Selling a senior's Cape home
Selling a house after decades, or after a death, is different from an ordinary sale. The house is often older, empty or full, owned by someone who lives elsewhere, and on septic. These articles cover the parts that are specific to the Lower Cape: timing, pricing, the septic inspection, empty houses, and selling from a distance.
Articles
What happens to a Cape house that has been empty since October?The three risks to a Cape house left empty over winter — frozen pipes, vacancy clauses in the insurance, and a house that looks abandoned — and whether to sell now or wait for spring.Does the season matter when selling a Cape house?Across 2,407 Lower Cape sales, the listing month moved the price by about 1.6 points; the first week on the market moved it by more than 6. What that means for when to sell.Can you sell a Cape house from out of state?How families living elsewhere sell a Lower Cape house: the local team, remote signing and powers of attorney, the Massachusetts non-resident withholding rule for sales of $1 million or more, and the certificates a sale needs.How do you price an inherited Cape house nobody has lived in?How to set the price of an inherited Lower Cape house: recent comparable sales, the condition buyers will see, why the assessment is not a price, and what the first week on the market is worth.We got a cash offer letter for Mom’s house. Should we take it?Why families receive cash offer letters after a death, what to check in one (the buyer, the deposit, the escape clauses, assignment), how it compares with the open market, and when taking it is the right call.What does a real estate agent owe an older seller in Massachusetts?The duties a Massachusetts seller’s agent owes by law, the disclosure form you must be given, who has authority to sign, and the warning signs to watch for when an older person is selling a home.When is a septic inspection required to sell a Cape house?When Massachusetts requires a Title 5 septic inspection to sell, how long it stays valid, the family-transfer exemptions, what happens if the system fails, and the nitrogen disclosure Cape sellers owe.
In preparation
These questions are being written. Because they involve law, tax, benefits or care, each will be published only after a Massachusetts professional in that field has reviewed it. Are you one? Review a draft.
- The Title 5 inter-family exemptions most Cape families never hear about · needs review by: elder law attorney
- Nitrogen, watershed permits, and what a Cape seller has to disclose · review welcome from: title 5 inspector or health agent
- Paying for a septic upgrade: AquiFund, the tax credit and betterments · review welcome from: title 5 inspector or health agent