The Process of Selling an Inherited Property

Inheriting a property can put you in quite a stressful situation; possibly due to it being too large/small/old/expensive to maintain, or because of family politics if you are not the sole heir. Oftentimes, it seems that the most reasonable thing to do is to sell the property in Malta or Gozo.

Selling an inherited property

If you decide to do this, however, there are certain steps that you must take to go through with the sale. According to Maltese law, the heir to selling an inherited property must prepare the following:

• A valuation of the property
• An official Land Registry site plan endorsed with proper site measurements by an architect

When selling your property it is important that you must present these documents to the notary in charge of the deed, by virtue of which the property was devoted to you.

Inherited property tax

In the case of the inherited property in Malta having been the residence of the deceased person, and you are a direct descendant, you are not required to pay any tax on this part of the inheritance.

The notary will guide you through all the steps related to the valuation of the property for sale, and once all the inheritance procedures are followed and completed, you will then be able to sell your property on the real estate market.

Selling an inherited property law

The previous law stated that 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

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

Inherited real estate stamp duty

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. 

Inherited property withholding tax

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 inherited property for sale must be within an Urban Conservation Area (UCA).

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

Staging the inherited property for sale

Presentation is very important when selling your property. It is probable that the property will need to be cleaned and cleared of personal belongings, and possibly also completely vacated of 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 property and vacate it at a pre-established fee.

If the property is pretty run-down, we may advise you to give 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. Learn more about 5 repairs to tackle before listing your home.

When the property is still in a 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.

This will entail the involvement of staging experts, namely an interior designer and photographic services (all organised by the agency itself). Staging will do a world of good for you if you want the necessary exposure to the property and sell quickly. In this case, we may suggest that you enrol in the Exclusive Added Value Listing programme, which is a dedicated Selling system which has proven to sell homes within 90 days.

Marketing 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 properties for sale in Malta or Gozo available on the market. Our dedicated real estate agents will guide you to sell your property by offering a proper comparative market analysis to value your property correctly.

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. Read more about some tips on the process of selling your property at an auction.