The plan everyone starts with
Someone in the family says: we'll fix it up, then we'll get retail money for it. On paper
that's the right answer. A renovated house sells for more than an unrenovated one, and the
gap in Miami-Dade can be large.
The plan assumes three things that usually aren't true. That somebody has the cash to
front. That the heirs will share the cost. And that whoever is running it has the time to
manage a renovation on top of a job.
Where it comes apart: nobody can front the money
We bought a house near West Miami and Westchester from a personal
representative who was also one of the heirs. She was the one on the ground. The other heirs
were out of state, and one was in Italy.
She had genuinely considered doing the rehab herself. What stopped her wasn't the idea —
it was that every dollar would have come out of her pocket while the other heirs, who would
share the upside, contributed nothing. She also had a full-time job. Between choosing
finishes, running to Home Depot, chasing contractors and managing the design decisions, it
was going to be a second job she couldn't take on.
That is the normal shape of it. One heir has to carry all the risk and all the labor for a
share of the reward.
Where it comes apart worse: the rehab is already half done
The hardest one we've bought was in Miami Springs. A woman inherited the
house; her brother lived up near Gainesville. She started the renovation herself while living
in the house.
Two things happened. The city caught the work mid-project, which brought the permit
process down on top of a renovation that was already underway. And the contractors she'd
paid took the deposits and disappeared.
By the time we met her she was living in a house with no kitchen, with an
open project she couldn't finish, a city expecting work she couldn't afford, and a brother
who wasn't going to cover the losses she'd taken.
We bought it as it stood. Part of what made that work is that we agreed with the City of
Miami Springs to forgo re-occupying the house, which ended the cycle of inspections, required
repairs and fines that would otherwise have kept running against the property. She stopped
losing money the day we closed.
A half-finished renovation is worth less than an untouched house
This surprises people. An untouched 1960s Miami house is a known quantity — a buyer like
us prices the work and moves on. A house with the kitchen ripped out, three permits open and
two contractors gone is worse than that: someone now has to undo decisions, close out
permits, and re-hire trades for a job that's already been mishandled.
So the moment to sell is before you start, not after you've stopped. If you're
reading this and you've already started, that's fine — we've bought plenty of those. Just
don't spend more trying to reach a finish line that keeps moving.
What "as-is" means when we say it
Roof, plumbing, electrical, foundation, fire damage, mold, an unfinished kitchen, an
open permit, junk in every room. We price the condition once, at the start, and that's the
number. We don't send an inspector back in week three to renegotiate, because the condition
was never the point — we're the ones doing the work afterward.
Common questions
Should I renovate an inherited house before selling it?
Only if you can pay for the whole renovation without borrowing, the other heirs are contributing, and you have time to manage contractors. If any of those three is missing, the renovation usually costs more than the extra sale price it earns.
What if I already started the renovation and ran out of money?
We buy half-finished houses regularly, including ones with open permits and contractors who walked off. Stopping is better than spending more to chase a finish line that keeps moving.
What if the other heirs won't help pay for repairs?
That is the single most common reason inherited renovations stall. A cash sale removes the problem: nobody has to front anything, and the proceeds are divided at closing.
Do you buy houses with no kitchen or no working bathroom?
Yes. We have bought houses that were not habitable, including one where the owner was living in it with the kitchen gone.
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Other guides
Selling a House in Probate · When Heirs Disagree · Selling a Hoarder House · Open Permits & Violations
