Selling an Inherited House in Florida: A Seller's Guide

Inheriting a home is not a straightforward financial event. It comes with legal requirements most people don't know about, tax implications that most people misunderstand, practical problems with the home itself, and — in many cases — family dynamics that make every decision more complicated.

Most heirs find out how complicated it is when they try to sell and realize they can't — not yet, and not without resolving several things first. Here's what to know before you're in that position.

First: Does the Estate Have to Go Through Probate?

This is the first question to answer, because if probate is required, you cannot sell the home until it's completed. Listing a home you don't legally have title to yet is a real problem — one that creates liability for you and can blow up a transaction.

In Florida, most estates with assets over $75,000 require formal probate unless specific structures are in place. The exceptions that allow you to transfer real property without probate:

A revocable living trust. If the deceased had a trust and the property was titled in the trust's name (or the deed named the trust as beneficiary), the trustee can transfer title to heirs without probate. This is probably the cleanest scenario.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. If the deed listed multiple owners with right of survivorship language, the surviving owner inherits automatically — no probate for that property.

Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate). Florida allows these, and they're increasingly common in estate planning. A Lady Bird deed passes title directly to the named beneficiary upon death, avoiding probate.

If none of these structures are in place and the estate is over $75,000, formal probate is the path. Florida does allow a simplified summary administration for smaller estates (under $75,000) or when the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years. But for most situations, formal probate in Florida takes 6–12 months minimum, sometimes longer if the estate is contested or complex.

Work with a Florida probate attorney — not a general practice lawyer who does a little probate on the side. This is specialized work and the choice of attorney directly affects how long the process takes.

You Can't Sell Until Title Is Clear

This sounds obvious but it catches people off guard. You can interview agents, you can get valuations, you can even agree on a price with a buyer in principle — but you cannot close a sale until the probate court has issued its order and title has been properly transferred to the heirs.

Title companies will not insure a sale where title is unclear, and most buyers won't — and shouldn't — proceed without clear title insurance. If you try to rush a sale before probate is complete, you'll create closing complications that can kill the deal.

The practical advice: start the probate process immediately after the death, even before you've decided what to do with the property. The process takes time regardless of when you eventually list, so there's no reason to delay starting it.

The Stepped-Up Basis — The Tax Benefit Most Heirs Don't Fully Understand

This is one of the most valuable tax provisions in the US tax code, and most heirs don't fully understand what they're holding.

When you inherit a property, your cost basis for capital gains purposes is "stepped up" to the fair market value of the property at the date of the decedent's death. This isn't the price they paid for the house in 1980 or 1995 — it's what the house was worth when they died.

Here's what this means in practice. Say your grandmother bought the family home in 1990 for $85,000. When she died in 2024, the home's fair market value was $480,000. Your cost basis as an heir is $480,000 — not $85,000.

If you sell the home for $490,000, your capital gain is only $10,000 — not the $405,000 it would have been if you'd inherited the original basis. The federal capital gains tax on $10,000 (at 15% for most heirs) is $1,500. Versus the tax on $405,000 at 15%, which is over $60,000.

The stepped-up basis is the reason that selling an inherited home relatively quickly — close to the date of death and close to fair market value — can result in minimal or near-zero capital gains tax. The window where this advantage is most powerful is in the first 6–12 months after death, before significant appreciation has occurred above the stepped-up basis.

Get a professional appraisal of the property as of the date of death. This establishes your basis with documentation the IRS can rely on. Your estate attorney or CPA should be coordinating this.

Florida Has No Estate or Inheritance Tax

Let's put one worry to rest: Florida has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. There is no Florida state tax on inheriting property or selling inherited property.

Federal estate tax exists, but it only applies to very large estates. As of 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is approximately $13.6 million per individual ($27.2 million per married couple, if proper planning was done). If the total estate is below that threshold — which describes the vast majority of estates — no federal estate tax is owed.

What you may owe at the federal level: capital gains tax on the sale, calculated from the stepped-up basis as described above.

The Timeline Problem: Vacant Homes Cost Money

Many heirs underestimate how quickly a vacant home in Florida becomes an expense and a risk.

Property taxes continue accruing while probate proceeds. Homeowner's insurance on a vacant property is more expensive and harder to obtain than on an occupied property — and some insurers will cancel or refuse to renew if the home has been vacant more than 30–60 days without notification. HOA dues (if applicable) don't pause for probate. Utilities need to stay on (at minimum, AC needs to run to prevent mold). Lawn maintenance continues. The home is at elevated risk of vandalism, theft, and weather damage because no one is there.

In Florida's climate, a vacant home that has AC issues goes from fine to mold-damaged in a matter of weeks during summer months. A small water intrusion that would be caught immediately in an occupied home can become a major remediation issue in a vacant one.

The practical takeaway: don't let probate proceed on an assumed passive timeline. Every month the home sits vacant costs money and potentially reduces the sale price.

Pre-Sale Condition Assessment

Inherited homes often have deferred maintenance. The previous owner may have been elderly, in declining health, or simply living with issues they'd adjusted to and not prioritized. A pre-listing inspection early in the process helps you understand what you're dealing with.

In Florida specifically, watch for: roof age and condition (lenders and insurance carriers care deeply about this), HVAC condition (aging systems fail suddenly in the heat), and pest history (termites, in particular, are common in older Florida homes). Any of these can become significant negotiation points if discovered by the buyer's inspector rather than disclosed upfront.

When Multiple Heirs Are Involved

If the property passes to multiple heirs and not all of them are on the same page about selling, timing, or price, you have a family dynamics problem that real estate advice won't fully solve. What it can help with: establish clear communication early, define a decision-making process, and consider whether one heir wants to buy out the others (which is sometimes the cleanest solution).

A trusted agent who's handled estate sales before can often serve as a neutral party to help the heirs align on price and timeline — someone who can lay out the market data without a stake in the family disagreement.

Cash Offers for Inherited Homes

Sometimes the right answer is a cash sale at a discount. If the home needs significant work, probate is complex, multiple heirs have different needs, and the family wants a fast and clean resolution — a cash buyer who takes the home as-is can be the right path. You'll net less than a retail sale, but you'll close faster, skip the repair negotiation, and move on.

The tradeoff is real: cash buyers are typically paying 70–80% of retail value. On a $400,000 home, that's $280,000–$320,000 versus $380,000–$400,000 in a retail sale. That's a $60,000–$120,000 difference. If the home needs $80,000 in repairs and you'd have to do them anyway to get retail, the math may actually favor a cash sale. If the home is in good condition, it usually doesn't.

Get a valuation before you take a cash offer. Know what you're giving up. Request a free home valuation so you have a baseline before you make any decisions.

For a full comparison of your options — cash offer versus listing on the open market — see /cash-offer-vs-listing.