[Victoria Storm]

Hello, I thank you for any help in advance. My sister and I have inherited a home. We are co-trustees and equal co-owners of the home which is fully paid for. As it is located in a lovely beach community and would be an excellent investment, I would like to fix up the property and rent it out now, and sell when the market improves. However, my sister will not put any money into the home, and she does not want to rent. She wants to sell immediately well below its potential value. Each sister would net $450,000 after all costs. I have offered to buy out her interest in the property for the EXACT net she would receive from the current offer ($450,000 cash), but she refuses to sell to me for that amount, and is insisting I pay her THOUSANDS more than the outside buyer. Her reasoning is that I am "benefiting" somehow because I will not have to pay the Realtor or closing costs that would necessarily be paid out from the sale to the other buyer, so she is "adding" 1/2 closing costs and 1/2 of the Realtor commission to the $450K net, and demanding that I pay these "costs" to HER. Our Realtor is with me on this one, as he and I will be working together fixing up the home and reselling later, so his commission is assured later. Also, this is not the first time this has happened. THREE times my sister has insisted we take offers that are below market, and each time I have offered to pay her EXACTLY the SAME net she would receive if we did take these offers. But every time she says I need to pay her thousands more, because she says it wouldn't be "fair" if I happen to get a profit if I sell in the future, or it's not "fair" if I don't have to pay "costs" . If it is not already obvious, I will mention that my sister is extremely hostile towards me, and she and her husband have publicly stated they do NOT want me to have the house (just because they know I want it). They are doing everything in their power to prevent me from buying her out. Any advice will be appreciated.

Thank you very much for all the answers and great advice from everybody!! I failed to mention that three weeks ago, on June 2, 2008, my sister's attorney sent a letter saying my sister WOULD accept $450,000 cash from me (which is the Same amount she'd make from the outside buyer) for her interest in the house. So although we have it in writing that she'd agree to let me buy her out, they are now asking for $12,500 more. That may not sound like much, but back in January, she said she'd accept a sale from this same buyer, resulting in a net profit for her of $424,000. I rejected the offer, but I offered to buy my sister out for the same amount that she would have net, $424,000, but she WOULD NOT accept the same amount from me. Then the same guy came up in price to result in a net for her of $437,500. Again, my sister wanted to sell to him, and I did not, but once again, I did offer her the same amount of cash, $437,500, but she still refused to take it from me. And now we're at $450,000, which she'd make if we sold to the outside buyer, and which she said she'd take - but she's changed her mind and now wants $462,500 if the cash comes from me. This is $38,500 MORE than what she originally said she'd be happy with in January from the outside buyer.

[jjwoodhull]

I can relate because there is a somewhat similar situation currently going on in my family. However, in my case there are 5 siblings owning equal shares of the property!

It sounds as if you are bending over backwards to make things easier on your sister (or perhaps to just move forward) without her giving an inch. Maybe it's time for you to play hardball as well. She obviously wants money badly. Can you afford to just sit on it for now? If so, tell her that you have decided that you do not want to sell and you do not want to buy her out. After she has been paying property taxes for a few quarters on a house that she doesn't want and can't afford, maybe she will be more willing to negotiate with you.

It's a shame that it has to be so difficult. Keep us posted on how things are going.

[Fr_Chuck]

Of course if you sold to a outside buyer those costs would have to be paid from "both sides" So of course not only would you have to pay those costs but she would also. But in the end is the realitor going to let you buy it without paying them, since this is still a "sell" and I also don't know why the closing costs would be less, since I would stll require an attorney and do the closing the same way.

But I would figure exactly how much she would get in her pocket from a outside seller and explain to her that she can accept that or you can also just refuse to accept any other offer also. Plus some costs of the home she is going to be responsible for no matter if she wants to or not.

[excon]

Hello Victoria:

K. Two people can play those games. Form a corporation. Hire a lawyer to make an offer in the name of the corporation. Your participation in the sale can be concealed - until at least the closing. If you want the corporation to sell it back to you, you can have a simultaneous closing.

Or, you can just give your sister the money instead of a lawyer.

excon

[smokedetector]

Is it possible in this case to have a friend of yours that she doesn't know put up an offer and both of you agree to sell it to the friend, then you give the half your sister would get paid to the friend to pay her and the friend just writes it over to you or something? I know that sounds complicated, but you're sister's not exactly making things easy anyway. Good luck!

[froggy7]

I know that this is a legal board, but how much is it worth to you to keep a good relationship with your sister? How much "additional" is she asking for? 2K, 8K, 20? That makes a difference. If you can afford the extra, it might be easiest to just give it to her, and consider it one of the costs that you are going to pay in order to realize a much larger profit by selling in a few years. Or, in simpler terms, if you can make an extra 200K in the future by paying your sister 5K now (even if she doesn't technically deserve it), do you want to cut off your nose to spite your face?