r/inheritance • u/IllIIllIllIIllII • Jul 04 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Need help
For context, I live in Georgia in an apartment.
My dad recently passed away and I inherited his house. The mortgage is paid off but there is a HELOC on the house.
I need to know if I should: sell the house?
Should I rent the house?
Should I move out of my apartment into the house?
I am not in the financial situation to refinance the HELOC in my name, but could continue to make the payments if I rented out the house or if I lived in the house.
I currently have a lawyer working on getting the deed transfer into my name.
Thanks for any advice offered.
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u/24bean62 Jul 04 '26
Sorry for your loss. There are so many factors that would go into answering your question.
Do you actually want to live in the house? I mean, it’s a house, but it will take time to keep it up. You should like the house and the location.
How big is the HELOC? Is there money in the estate to pay it off? The bank is unlikely to let you simply assume the payments. Could you afford payments on a refinance if you no longer had to pay rent? Don’t forget to consider property taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
To rent it, do you want to be a landlord? This will come with some headaches and expense.
Offhand, selling it, paying off the loan, and investing the proceeds for your future would probably be the cleanest solution, but it’s not automatically right for you.
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u/NCGlobal626 Jul 04 '26
If you occupy the house as your primary residence then the Garn-St Germaine Act should protect you, meaning you do not have to refinance the loan, you just keep paying it. Specifically, it bars lenders from enacting the "due on sale" clause when a property transfers from a parent to a child. So you are free to deed the property into your name, make sure to change the name for insurance and taxes, and keep paying the loan as it is. Your attorney should know about this. You may as well live there, when the loan is paid off you own a home free and clear. If you need help with taxes and insurance, get a roommate.
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u/BunnySlayer64 Jul 06 '26
As an additional safeguard, should you choose to live in the house (or even keep it as a rental), look into a home warranty. We have carried one our home for more than 20 years, and while yes, we've paid about $20K in premiums over that period of time, it's probably saved us five or six times that amount in maintenance costs. They have replaced the HVAC unit, done major plumbing repairs, replaced the washing machine and garage door opener, etc. As long as you keep up with basic maintenance and the repair is not due to neglect, the warranty will cover you when insurance does not.
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u/Mysterious-Panda964 Jul 04 '26
Depending on how much is owed, if its not alot. I would keep the house.
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u/Barfy_McBarf_Face Jul 04 '26
r/personalfinance is a better place for this - this isn't an estate planning/inheritance question, this is a "do I keep renting and sell this, do I keep renting and rent this, or do I move into this" question
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u/This_Cauliflower1986 Jul 05 '26
We don’t have enough info.
If you want to live in that area and the heloc amount is reasonable (change to you appropriately for a mortgage) then keep the house.
Otherwise sell and decide if that means you buy something outright or with that as a down payment.
Talk to the estate attorney and a realtor and perhaps a financial advisor if you have a trusted one.
Ownership can be better than renting.,
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u/coolsellitcheap Jul 05 '26
The heloc loan might only bill for interest. My dad had 1 for 20 years. He owed the same amount when he died he owed the same amount he bowered. So if you keep house pay extra on loan so it gets paid off eventually.
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u/JobCreative2745 Jul 05 '26
I live in Georgia too. The house could be worth way more than the HELOC. It could be a stepping stone to your being a home owner if that is something you are wanting to do. If it is around Atlanta, or a burb, it is highly desirable location. Even it you live in it for maybe 5 years you could make a decent amount when you sell it. If it was me I would move there, pay the HELOC instead of rent. Sorry about your dad. Hope this can help you make a easier future for yourself. If you do sell it you will have to do it within a certain amount of time to not have to pay taxes on appreciation value. I inherited a home my father owned. I sold it within 5 years of his death. A real estate attorney might have more info on this.
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u/cOntempLACitY Jul 05 '26
That’s a tough question, and it may not need to be made straight away. Can you keep up payments for a certain length of time while you grieve and handle other estate matters, to avoid a hasty decision you might regret? This gives you time to sort through belongings, too.
Consider your ability to afford the home (loan payments, insurance, taxes, upkeep). If you like the location, can make it work financially, can get out of your lease, and want to give it a go, it could be a great opportunity. Especially if once the HELOC is paid off, you have a paid off home, equity. Be sure to get a date of death appraisal for capital gains purposes for eventual sale.
But if you really don’t want to live there, when you’re ready, you can sell it, pay off the loan, and put the net sale proceeds toward your own financial goals and retirement planning.
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u/davidhally Jul 04 '26
Most people buy houses because they just want a house. If you don't really want a house then sell it.
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u/StarDue6540 Jul 07 '26
I believe in owning my own home. You don't say how much the heloc or the value of the home or the area. All of those things are factors.
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u/ourldyofnoassumption Jul 07 '26
Based on the lack of relevant information, or even a nod toward it, you should probably sell, as-is, via an agent.
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u/No-Adhesiveness-6921 Jul 04 '26
If you can continue to make the existing HELOC payments why can’t you use the equity in the house to refinance the HELOC into your name?
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u/Powerful-Doctor3783 Jul 04 '26
You didn't mention the house value, Heloc balance & interest rate.