a certain point.
Third, decide honestly what you want
There are really only three paths: keep it, rent it, or sell it. Families often drift for months without choosing, and the house quietly costs money the entire time.
If more than one heir is involved, have the conversation early and directly. Most inherited property disputes are not about money. They are about one person assuming everyone agreed.
If you decide to sell
You have the same two options as any seller: list it on the market, or sell it directly to a buyer.
Inherited houses frequently favor a direct sale for practical reasons rather than financial ones. They are often full of a lifetime of belongings. They frequently need work that nobody living there had the energy to do. Heirs often live out of state. And nobody wants to spend eight months coordinating repairs and showings by group text.
A direct sale means no cleanout, no repairs, no showings, and a closing date that can wait for probate to finish.
A note on taxes
Inherited property generally receives a stepped up cost basis, which can significantly change the tax picture compared to what people assume. This is genuinely worth twenty minutes with a CPA before you sell anything.
We are not accountants and cannot advise you on this. We can tell you that the sellers who call a CPA first are almost always glad they did.
What we can do
We buy inherited and probate properties throughout the Twin Cities metro and Wright County. We are used to estates, we are patient with probate timelines, and we can usually give you a number before the estate is fully settled so you know what you are working with.
There is no cost and no obligation to find out.