Selling an inherited house in Hillsborough County

Someone died, and now there is a house. Maybe you grew up in it. Maybe you live in Ohio and have seen it twice.

People ask me first what it is worth. The question that decides things is who is legally allowed to sell it, and when. Until that is answered you can take an offer, but you cannot convey title.

The full walk-through of the process is in what happens next with an inherited Hillsborough house. This page is about the decision.

Who is allowed to sign the deed

Not automatically you, and not automatically all of you. It turns on how the house was titled. Some houses never go through probate at all: property held as tenants by the entireties or jointly with right of survivorship, in a living trust, or transferred by a lady bird deed. A title company can tell you within days which you have, and that call is free.

Otherwise the court appoints a personal representative — whoever the will nominates, or a person chosen by a majority in interest, or the nearest heir (s. 733.301) — and issues letters of administration. Letters are not power to sell. Under s. 733.613 a personal representative may sell real property without a court order only if the will grants that power. Otherwise no title passes until the court authorizes it.

Protected homestead is its own animal. The personal representative does not even take possession of it (s. 733.607). It passes to the heirs, so the heirs sign the deed, and the title company will usually want an order determining protected homestead status under Florida Probate Rule 5.405.

The sequence, and what it costs here

Order certified death certificates first, more than you think — $15 for the first, $4 each after (Bureau of Vital Statistics). The petition is filed with the Clerk at the George Edgecomb Courthouse on E. Twiggs Street or at Plant City, and the Clerk’s page is direct: most cases require an attorney under Probate Rule 5.030.

Filing fees are statutory — $395 formal, $340 summary (s. 28.2401). Attorney fees are the real number: the statutory presumption is $3,000 at $100,000 of estate plus 3 percent above that (s. 733.6171), so a $350,000 house runs around $10,500. Fees can be agreed differently. Ask up front.

Summary administration is the short road: the estate, less property exempt from creditors, must not exceed $150,000, or the decedent must have been dead more than two years (s. 735.201). That ceiling was $75,000 until chapter 2026-57 doubled it this July. No personal representative is appointed, and uncontested it can be done in weeks.

Formal administration is the long road. Interested persons get three months from service to object (s. 733.212), creditors three months from first publication of the notice to creditors (s. 733.702). The Florida Bar puts a simple one at five or six months. An out-of-state decedent adds ancillary administration on top.

What the house is doing to you while you wait

The homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap both end. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser puts it plainly: the limitation, like the exemption, expires January 1 of the year after a change of ownership, and the property is raised to full market value. On a house bought in Town ‘N’ Country or Carrollwood in the 1990s and capped ever since, the assessed value can more than double in one January.

Worse if nobody tells the Property Appraiser. An exemption left running in a dead owner’s name can produce a lien for exempted taxes going back up to ten years, plus a 50 percent penalty and 15 percent interest (s. 196.161).

Then insurance. Florida policies restrict or exclude coverage once a house sits vacant or unoccupied past a set period, commonly 30 or 60 consecutive days, and vandalism is usually the first thing to go. Tell the carrier in writing that the house is empty and ask what endorsement you need. An uninsured empty house through hurricane season is the worst outcome on this page.

Mortgage, reverse mortgage, and heirs who disagree

An ordinary mortgage does not die with the borrower. Someone has to keep it current through probate, and the balance is paid off out of the proceeds at closing. Contact the servicer early; the CFPB notes they will want the death certificate and the will or a letter from the estate.

A reverse mortgage is a clock, and they are common in south county. A HECM becomes due and payable when the borrower dies. Per the CFPB, heirs generally get 30 days from the lender’s notice to decide, often extendable to six months, and if the balance exceeds the value they can settle it by selling at 95 percent of appraised value.

One heir cannot sell a house four people own. Florida has adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act: when one cotenant asks the court to sell, the others get 45 days to buy that interest at a court-determined value first (s. 64.207). It is slow and the lawyers are paid out of the house. The cheaper fix is one sibling buying the others out at an honest number.

Clearing it out, or not

You do not have to. I will walk it full and I am not going to react — I ran a crime scene cleanup company for the better part of two decades, so a packed house is logistics, not a shock.

If you would rather handle it yourself, Hillsborough residents get 10 cubic yards of bulky waste and appliance disposal a year at the county’s five Community Collection Centers. Forty years in a three-bedroom block house is far more than that. If it is packed, read how to sell a hoarder house in Florida.

The two routes, priced both ways

Sell it as it stands, for cash. Nobody clears it, nobody paints it, nobody meets an inspector. The price reflects that, because the buyer is pricing in the clean-out, the repairs and the risk. A cash offer is lower than a retail sale and I will not pretend otherwise. What you get is speed — here is how that process works.

Clear it, fix what matters, list it. This nets more when the house is sound and somebody local can manage the work. It also means months of taxes at the new uncapped rate, vacant-property insurance, utilities, dues and repair spend. On an empty out-of-state house, carrying costs eat much of the gap.

I do both, so I have no reason to push you either way. If my honest read is that you should hold it or rent it, I will tell you that too.

What I need from you

Send me the address, where probate stands, whether there is a mortgage or a reverse mortgage, how many heirs there are, and roughly what condition the house is in. You do not need to be inside it.

I will tell you what it is worth as it stands, what it would be worth cleared and listed, and what I would do in your position. Nothing stops you getting that number while the court is still working. Use the offer form or call 813-482-2215.

Questions people actually ask

Can I sell before probate is finished?

You can market it and go under contract, but you cannot close until someone has authority — a personal representative with a power of sale, a court order, or heirs taking protected homestead. I write contracts that wait on the court.

Do I have to clean it out?

Not if you sell as-is. Take what matters and leave the rest, but go through desks and filing drawers first. Deeds and policies turn up in these houses constantly.

What if there is a mortgage?

It is paid off at closing out of the proceeds, so you do not need to find the money first. A reverse mortgage adds a deadline, so mention it in the first conversation.

Will I owe tax on the sale?

Often less than people expect. The IRS sets the basis of inherited property at its fair market value on the date of death, so selling near that value can leave little or no taxable gain. Run it past a CPA.

How fast can you close?

Once authority to convey is in place, a cash closing is limited mostly by title work — commonly two to three weeks. The long pole is almost never the buyer. It is the probate case.

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Probate authority, homestead status and the tax treatment of an inherited house depend on your facts, so talk to a Florida probate attorney and a tax professional before you sign anything.