I Just Inherited a House in Miami. What Do I Do?

My cousin Julio called me last summer. His grandmother passed away in Hialeah. She left him the house, alone. 3 bedroom, 1950s concrete block, the kind you see every third block out there.

He was stuck. Lives in Jacksonville. Has kids, a job, a life. The last thing he needed was a second house three hours away that he doesn't want to visit.

He asked me, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

That question is why I'm writing this post. I get asked it probably twice a month, and every time the person is confused, a little overwhelmed, and they've already Googled around and read three articles that felt more like sales pitches than actual help.

First, slow down

Whatever you do, don't make any quick decisions in the first 60 days.

Not about the house. Not about the furniture. Not about the car in the garage. Nothing.

This is grief. Grief makes us do weird things. Some people panic-sell to just be done with it. Others freeze and do nothing for two years until property tax bills pile up and there's a real problem.

Breathe. The house isn't going anywhere.

Second, understand what you actually inherited

Three things to find out:

1. Is the house in probate, a trust, or direct transfer?

If you got a letter from a probate court, the estate is going through probate. That takes 6-18 months in Florida typically. You can't sell until it closes or the court approves it.

If there's a trust, things move faster. A good estate attorney tells you in a week.

If the deed was already in your name (rare, but happens with relatives who planned ahead), you can do whatever you want today.

2. What does the house actually look like right now?

If your relative lived there alone, the house probably hasn't had maintenance in years. Expect:

• Old roof (often 20+ years)
• Original kitchen and bathrooms
• AC that barely works
• Stuff, everywhere. Furniture, clothes, paperwork, sometimes cars

Don't let it scare you. It's normal. A lot of inherited Miami homes look like this. Doesn't mean they're worth nothing. It means you have information to work with.

3. Is there a mortgage?

Check this first. If there's a mortgage, you owe the payments starting the month after the death. If it's $1,800/month and nobody's paying, the bank starts foreclosure in 3-4 months.

A lot of inherited Miami homes are paid off (older owners often finished their mortgages). But not all. Find out.

Your 5 options, honestly

Option 1: Keep it and live there

Works if you want to move to Miami and the house fits your life. Comes with repairs, insurance, taxes (around $3-5K/year for a typical Hialeah single-family home), and emotional weight.

Option 2: Keep it and rent it

Becomes a cash-flowing asset. Also becomes a second job. Rental property in Florida in 2026 is harder than it looks. Insurance companies don't want to cover 1960s construction anymore. Hurricane prep. Tenant screening. Repairs. If you live out of state, you need a property manager (8-10% of rent).

Option 3: Fix it up and list with an agent

Maximum price, longest timeline. For a typical $300K Hialeah home:

• $20-50K in repairs to make it market-ready
• 3-6 months of carrying costs while fixing
• 2-4 months on market
• 5-6% agent commission
• 1-3 months from contract to closing

Total: usually 6-12 months. Net after everything: often 70-80% of sticker. Works if you have time, money, and energy.

Option 4: Sell as-is to a cash buyer

What most people in this situation do:

• Offer within 24 hours
• Close in 2-4 weeks
• Don't fix anything
• Don't clean out the house (most cash buyers take it with contents)
• No agent commissions
• Walk away with cash

Tradeoff: not retail price. Somewhere 65-80% of what a fully-renovated version would sell for.

Option 5: Sell to family

Sometimes a cousin or sibling wants it. If that's you, use a real estate attorney and get an appraisal first so nobody feels cheated on price.

At-a-glance: timeline & net proceeds

Put them side by side and the right path often becomes obvious. Numbers below use the same example house we break down in the calculator further down — $385,000 ARV (after-repair value), currently around $320,000 as-is, needs about $48K in renovations:

On paper the cash buyer nets less (~$275K vs ~$290-295K for agent/FSBO), but that's if everything goes right on the agent path. Real results often land closer together once you factor in deal-fall-throughs, buyers demanding repair concessions, property sitting longer than expected, and every month of property tax + insurance during that wait.

Common mistakes Miami heirs make

Seven patterns I see again and again. None are hard to avoid once someone tells you about them.

1. Letting it sit too long. Every month property taxes, insurance, and maintenance keep coming. In Miami, vacant houses also attract squatters and break-ins. 6 months of inaction can easily cost $4,000-$8,000.
2. Starting repairs before deciding the path. I've seen people drop $40K into a new kitchen, then decide to sell anyway. They don't recover that money. If you're leaning toward selling, don't renovate first.
3. Emptying the house before getting a cash offer. Cash buyers usually take the house "as-is, contents included" — meaning you don't have to move or dump anything. Some heirs spend weeks hauling stuff to the curb, not knowing the buyer would have handled it.
4. Signing an exclusive listing agreement with an agent before exploring options. Most agent listing contracts lock you in for 6 months minimum. Once signed, you can't sell to a cash buyer without paying commission anyway. Read first.
5. Accepting the first cash offer without shopping. Get 2-3 offers. The market will show itself. Don't pay for appraisals you don't need, but do talk to a few buyers.
6. Not knowing whether probate is required. In Florida, homes held in a trust or as joint tenants with right of survivorship might skip probate entirely. One 30-minute call with an estate attorney saves months of unnecessary court filings.
7. Forgetting that property taxes and insurance keep running. Even vacant houses need homeowners insurance (harder to get on older Florida homes), and FL property tax bills arrive every November. Skipping these creates liens that reduce final proceeds.

How we calculate an offer on an inherited house

Most legitimate cash buyers use the same basic formula. There's no secret or magic number. When we look at your inherited Miami house, here's the actual math:

Want to see the complete formula we use, step by step, on the site? How we calculate your offer →

When calling someone like us makes sense

If you:

• Just want to be done with it
• Don't want to become a landlord
• Are out of state and can't deal with the house physically
• Can't afford to carry the house while fixing it up
• Have siblings who all want their share and to move on
• Have an older Miami inherited home in a working-class neighborhood

...then a cash sale is probably what you're looking for. That's what we do. We buy single-family homes in Miami-Dade, close in 2-4 weeks, handle the title work, and you walk away.

First call is honest conversation, not sales. We'll look at the house (in person or through photos), give you a number based on real condition, and tell you if we're not the right fit. Sometimes we aren't. That's fine too.

Frequently asked questions

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