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Estates and probate

Selling an inherited house in Calgary.

You don’t have to clear it out. You don’t have to fix anything. We buy estate houses exactly as they stand.

Most estate houses we buy have sat for the better part of a year.

Not because the family can’t decide. Because clearing four decades of belongings and paying for a new kitchen is more than anyone has time for.

  • Leave everything. Take the photographs and the papers. We handle the rest.
  • Probate doesn’t have to stop you. We agree the sale now and close after the grant.
  • Do it from anywhere. Video walkthrough with your brothers and sisters on the call.
  • One written number the whole family can see, with the reasoning attached.
Check the insurance today. Most policies treat a house as vacant after about thirty days empty, and cover can fall away. Of everything here, this is the one that gets worse on its own.
What an executor is usually glad to know early

The grant, and the timing of it. Alberta probate typically runs to several months. The court’s own fee is small — the Surrogate Rules schedule tops out at $525 for an estate over $250,000 — so what costs the estate is the calendar, not the filing.

If a spouse survives and was living there, Alberta’s Dower Act may require their written consent even where they were never on title. Your lawyer will check it; it is a common late surprise.

Tax is usually kinder than people fear. An estate is generally taxed on the change in value since the date of death, not since your parents bought the house in 1974. Ask the estate accountant before you assume the worst.

An executor answers to the beneficiaries, which is why we put the reasoning in writing and why we say plainly when listing the house would likely leave the estate with more. A written offer you can hand round is worth more than a number given over the phone.

Not legal or tax advice, and we are not your lawyer. This is the list of things that most often catch Calgary families out, so you can raise them early.

What holds an inherited house up, and what we do about it

The bills don’t wait. Property tax, utilities and insurance keep going out of an estate account while an empty house sits in Calgary weather.

The family is spread across three cities. Someone has to fly in for showings, meet trades and be there for the cleanout. We do one visit, or a video call with everyone on the line, and complete through the lawyers.

The contents. Forty years of a life, and no one wants to be the person who throws it away. Take what matters. Leave the rest where it stands.

The condition. A house lived in since the 1970s usually needs a kitchen, a bathroom, flooring and a roof before it will show well. That is serious money and months of project management, spent by a family that does not want the project.

How the price is worked out

Send us the address

A written number, and the reasoning behind it. The offer costs you nothing.

We'll call you back the same day.

By sending this you’re asking Matthew Mai of Direct Home Buyer to ring you about this property. That is all it does. Your details are never sold and never passed to a lead network, and you can ask him to stop at any time. Privacy policy · Terms

The offer is free and there is no charge for the visit.

If listing would serve the estate better, we’ll say so.

A house in decent order, in an area buyers want, usually nets the estate more on the open market — even after commission. When that’s the case we put it in writing, and the executor has it on file.

The honest comparison

Questions executors ask

Can I sell an inherited house in Calgary before probate is granted?
Usually you can agree a sale and sign, but title normally cannot transfer until the grant issues. In practice that means the visit, the written offer and the negotiation all happen now, and the closing date is set to land after the grant. Your estate lawyer will confirm where your particular estate stands.
How long does probate take in Alberta?
Several months is normal, and it moves faster when the application goes in complete. It rarely stops a sale being arranged in the meantime. The court's own fee is modest — the Surrogate Rules cap it at $525 for an estate over $250,000 — so the delay is the cost, not the filing.
What if the brothers and sisters do not agree?
That is common, and it is not our place to referee it. What we can do is give the executor one written number with the reasoning attached, so the family is discussing a real figure instead of a guess. Everyone sees the same document.
The house is still full of our parents' belongings. Do we have to clear it out?
No. Take the photographs, the papers and anything that matters to you, and leave the rest — the furniture, the garage, the boxes in the basement. We handle it after closing. This is the single most common reason an estate house sits empty for a year.
Does an executor have to take the highest possible price?
An executor answers to the beneficiaries, which is exactly why we put the reasoning in writing and why we say plainly when listing the house would likely leave the estate with more. A written offer you can hand to the beneficiaries is worth more to an executor than a number given over the phone.
We are out of province. Can this be done from a distance?
Yes. Selling a Calgary house from out of province is routine — the walkthrough can be a video call with siblings on the line, and Alberta lawyers complete estate sales remotely all the time. You do not need to fly in.
The house has been standing empty for months. Does that matter?
It can. Most home insurance policies treat a house as vacant once it has been unoccupied for around thirty days, and cover can change or lapse at that point. Ring the insurer before you do anything else — an uninsured empty house is the one risk in all of this that gets worse on its own.

Helping a parent who is still living? That page is here.