Expert: Dick Dennis - 10/21/2008

Question
I own a house which has a life estate attached to it for another person.  I am in North Carolina.  I want to sell the house with the life estate. How do I find people interested in purchasing these?

Answer
Let me answer your question by asking you a question, Cyndy. If you were looking for a house to buy, would you have interest in buying a house in which someone has the right to stay there at no rent for the rest of their life? So, you can see that it would be extremely difficult to sell a house with a life estate tenant in the property. The sale price would have to have a very drastically discounted price on it. And only an investor would be interested, right? Plus there are virtually no lenders who would be willing to lend on such a sale/purchase. I do not say it is impossible to sell, but I will say it is very improbable. There are so many, many houses for sale out there, especially foreclosures at discounts. Why would anyone be interested in such a house with that kind of encumbrance? I recommend you keep the house until that person is no longer living there. I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis