Selling an Inherited Home in San Francisco or Marin
A broker's guide for heirs, trustees and executors selling an inherited home in San Francisco or Marin, and for the attorneys who advise them: who has the authority to sign, what a trust sale, a probate sale and a court-confirmed sale each change, and what to do before anyone talks about price.
I'm a broker, not an attorney or a CPA. I can tell you how these rules shape the sale; the estate's attorney and CPA make the legal and tax calls.
Most heirs start with the question of price. The first question is authority. Until someone has the legal power to sign for the trust or the estate, no listing agreement, offer or escrow is valid, and the route to that authority sets the rules for the sale itself: whether a judge has to approve the price, whether a buyer can be outbid in a courtroom after you accept their offer, which disclosures apply, and how long it takes. Heirs who sort this out in the first weeks sell on their own schedule. Heirs who don't often lose the first two months.
The second point surprises people: you usually don't have to wait for the trust administration or the probate to finish before you sell. A successor trustee can sell once they have accepted the role, and an executor or administrator can sell once the court has issued letters. The sale often happens in the middle of the administration, and the proceeds are what the estate later distributes.
Who can sign: the path is set by how the house was held
How the owner held title decides who signs and whether a court is involved. Find your row first; everything else in this guide follows from it.
How the house was held | Who signs the sale | Court involved |
|---|---|---|
Revocable living trust | The successor trustee named in the trust | No |
Will, probate with full IAEA authority | The executor, once the court issues letters | No hearing unless an heir objects |
Probate with limited authority, or a representative who chooses court supervision | The executor or administrator | Yes: a confirmation hearing with open overbidding |
No will | An administrator appointed by the court, usually a close relative | Yes, through probate (full or limited authority) |
Joint tenancy, or community property with right of survivorship | The surviving owner, after recording an affidavit of death | No |
Transfer-on-death deed | The named beneficiary, after recording an affidavit of death | No |
Owner still living but unable to manage their affairs | A court-appointed conservator | Yes: the court approves the sale of the conservatee's home |
If you are not sure which row you are in, the recorded deed and the most recent property tax bill show how title was held, and the original trust or will shows who was named. Those are the first documents an estate attorney will ask for.
If you don't have an attorney yet
Many successor trustees work with an attorney even though no court is involved, because the trust document, the required notices to beneficiaries and the final accounting all carry legal duties. Anything that goes through probate runs on court filings, notices and deadlines that are an attorney's work. Either way, it should be clear who has authority before a listing agreement is signed. In a trust sale the title company sets what it needs to insure the sale, and the attorney often supplies the exact signature language. I work with estate and trust attorneys in both counties and can introduce you to one who handles your kind of estate, whether or not you list the house with me.
What to do in the first 30 days
None of this requires a decision about selling. All of it protects the value of the house and the options of the heirs.
How each path changes the sale
Trust sale
From the buyer's side, a trust sale looks like any other sale. The successor trustee signs the listing and the contract, the title company relies on a certification of trust instead of the full document, and no judge reviews the price. The trustee's duties run to the beneficiaries: notice to them after the death (within 60 days under Probate Code section 16061.7), a fair process and an accounting. Those duties are why a documented, competitive sale matters even when no court is watching.
Probate with full IAEA authority
Under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, an executor or administrator with full authority can sell without a court hearing. Before the sale is completed, the representative sends a Notice of Proposed Action to the heirs, who have at least 15 days to object (Probate Code section 10586). If no one objects, the sale closes much like a trust sale. If an heir objects, the sale goes to court for confirmation. In practice the contract has to allow for the notice period, and a family disagreement that has stayed quiet tends to surface here.
Court-confirmed probate sale
When the representative has limited authority, or chooses court supervision, the sale has to be confirmed at a hearing. Three rules shape the listing:
Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
Minimum price | The accepted offer must be at least 90% of the probate referee's appraised value, from an appraisal made within one year of the hearing (Probate Code section 10309). |
Open overbidding | Any qualified buyer can bid at the hearing. The first overbid must exceed the accepted offer by 10% of the first $10,000 plus 5% of the rest (section 10311). On a $2,000,000 accepted offer, the first overbid must be at least $2,100,500. |
Firm terms | The court expects an offer without loan or inspection contingencies, and overbidders bring a deposit, typically 10% of their bid, to the hearing. |
What this means for the marketing: the buyer you accept can lose the house in the courtroom weeks later, and buyers know it. Some won't pay for inspections on a house they may not get. The way to keep the strongest buyers in is to have the inspections and disclosures done before the house goes on the market, so every bidder prices the same information, and to explain the hearing plainly to every buyer who asks. Hearing dates follow the court's calendar, so a confirmed sale takes longer to close than a private one.
Conservatorship sale
A conservator sells a living person's home, so the court's attention is on whether the sale serves the conservatee and whether the price is fair. The sale of a conservatee's personal residence requires court approval and notice to the family, and the process resembles a court-confirmed probate sale. Ask the conservator's attorney early which steps your court requires, because the timing runs on the court's calendar.
Disclosures when the seller never lived in the house
Fiduciaries selling in the course of administering an estate, a trust or a conservatorship are generally exempt from California's Transfer Disclosure Statement (Civil Code section 1102.2). The exemption does not cover an individual trustee of a revocable trust who owned or lived in the property within the past year. It also does not remove the duty to disclose what the seller actually knows, or the natural hazard and other required reports. More on the full set in what disclosures California sellers have to provide.
The exemption is narrower in practice than heirs expect. Buyers in San Francisco and Marin price uncertainty harshly, and an estate house with no owner to answer questions is uncertain by default. The better approach is a complete package before the first showing: inspection and pest reports, permit history and the natural hazard report. Buyers who can see the condition write stronger offers with fewer contingencies.
Preparing a house nobody lives in
The question is how much to spend. On estate houses my answer is usually less than heirs expect and more than nothing: clear the house, paint, refinish the floors, make the repairs buyers will notice and stage or style the rooms, then let buyers see what the house can become instead of paying for a remodel the market won't return. Three things make that possible when the heirs are busy, grieving or far away:
01
Cleanout and estate sale
I line up and manage the estate sale, cleanout and hauling crews, and work around whatever the family wants to keep.
02
Preparation paid at closing
Repairs and preparation can be paid up front through Vanguard's pre-sale funding program and repaid from the proceeds at closing, so the estate needs no cash on hand. In a court-supervised estate, the attorney approves this first.
03
Heirs who live elsewhere
For heirs and trustees out of the area, I manage access, vendors and showings, and send photos and a written update at each step.
Three of my 2026 estate and trust sales, each prepared differently:
Property | What the house needed | Result |
|---|---|---|
1738 Great Highway, Outer Sunset (trust sale) | Prepared to show cleanly, without over-renovating | $2,600,000, 74% over list, 14 offers, 7 days |
436 Oak Street, Hayes Valley | A large Victorian with two income units, one tenant-occupied: a full house of contents to clear, then paint, refinished floors and staging | $3,363,000, 35% over list, 11 offers, 7 days |
2269 Bryant Street, Mission | A 1910 house sold for a buyer to take on as it was, with the full disclosure package ready before the first showing | $2,250,000, 88% over list, all cash, 2 days |
"Oliver gave us the vision from the first day and over-delivered on every promise he made. He walked us through exactly what would happen, and it did."
Jared G. · Outer Avenues seller
For estate attorneys, trustees and fiduciaries
If you are an attorney looking for a listing agent to refer clients to, this is what my side of the file looks like.
The legal and tax decisions stay with you and the client's CPA. My job is the sale, the vendors and preparation described above, and the market evidence that supports the price. The direct line is (415) 244-5846.
Small estates: when the house may not need full probate (as of October 2026)
For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, a primary residence worth up to $750,000 can pass to the heirs through a simplified court petition instead of full probate, and personal property up to $208,850 can be collected by affidavit (Probate Code sections 13100 to 13154, as amended by AB 2016). The thresholds are adjusted periodically. Most inherited houses in San Francisco and Marin are worth more than the cap, so most still pass through a trust or a probate.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer to sell an inherited house in California?
Not in every case. A surviving joint tenant or a transfer-on-death beneficiary can often record an affidavit and sell without one. A trust sale has no court involvement, but the trustee's duties to the beneficiaries make an attorney's guidance worth having. A probate sale runs on court filings and notices that are an attorney's work. Oliver Burgelman can introduce heirs to estate and trust attorneys in San Francisco and Marin.
What happens if the heirs disagree about selling?
In a trust, the successor trustee decides within the terms of the trust and owes the beneficiaries a fair process. In a probate, an heir who objects to a Notice of Proposed Action sends the sale to court. If co-owners who inherited the house outright can't agree, a court can order a partition sale, which is slow and costly. An attorney is the right first call in any of these.
Can one heir buy out the others?
Yes, and it is common. The price should be supported by an appraisal or current market evidence, so the trustee or executor can show the other heirs it was fair. A sale within the family is not an open-market test of value, which matters for the tax basis.
Should we keep the house and rent it out instead?
That decision usually turns on property tax. Under Proposition 19, an inherited house is generally reassessed to market value unless a child moves in as their primary residence, which can multiply the annual bill. See Oliver Burgelman's Proposition 19 guide before deciding.
How long does it take to sell an inherited house?
Once someone has authority to sign, a well-prepared house in San Francisco or Marin sells on the same timeline as any other house. The variables are how long it takes to get that authority, the 15-day notice under IAEA, and the court calendar in a confirmed sale.
Do the heirs owe capital gains tax when the house sells?
Often little or none, because the tax basis generally resets to the value at the date of death. The calculation belongs to a CPA. Oliver Burgelman's step-up in basis guide explains how the appraisal and the sale price fit together.
Handling an inherited home?
Three places to start, in the order most heirs need them.
Two ways to take the next step
For heirs and trustees, and for the attorneys who advise them.
Sources: California Probate Code sections 10309, 10311, 10586, 16061.7 and 13100 to 13154; Civil Code section 1102.2. Current as of October 2026 and provided for general guidance only. This is not legal or tax advice; the attorney and CPA on the estate decide the legal and tax questions.
