When a parent dies, one of the children usually ends up handling the house. For the purposes of this post, let’s assume that child already has clearance to take charge, whether that came from the will, the family, or the court.
A parent’s home is often the largest asset in an estate, and it quickly becomes one of the biggest responsibilities for the personal representative or family member in charge. Knowing what needs immediate attention can protect the property, preserve its value, and help avoid expensive mistakes.
Now the real work begins.
Cleaning Out a Parent’s Home
The cleanout is usually one of the first things families tackle. It starts with locking away anything important – car titles, the will, jewelry, cash, whatever feels irreplaceable – somewhere secure, so nothing gets lost or walks out the door in the shuffle of family coming and going.
Once that’s done, the next question is who gets what. If the will spells it out, that part’s easy. But most of the time it doesn’t, and dividing personal belongings among family members is where things get hard.
A few approaches tend to work better than just letting whoever grabs first win.
Round-robin picking. Everyone takes turns choosing one item at a time until the house is empty. It’s simple and feels even, though whoever picks last may end up feeling shortchanged.
A point system. Each person gets the same number of points, say 100, to spend across everything they want. Someone who cares most about one expensive item, their mother’s piano for instance, can put most of their points there instead of spreading them thin across several smaller things.
Buying out a shared item. If two people want the same thing and it has real value, like a piece of jewelry or a set of furniture, one person can pay the others for their share of its value.
Whatever’s left after family has taken what they want still has to go somewhere. If it’s worth enough, an estate sale company can sell the whole lot at once for a cut of the proceeds. When it’s mostly stuff no one would want, anything in decent shape can go to a local donation center, while anything too worn out or damaged is better handled by a junk removal service.
How to Maintain an Empty House
An empty house still needs routine maintenance. Most of that maintenance comes down to making the house look occupied and keeping small problems from turning into expensive ones.
- Let someone keep an eye on it. Give a close neighbor a heads-up that the house will be empty so there’s an extra set of eyes watching for problems.
- Keep up appearances. An overgrown lawn and an unshoveled driveway are obvious signs nobody’s home, and so are dark windows and an overflowing mailbox. A lawn or snow removal service takes care of the yard, while a timer for the lights and mail held or forwarded keep the house looking lived in.
- Don’t let the heat lapse. Keep it on low through the winter. A frozen pipe can do more damage in a single weekend than a break-in.
- Keep the utility bills paid. A shutoff for nonpayment can undo everything else on this list at once. Without power, the alarm goes quiet and the lights on a timer go dark, leaving a house that looks exactly as unoccupied as it is.
- Watch for pests and moisture. A house sitting empty for months with nobody running the AC or checking under sinks becomes an easy target for pests, mold and other problems that could be expensive to fix.
Once the home is secure, attention shifts from the property itself to the ongoing financial responsibilities that continue even when no one is living there. Missing these recurring obligations can become costly very quickly.
Bills You Can’t Ignore
Two recurring bills are easy to lose track of when nobody’s living in the house, and both carry real consequences if they slide.
Condo or HOA fees. If dues go unpaid, the association can place a lien on the property. In Maryland, a portion of that unpaid debt can legally jump ahead of the mortgage if the house is ever sold or foreclosed on, meaning the association gets paid before the lender does. That priority gives the association real power to push for payment, up to and including foreclosing on the house itself if the debt goes unpaid long enough.
Property taxes. Unpaid property taxes create a similar risk, and the threshold is lower than most people expect. As little as $250 in unpaid taxes, depending on the county, is enough for the county to put the house up for a tax sale. There’s usually an opportunity to redeem the house by paying what’s owed, but interest adds up fast, and waiting too long can mean losing the house entirely.
Insurance for a Vacant House
Bills aren’t the only recurring obligation that’s easy to lose track of. Insurance is another one, and it’s especially easy to overlook since a policy is often already in place. But an old policy often hasn’t kept pace with what the house is worth. If a fire or a burst pipe causes real damage, an insurance payout that falls short of the repair cost leaves the family covering the difference out of pocket.
How long the house sits empty, whether it’s a few weeks or several months, matters just as much as getting the coverage amount right. Leave it unoccupied for a month or two, and most homeowners insurance starts pulling back, especially on theft and water damage. The family usually needs to tell the insurer the house is unoccupied, and that notice often means switching to a vacant-property policy, which typically costs more and covers less than standard homeowners coverage.
If the house sits empty long enough, even a vacant-property policy can become difficult to renew. At that point, insurers who specialize in long-term vacant homes are usually the next option. Those insurers get harder to find, and their premiums climb every year the house stays empty.
Should You Repair the House Before Selling?
Selling the house means facing one more decision: pour money into fixing up a house that’s been lived in for decades without much updating, or list it as-is and let the buyer deal with it. Consult with a trusted realtor before making any changes to the home.
Neither extreme usually pays off. List an outdated house as-is, and the price reflects every dated fixture and worn surface a buyer notices walking through. Spend months and thousands of dollars on a full renovation instead, and the delay itself can cost more than the upgrades are worth.
The middle ground is ordinary repairs – replacing worn carpet, having an aging furnace serviced – the kind of fixes sellers often make without turning the project into a full renovation. Repairs like these tend to pay for themselves, both in a higher sale price and a faster sale.
The Bottom Line
Expect a few big decisions early on, then a long stretch of small tasks that need attention for as long as the house sits empty. Handle those early decisions well, keep up with the small tasks as they come, and the house will be in good shape whenever the family’s ready to decide what happens next.