Real estate is often the largest asset in an estate. It can also be the most complicated.
ARH Global Advisors LLC helps executors, trustees, beneficiaries and families evaluate the real-world financial and real estate decisions surrounding estate, trust and inherited property.
When a family inherits real estate, the question is rarely as simple as:
The more important questions are often:
- Who has authority to make decisions?
- Should the property be held or sold?
- What does the estate plan or trust require?
- What are the carrying costs?
- Do the beneficiaries agree?
- Should money be invested before a sale?
- What repairs or improvements are economically justified?
- How quickly does the estate or trust need liquidity?
- What tax, legal and investment consequences should be considered before a decision is made?
A home, apartment building, commercial property or portfolio of investment properties may represent decades of accumulated family wealth. After the owner’s death, that same asset can suddenly become a question of administration, valuation, liquidity, management and family decision-making.
Our role is not to replace estate counsel, tax advisers or investment professionals.
We help connect the real estate decision to the larger fiduciary picture.
More than a real estate transaction.
Selling an ordinary property is primarily a real estate transaction.
Selling property owned by an estate or trust can involve much more.
- The person making the decision may be acting for beneficiaries rather than for himself or herself.
- There may be fiduciary responsibilities.
- The property may need to be valued as of a particular date.
- Title and ownership may need to be confirmed.
- Court procedures may apply.
- Beneficiaries may have different objectives.
- The estate may need liquidity.
- The property may contain decades of personal belongings.
- Deferred maintenance may exist.
- Tenants may occupy the property.
- The property may generate income.
- Tax consequences may influence timing.
- And the person responsible for the property may live hundreds or thousands of miles away.
These are not merely listing questions.
They are fiduciary asset-management questions involving real estate.
That distinction shapes our approach.
Begin by understanding the estate.
When an executor or personal representative determines that estate property should be sold, the objective is not simply to place the property on the market.
The process should begin by understanding the estate. We help evaluate practical issues such as:
- Current property condition
- Estimated market value
- Existing mortgages and liens
- Carrying costs
- Insurance
- Property taxes
- Occupancy
- Rental income, if applicable
- Deferred maintenance
- Personal property remaining in the home
- Potential repairs or improvements
- Timing considerations
- Market conditions
- Liquidity needs of the estate
- Beneficiary expectations
- The anticipated sale process
Where probate procedures, court approval, confirmation, notices or other legal requirements apply, those issues should be determined with qualified estate counsel.
Our focus is the property itself and the financial decisions surrounding it.
Real estate you did not purchase and may never have managed.
Trustees frequently inherit responsibility for real estate they did not purchase and may never have managed.
A trust may own:
- A longtime family residence
- Rental homes
- Apartment buildings
- Commercial property
- Vacation property
- Undeveloped land
- Properties held through LLCs or partnerships
A trustee may therefore face an immediate series of decisions.
- Should the property remain in the trust?
- Should it continue producing income?
- Does it require professional management?
- Should it be repaired?
- Should it be refinanced?
- Should it be distributed to a beneficiary?
- Should it be sold?
- If there are multiple beneficiaries, are their economic interests aligned?
ARH Global Advisors helps trustees organize and evaluate those questions while coordinating, when appropriate, with the trust’s attorney, CPA, investment adviser, property manager and other professionals.
The objective is to move from “The trust owns a property” to a clearly considered strategy for what should happen to that asset.
Being named executor does not automatically make someone a real estate expert.
Yet an executor may suddenly become responsible for securing, maintaining, evaluating and potentially selling one of the estate’s largest assets.
We can assist with the practical real estate component of that responsibility, including:
- Initial property assessment
- Market analysis
- Property security and access considerations
- Identifying immediate maintenance concerns
- Vendor coordination
- Property cleanout and preparation
- Repair and improvement analysis
- Brokerage strategy
- Marketing considerations
- Offer evaluation
- Transaction coordination
- Communication with the estate’s professional team
For executors who live outside the property’s market, having experienced local real estate coordination can be particularly important.
The executor remains the fiduciary. Estate counsel remains responsible for legal advice. We help manage and advise on the real estate component of the process.
Wealth and responsibility at the same time.
Receiving an inherited property can create wealth and responsibility at the same time.
- A beneficiary may inherit a property outright.
- Several siblings may inherit together.
- A property may remain in trust.
- One beneficiary may want to keep the property while another wants cash.
- A rental property may produce income but require significant management.
- A family home may carry enormous emotional value but also substantial maintenance expenses.
The better question is:
What role should this property play in the family’s financial future?
We help families evaluate the property as an asset rather than viewing inheritance solely as a transaction.
The valuation method should fit the decision being made.
Valuation affects many estate and trust decisions.
But there is an important distinction between determining what a property might sell for in today’s market and obtaining a valuation required for estate, tax, litigation or other formal purposes.
Depending upon the circumstances, the professional team may need:
- 01A broker price opinion or comparative market analysis
- 02A licensed or certified appraisal
- 03A date-of-death appraisal
- 04An income-based analysis for investment property
- 05A valuation of an entity that owns real estate
- 06Specialized tax valuation
ARH Global Advisors can provide real estate market analysis within the scope of applicable licensing and can help coordinate qualified appraisers or other valuation professionals when a formal appraisal or specialized valuation is required.
The objective is to make sure the valuation method fits the decision being made.
Real estate often creates beneficiary issues that cash and marketable securities do not.
Three beneficiaries can divide $3 million of cash relatively easily.
Dividing one $3 million property can be considerably more complicated.
- One beneficiary may want to live in it.
- One may want rental income.
- One may want the property sold immediately.
- Another may believe the property will appreciate.
- Someone may have been living in the property before the owner’s death.
- Family members may disagree about repairs, price or timing.
Emotional attachment can also influence decisions that are fundamentally economic.
ARH Global Advisors does not resolve legal disputes among beneficiaries or provide legal advice regarding beneficiary rights.
We can, however, help provide objective real estate and financial information that allows the fiduciary, beneficiaries and their professional advisers to evaluate available alternatives.
Good information does not eliminate disagreement. It can make the decision clearer.
A different analysis from a personal residence.
The property may already generate income.
There may be tenants, leases, operating expenses, property management agreements and capital expenditures.
Rather than asking only what the property could sell for, we may evaluate factors such as:
- Current income
- Net operating income
- Lease terms
- Occupancy
- Operating expenses
- Deferred maintenance
- Capital requirements
- Debt
- Cash flow
- Market rent
- Potential appreciation
- Management burden
- Concentration risk
- Potential sale proceeds
That analysis allows the fiduciary and the family’s professional advisers to compare continued ownership with other alternatives.
For larger estates and trusts, this analysis may extend across an entire real estate portfolio rather than a single property.
Not every improvement increases value.
One of the most common mistakes in inherited real estate is assuming that every improvement increases value.
It does not.
Depending upon the property and market, preparation may range from basic cleanout and maintenance to substantial renovation.
We can help evaluate:
- Cleanout
- Landscaping
- Deferred maintenance
- Painting
- Flooring
- Staging
- Repairs
- Cosmetic improvements
- Contractor proposals
- Pre-sale inspections
- As-is sale alternatives
- Investor versus retail-buyer positioning
- Sometimes the appropriate strategy is to renovate.
- Sometimes it is to make targeted improvements.
- Sometimes the economically rational decision is to sell the property as-is.
The fiduciary should understand the alternatives before estate funds are committed.
This can be the central question for inherited real estate.
Hold
Continued ownership may make sense when the property provides attractive income, fits the family’s objectives, has manageable expenses and can be professionally managed.
Sell
Disposition may make sense when the estate needs liquidity, beneficiaries want distribution, the property creates excessive concentration, management is burdensome or the economics of continued ownership are unattractive.
Reposition
Some properties may have unrealized potential through renovation, new management, leasing changes, redevelopment, refinancing or another strategy.
The analysis should consider more than today’s estimated sale price. We may examine:
- Current market value
- Net equity
- Existing debt
- Cash flow
- Expected capital expenditures
- Property condition
- Management requirements
- Market outlook
- Concentration
- Liquidity requirements
- Beneficiary objectives
- Opportunity cost
- Potential disposition alternatives
Tax consequences can materially affect the analysis and should be evaluated by the estate’s CPA, tax attorney or other qualified tax professional.
Investment consequences should likewise be evaluated by an appropriately registered investment professional when investment advice is required.
Our role is to help organize the real estate decision so the appropriate professionals can evaluate the complete picture.
At the intersection of several professional disciplines.
Estate and trust real estate sits at the intersection of several professional disciplines.
That makes coordination particularly important.
Estate Counsel
Counsel may address questions involving:
- Authority to sell
- Trust provisions
- Probate requirements
- Fiduciary duties
- Beneficiary rights
- Title
- Court procedures
- Required notices
- Distribution requirements
- Legal documentation
CPA and Tax Professionals
Tax professionals may address:
- Basis
- Date-of-death valuation
- Capital gains
- Estate-tax considerations
- Income generated by estate or trust property
- Depreciation
- Entity taxation
- Tax consequences of sale or distribution
Investment Adviser
Where sale proceeds or portfolio strategy are involved, an appropriately registered investment adviser may address:
- Liquidity
- Portfolio construction
- Reinvestment
- Concentration
- Risk
- Income requirements
ARH Global Advisors
Our role is to keep the real estate asset and the practical decision surrounding it connected to those conversations.
Rather than asking each professional to solve the entire problem, we help make sure each professional receives the information necessary to address his or her area of expertise.
The question is not simply:
Can the property be sold?
The better questions are:
- Should it be sold?
- When should it be sold?
- What should happen before it is sold?
- What alternatives exist?
- What does the estate or trust need?
- What do the beneficiaries need?
- What are the economic consequences of holding it?
- What professionals need to participate before the decision is implemented?
That is the difference between treating inherited property as a listing and treating it as a fiduciary asset.
Estate and trust property can involve decisions extending from the first days after a death through valuation, administration, preparation, sale and final distribution.
For a deeper discussion of the process, read our cornerstone resource:
The Fiduciary Guide to Probate and Trust Real Estate
The guide examines the practical issues executors, trustees, beneficiaries and families should consider when real estate becomes part of an estate or trust administration.
ARH Global Advisors works with:
Executors and Personal Representatives
Managing real estate during estate administration.
Trustees
Evaluating, managing, distributing or selling trust-owned property.
Beneficiaries and Heirs
Understanding inherited real estate and evaluating available options.
Families With Significant Real Estate Holdings
Coordinating property decisions with broader estate and wealth objectives.
Estate Planning Attorneys
Providing real estate experience and transaction support for their clients.
CPAs and Tax Professionals
Providing market and property information relevant to the client’s broader planning process.
Family Offices and Professional Fiduciaries
Supporting real estate evaluation, management and disposition decisions.
Our philosophy is simple.
Do not begin with the listing. Begin with the asset.
- Understand the property.
- Understand the ownership.
- Understand the estate or trust.
- Understand the beneficiaries.
- Understand the economics.
- Understand the alternatives.
Then determine the appropriate course of action with the client’s legal, tax and financial professionals.
That is how ARH Global Advisors approaches estate, trust and inherited real estate.
Discuss an Estate, Trust or Inherited Property
If you are serving as an executor or trustee, have recently inherited property, or are advising a family with significant real estate holdings, ARH Global Advisors can help evaluate the property and coordinate the real estate component of the broader estate or trust strategy.
Important Disclosures
ARH Global Advisors LLC provides strategic consulting, fiduciary-focused coordination and related services within the scope of its engagements and applicable licenses.
ARH Global Advisors LLC is not a law firm. Alejandro Hernandez III, J.D.’s legal education and professional background may inform his understanding of estate, trust and fiduciary matters, but services provided through ARH Global Advisors LLC do not constitute legal advice, legal representation or create an attorney-client relationship. Clients should rely upon qualified estate and trust counsel for legal advice.
ARH Global Advisors LLC does not provide tax or accounting advice. References to tax, basis, estate taxation, capital gains or similar matters are for general planning and coordination purposes. Clients should obtain advice from their CPA, tax attorney or other appropriately qualified tax professional.
References to fiduciary considerations or fiduciary-focused services describe an advisory and coordination framework and should not be interpreted, by themselves, as a representation that ARH Global Advisors LLC is acting as an investment adviser, ERISA fiduciary, trustee, executor or other legally appointed fiduciary.
Real estate brokerage activities, where applicable, are conducted through appropriately licensed real estate professionals and brokerage entities and are subject to separate brokerage relationships, agreements, disclosures and compensation arrangements.
Market analyses, comparative market analyses and broker opinions are not substitutes for an appraisal when a formal appraisal is required for estate, tax, lending, litigation or other purposes.
Investment advisory services are not provided unless and until offered through an appropriately registered investment adviser pursuant to applicable agreements and disclosures.
Services vary according to jurisdiction, property, engagement and applicable licensing requirements.