You inherited a note someone else created and may not have the full story. We help you work out what you hold, then bring competing offers with the math shown.
The pressures that push heirs toward the first number they hear.
The same worksheet comes with every offer.
| Remaining balance | $129,400 |
|---|---|
| Payments left | 168 |
| Buyer’s target yield | 8.0% |
| Purchase price | $115,000 |
| Discount from balance | 11.1% |
| Our fee | shown on every offer |
| Sell the whole note | Sell 60 payments | Keep it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash today | $115,000 | $56,200 | $0 |
| Payments still coming to you | None | 108 payments of $1,140 | 168 payments of $1,140 |
| Total you receive | $115,000 | $179,320 | $191,520 |
| What you give up | Every future payment | The next five years | A lump sum now |
Illustrative example. Totals add up the payments as scheduled; they assume the payer keeps paying and are not adjusted for the value of money over time.
Note and recorded security instrumentDeath certificateLetters from probate, or trustPayment historyA parent, a spouse or another relative sold a property years ago and financed it for the buyer. They collected a payment every month. Now they have died, and the right to those payments has passed, or is passing, to you.
The note itself has not changed, and the payer owes the same amount on the same terms. What has changed is who is entitled to collect, and that has to be established on paper before anyone can sell.
An inherited note can be a mortgage note, a deed of trust note, a land contract or a business note, and buyers price it by its type like any other. Being inherited does not lower the price, though gaps in the paperwork can.
A buyer needs to know that the person signing has the legal right to sell, and that depends on how the note was held.
| How the note was held | Who generally acts |
|---|---|
| In the name of the person who died | The estate, through its executor or personal representative, often with papers issued by the probate court |
| In a living trust | The successor trustee, under the trust document |
| Jointly with a survivor | The survivor, who may already own it |
Probate rules differ by state and by estate, so ask the estate’s attorney what applies to yours before you agree to anything.
When more than one heir shares a note, every owner normally has to sign. A sale is one way to divide it, since cash splits cleanly and a monthly payment does not, and the steps are the same as for anyone selling a note held with a co-owner.
You may not know why the terms are what they are, whether payments were ever late, or whether the terms were changed along the way. Start with the original note. Look in safe deposit boxes, in files, and with the attorney or title company that handled the original sale. A lost original can sometimes be worked around, but fewer buyers will take the file.
Then find out where the payments are going. The payer may be writing checks to someone who has died, or may have stopped because they do not know who to pay. Sort this out through the estate and keep a record, because a gap in payments caused by confusion looks the same on paper as a default.
Inheriting a note and then selling it can be treated differently for tax from selling a note you created yourself. That is a question for a CPA who can see the whole estate.
Estates create deadlines, and a single offer can look attractive when everyone wants things finished. If only some of the heirs need cash, selling part of the payments and keeping the rest is worth a look. And if nobody needs the cash, keeping the note pays more over time than selling it.
If the note has only just come to you, read what heirs should do first, and use our guide to the types of notes you can sell to work out which kind you now hold. Ask the estate’s attorney which document proves the right to sign, since a buyer will want a copy. Once you have it, send us what you have, even if the file is incomplete, and ask for the pricing in writing so that every heir is looking at the same numbers.
It depends on how the note was held and on the rules where the estate is being handled. An executor or personal representative can often sell an estate asset with the right authority, but that is a question for the estate's attorney. Ask before you sign anything.
No. Buyers price the payments, the property and the payer, not how you came to hold the note. What can lower the price is missing documents or a break in the payment record.
Every owner normally has to sign, so one heir cannot sell the whole note alone. Seeing the same written offers and worksheets often helps. A partial can also suit a family where some want cash now and others would keep the income.
Possibly, and the treatment can differ from selling a note you created yourself. It depends on the estate and on your own position. Take it to a CPA before you decide, since we cannot give tax advice.