A Guide to Selling an Inherited Property

When inheriting a property in Malta or Gozo, like a house of character or a terraced house, oftentimes it may seem a reasonable decision to sell it off on the property market. Perhaps it is superfluous to your needs, too large, small, old, expensive to maintain or just not something you could use at this stage of your life, selling your property might be the right decision.

Selling an inherited property in Malta

In an attempt to sell your inherited property in Malta or Gozo, apart from having an official Land Registry site plan endorsed with proper site measurements by an architect you would have to prepare a valuation of the inherited property. These documents need to be presented to a notary in charge of preparing the necessary deed, by virtue of which the property was devolved to you.

The procedure of selling an inherited property

If the immovable property, like an apartment for sale or a house of character for sale, was the residence of the deceased family member, then you, as a direct descendant, would not have had to pay any tax on this part of the inheritance. 

Once all the inheritance procedures are followed and complete, you will be in a position to resell the property. Your notary will have guided you on aspects related to the valuation of the property, and advise you accordingly. This means that you will have researched and asked around, to find how much the property stands to be evaluated at the current market conditions. Learn all about the inheritance tax as per the Declaration Causa Mortis. 

Property inheritance law

The previous law stated where the majority, but not all have agreed to sell, it restricted the heirs to sell the said inherited property only after five or ten years depending on when the inheritance took place. This had caused numerous grief for the community not to mention the vast number of vacant properties.

2016 Budget inheritance property incentives

In the 2016 Budget, this period of time was reduced to three years, thus encouraging heirs to agree finally and speed up the process of making available more properties on the market.

Within the White Paper, the Government also reduced the stamp duty to 2.5% on the value of the property if the contract of the new property is executed between the 1 January and 31 December 2016. Furthermore, the rate of final withholding tax that will be levied on transfers of restored property, effected in 2016, will be reduced from 8% to 5%.  The property must be within an Urban Conservation Area (UCA).

The above incentives have been created to further entice heirs to sell their properties, take ownership, and restore and increase the supply of saleable homes on the market.

Decluttering your inherited property for sale

Presentation when selling your property is of utmost importance in an attempt to maximise its value on the property market. Prior to selling your property of inheritance on the property market, it is probable that the property needs to be cleaned or cleared of personal belongings. This pertains to completely removing vacated furniture and furnishings prior to a sale. If it does not interest you to carry out this chore yourself, there do exist individuals and companies that will come to the inherited property for sale and vacate it at a pre-established fee. Read more about 5 repairs to tackle before listing your home. 

Alternatively, you could approach an auctioneer to try and sell pricier and finer items at a profit.  If need be you could also organise a garage or house sale which you can advertise locally and enrol some family members to help you on the day or weekend assigned for this event.

Valuing your inherited property

Once the property is empty, you should approach a reliable real estate agency to provide you with a market value again. At RE/MAX Malta, we have an extensive history of inherited properties in Malta or Gozo that were on the market and sold. Our dedicated real estate agents will guide you throughout this difficult process of selling your property by providing a thorough market analysis in order to value your inherited home correctly.

Increasing the value of your inherited property

If the property is pretty run-down, we may advise giving it a quick facelift in order to make it more attractive to possible buyers. This should not alarm you because many times a property can be excellently embellished by a few simple and easy steps, such as cleaning the front garden of dead vegetation, and replacing broken light bulbs. Any junk or remaining clutter should also be removed.

When the property is still in relatively good condition, and if it still includes some furnishings, our selling experts may suggest that you go along with the proposal of staging the property in a professional way.

Contact one of our offices today to understand the process of selling an inherited property, and so that we can ease the possibilities of selling your property of inheritance quickly.