Selling Mom's house to pay health costs

DEAR BERNICE: I appreciate your helping people like me who are like babes in the woods when it comes to real estate stuff. My mom died recently in an out-of-state nursing home. I am the executor of her estate. Mom had no money and neither do I, but her house is paid for. That's a good thing because I am recently unemployed.

The house sits on three-fourths of an acre that was originally two separate lots. The roof has major leaks, one of which caused a 2-foot-by-4-foot hole in the ceiling. Possums have taken up residence in the attic. They stare at me with impunity. Raccoons are now living under the house. I use bug spray to keep them from moving into the main house.

The house, which needs paint inside and out, has original electrical wiring from the 1950s and three of the sinks are not working. Part of the front porch needs replacing. That would have to be repaired before I could move out my Mom's grand piano, provided the movers could get through the clutter.

Medi-Cal is demanding reimbursement for Mom's care. Unless I can get the house exempted, I will be forced to sell the property. My credit is zilch and I have no savings. Since the property was originally two lots, I was thinking it would be worth more if I could get the judge to approve dividing it again. I am guessing if I sold the whole thing as one lot I might be losing out.

Zillow says the property is worth about $272,500. That means it has lost about $65,000 in value this last year. I'm guessing that I would have to spend $10,000 for roof repairs and maybe another $10,000 for the other upgrades. Can I sell a house like this "as is" here in California? Do you think knocking off $20,000 would be enough? These are pretty much my options. I can't rent out the home until I take care of the plumbing, wiring and heating deficiencies. Selling part of the property to a developer 18 months ago would have been easy, but not anymore.

If I do nothing, the state will replace me as executor and sell the house for whatever they want and leave me nothing at all. It has happened here before. Any and all advice would be appreciated. --Bill Q.

DEAR BILL: There are so many issues here that it's hard to know where to begin. The first question is who has title to your mother's property? You mentioned that you are the executor of the estate. Are you also the only heir to the property? Was the property conveyed to you in a trust? Do you need to go through a probate procedure to secure the title? These are all legal questions that should be addressed by an attorney. Unless you have clear title, it will be impossible to sell the property. Consequently, get the title issues resolved first. You will also need to chat with the attorney about the situation with Medi-Cal. ...CONTINUED

All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.