Sell an Inherited House in Jacksonville? We buy Jacksonville houses for cash.

Someone you loved passed away. They left you a Florida house — and you live somewhere else. You don't know if you have to wait for probate, who can sign, or how to deal with a property a thousand miles from your kitchen. Take a breath. We do this every week.

• 15+ years buying inherited Florida homes from out-of-state heirs
• 500+ closings, BBB A+ accredited, 4.9★ from 87+ Google reviews
• We close fully remote — you never have to fly to Florida
• Cash offer in 24 hours, close in 14 days (or the day probate Letters issue)
• Family-owned, direct buyer — no commission, no listing, no showings

You Just Inherited a Florida House. Here's What That Actually Means.

You got the call. A parent, a sibling, an aunt. They owned a house in Florida — maybe the place they retired to, the snowbird condo in Naples, the bungalow in St. Pete they bought in 1987. You've been to it twice in your life. Now it's on your shoulders, sitting empty 1,400 miles away, racking up insurance, taxes, lawn service, and a strange sense of dread every time you open your inbox.

The mail is piling up at the door. The neighbor texted about a dead palm frond on the roof. You don't know if you have to clean out 30 years of belongings or where the deed even is. You've never met a Florida probate attorney. And the well-meaning relative who told you "just list it with a realtor" doesn't understand that you can't list a house when title is technically still in a dead person's name.

This page exists for you. For the person handed a Florida property they didn't ask for, in a state they don't live in, while they're grieving, who needs the simplest path from "this exists" to "this is sold and the money is in my account."

We are Byron Buys Houses. Family-owned cash buyer, 15 years deep, 500+ FL transactions, BBB A+, 4.9 stars from 87+ reviews. We buy inherited Florida houses every week — 60% from people who have never set foot in the property. We have the playbook, the title attorneys, the cleanout crews, and the patience to wait through probate without dropping the price.

"Do I Have to Wait for Probate to Close Before I Can Sell?"

Short answer: usually you have to wait for probate to open and produce paper, but you do not have to wait for it to close to lock in the deal.

Florida law (Probate Code Chapters 731–735) requires that title to a deceased owner's home pass through probate before a deed can be signed by anyone other than the deceased. That doesn't mean you sit on your hands for 12 months. It means the right paperwork — Letters of Administration in formal cases, or an Order of Summary Administration in smaller estates — has to issue before closing can fund.

You can sign a contract with us today, before any of that paper exists. We use a "subject to Letters of Administration" contract that locks the price now and waits for the court. The probate clock runs the same whether you have a buyer or not. The difference: with us under contract, the day Letters drop is the day we close. We've already pulled the title commitment, ordered the survey, and parked the funds in escrow. No re-negotiating because the market shifted while you waited.

Florida Probate, Plain English: Formal vs. Summary Administration

Florida has two probate tracks, and which one applies determines whether you wait six weeks or six months. Both live in the FL Probate Code (Ch. 731–735, F.S.).

Formal Administration (Chapter 733) is the long version. Required when the estate's non-exempt assets exceed $75,000 and the decedent died within the last two years. The court appoints a Personal Representative ("PR"). The PR receives Letters of Administration (§733.607) which is the document that lets them legally sign deeds. A 90-day creditor notice period runs under §733.2121. The PR sells the house either via Power of Sale in the will (§733.612(5)) or through a court-ordered Petition for Order Authorizing Sale (FL Probate Rule 5.370). Total timeline: 6–12 months in most counties; Miami-Dade and Broward run on the longer end, North Florida counties move faster.

Summary Administration (Chapter 735, §735.201) is the express lane. Available if either (a) the non-exempt estate is $75,000 or less (rising to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026 under CS/HB 1337), or (b) the decedent has been deceased more than two years. No Personal Representative is appointed. The court issues an Order of Summary Administration that operates like a deed-effective release of title. Timeline: 4–8 weeks. This is the path most older snowbird condos and modest single-family inherited houses qualify for, especially when the decedent died several years ago and the family is just now getting around to selling.

If your loved one died more than two years ago and you're sitting on a $200,000 condo in Cape Coral, you almost certainly qualify for summary administration even though the dollar threshold is below the property value — the two-year rule is independent of the $75,000 cap. Most heirs don't know this. Most realtors don't either. We do.

The Out-of-State Heir Case (We Run This 60% of the Time)

You live in New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, California, Toronto. The house is in Tampa, Lakeland, Coral Gables, Pensacola. Here's how that closes without you on a plane.

Everything goes to you electronically for e-signature. When it's time to sign the deed and closing package, the title attorney sends a closing kit to a notary near you, or schedules remote online notarization (RON) under §117.201. You sit at your kitchen table, video-confirm with a Florida-commissioned notary, sign on a tablet, and the package transmits back to the FL closing agent. They record the deed at the county. Funds wire to your account. Total time on logistics: 60–90 minutes across the whole transaction. Total trips to Florida: zero.

The PR can also be out of state — Florida allows non-resident PRs as long as they're a spouse, sibling, parent, child, or other lineal descendant of the decedent (or a spouse of one). You can serve as PR from anywhere in the country.

Multiple Heirs, Disagreements, and Partition Actions

The single most common friction point in an inherited Florida house isn't probate paperwork. It's a sibling who won't pick up the phone, or won't agree to sell, or wants to "wait until the market comes back."

Florida intestate property (no will, or property not specifically devised) passes as tenants in common under §732.103. Every co-heir owns an undivided fractional share. Every co-heir's signature is required on a deed conveying the whole.

When everyone agrees, we run a single closing where all heirs sign — same contract, separate signature pages if they're in different states. Every heir gets their proportional share wired straight to their own account.

When one heir refuses, you have two options. Option one: we buy the agreeable heirs' fractional shares directly from them. They cash out today; we end up as tenant-in-common with the holdout. Then we — not you — file the partition action under Florida Statutes Chapter 64, including Heirs Property Act protections at §§64.201–64.214 (mandatory appraisal, co-owner buyout right, court-supervised sale). You don't have to be the sibling who sued the other sibling.

Option two: you all sit down with us and the FL probate attorney we refer, and we structure a buyout that works for everyone — often the holdout is just nervous about price and a written cash offer settles them down in a week.

Stepped-Up Basis: The Tax Conversation Most Heirs Get Wrong

The internet tells grieving heirs they're going to get crushed by capital gains tax on an inherited house. They almost never are.

Here's the rule. When you inherit U.S. real estate, your cost basis "steps up" to the fair market value as of the decedent's date of death (IRC §1014). When you sell, your taxable gain is sale price minus stepped-up basis — not the original purchase price.

Numbers. Mom bought the Boca Raton house in 1992 for $90,000. She died in March 2026. Fair market value on her date of death: $410,000. You sell to us in June 2026 for $415,000. Your taxable gain isn't $325,000. It's $5,000. At long-term capital gains rates, that's maybe $750–$1,000 in federal tax, not $48,000.

Florida adds zero state-level tax on this — no state income tax, no estate tax, no inheritance tax. Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed (§201.02) is $0.70 per $100 of consideration ($0.60 in Miami-Dade plus surtax), customarily seller-paid, deducted from proceeds at closing.

One nuance: if the inherited house was a rental and the previous owner took depreciation, some may recapture at sale. Talk to a CPA. For owner-occupied homestead properties, no recapture issue. Nine out of ten heirs we close with end up owing little to no federal capital gains tax.

What a Personal Representative Actually Does in Florida

If you're the PR — or about to be — here's the job. The Personal Representative is the person the FL court appoints to administer the estate. Other states call them executor or administrator. Same job.

The PR's responsibilities: file the petition to open probate; receive Letters of Administration; identify and inventory estate assets; publish notice to creditors (§733.2121); pay valid creditor claims during the 90-day creditor period (§733.702); file tax returns; sell assets where authorized (real estate via §733.612(5) Power of Sale or §733.613/Rule 5.370 court-ordered sale); distribute proceeds; close the estate.

The PR does not personally own the house. They sign on behalf of the estate. Proceeds flow into the estate account until distributions are formally ordered. FL PR fees are statutorily allowed at 3% of estate value up to $1M, sliding scale beyond — and the PR can waive their fee if they're the sole beneficiary, which is common.

You don't have to be a lawyer to be a PR. You do need a Florida probate attorney to represent you in formal administration. We refer one at no cost — most heirs use a flat-fee attorney charging $1,500–$3,500 for straightforward formal administration.

What This House Is Costing You Right Now (Even Empty)

A vacant Florida inherited house bleeds money in ways you don't see until the bills start auto-debiting from the estate account.

• Homeowners insurance: $2,400–$5,500/year on a typical FL single-family. Many policies require notice when a home becomes vacant; standard HO-3 coverage often excludes vacancy losses past 30–60 days. A vacant-dwelling rider runs 50–100% more than standard.
• Property taxes: accrue daily. The deceased's homestead exemption (§196.031) and Save Our Homes 3% cap (Art. VII §4(d), Fla. Const.) drop off when ownership changes, spiking next year's bill under §689.261.
• HOA / condo fees: $200–$1,200/month. Liens attach. Under §718.116, unpaid assessments are joint-and-several with the new owner.
• Lawn, pool, pest, gutters: $200–$600/month combined. Pools turn green in 14 days untended. Code-enforcement fines of $250/day are not uncommon for unmaintained FL properties.
• Utilities: $80–$250/month minimum (a/c must cycle to manage humidity or you get mold; water stays on for plumbing).
• Vandalism and squatter risk: an obviously vacant house is a target. We've bought homes where copper pipe was stripped during the probate window.
• Vacancy fines: several FL municipalities maintain vacant-property registries with $100–$500 annual fees plus code penalties.

A typical empty inherited Florida house costs the estate $1,200–$3,500/month. Six months of formal probate without a buyer lined up costs $7,000–$21,000 in pure carrying expense. With us under contract, that money flows to you instead of evaporating.

What You Don't Have to Do

• You don't have to clean it out. Take the photo albums, jewelry, deed box. Leave the couch, dishes, the boxes in the attic. We do the cleanout — zero cost. Most clients do a 30-minute FaceTime walkthrough to flag what they want kept and overnighted.
• You don't have to fix anything. Roof leak, soft floor, termite damage, hurricane-damaged screen porch, dead air handler. We buy as-is on the FAR/BAR ASIS-7 contract. We don't ask for a credit, reduction, or repair after inspection. The price we offer is the price we close at.
• You don't have to file the probate paperwork. If you don't have a FL probate attorney, we refer one. Some attorneys advance their fee against closing proceeds so you don't pay out of pocket.
• You don't have to chase utilities, the HOA, or the tax collector. We pay all liens, back taxes, and estoppels at closing.
• You don't have to list, stage, hold showings, or repaint. One offer, one signature, one wire.
• You don't have to coordinate with siblings about repairs. One number, in writing. Everyone signs or no one signs.

How Byron Closes an Inherited Florida House in 14 Days (or on the Day Letters Issue)

Step 1 — Tell us about the house. Address and the basics: PR named yet, will or no will, time since death, how many heirs, mortgage status. 5 minutes by phone, text, or form. No pictures, no appraisal, no cleaning required.

Step 2 — Cash offer in 24 hours. We pull tax records, comps, and run title to confirm chain of ownership and liens. You receive a written offer with a clear net-to-you number after liens, mortgage payoff, taxes, doc stamps, and any HOA dues. No mystery fees.

Step 3 — Sign the contract. "Subject to Letters of Administration" or "Subject to Order of Summary Administration" if probate isn't done. E-sign. We deposit earnest money into the title company's escrow.

Step 4 — We sit through probate with you. Our title attorney coordinates with your probate attorney. We pull title, order lien searches, get the HOA estoppel, prep the closing package. By the time Letters issue, we're ready to fund.

Step 5 — Close. The PR (or all heirs in summary admin) signs the deed. RON is fine. Funds wire same-day or next business day. Deed records at the county. Done.

Summary administration: typically 4–8 weeks from contract to wire. Formal administration: 4–8 months — the same as it would be without a buyer, except now you're locked into a price.

Florida Inheritance Law Hooks You Should Know

A few Florida-specific provisions that matter for inherited-house sales, cited from the relevant FL statute so you can verify with your own attorney.

• Letters of Administration (§733.607) — the document that gives a Personal Representative authority to convey real property in a formal administration. Without it, no PR signature on a deed is valid.
• Power of Sale (§733.612(5)) — when a will grants Power of Sale, the PR can sign the deed without further court approval. When it doesn't, the PR petitions for an Order Authorizing Sale under FL Probate Rule 5.370 — usually a 30–60 day add.
• Summary Administration (§735.201) — available when non-exempt estate assets are $75,000 or less, or the decedent has been deceased more than two years. Threshold rises to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026 (CS/HB 1337).
• Tenants-in-Common (§732.103) — when an heir dies intestate, the property passes in equal undivided shares to the heirs as tenants in common; every heir's signature is required on a deed conveying the whole.
• Heirs Property Act (§§64.201–64.214) — protections for heirs facing partition, including mandatory appraisal and co-owner buyout right.
• Homestead devise restriction (Art. X §4 Fla. Const.; §732.4015) — if the decedent has a surviving spouse or minor child, the homestead cannot be devised except to the spouse (when no minor child). Spouse must join any sale.
• Creditor period (§733.702) — creditors generally have 90 days from publication of notice to file claims. Sale proceeds may be escrowed until the period closes.
• Documentary stamp tax (§201.02) — $0.70 per $100 of deed consideration, customarily seller-paid.

We are a cash buyer, not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Always consult a Florida probate attorney for case-specific questions. Citations and thresholds current as of May 2026.

What Sets Byron Apart on Inherited Florida Houses

• We've closed 500+ FL transactions. Not 500 wholesales, not 500 leads. 500 actual closings.
• We don't drop the price. The number we offer at the start is the number we close at. No "the inspection turned up X" surprise reductions in the final week.
• We close fully remote. RON, e-sign, overnight courier — whatever works for your state. Zero travel required.
• We coordinate with your probate attorney, or refer one for free. We've worked with PRs in 60+ FL counties.
• We pay for the cleanout. Estate-sale services, junk haulers, even storage shipping for items you want kept.
• We're family-owned. Byron Johnson personally reviews every inherited-house deal. You will talk to a human, not a call center.
• BBB A+ accredited. 4.9★ on Google. 87+ verified reviews. This is reputation we can't afford to lose.

Can I sell an inherited Florida house if probate isn't finished? Usually yes — you can sign a purchase contract right now contingent on Letters of Administration (or an Order of Summary Administration) issuing. We lock the price today, sit through the court timeline, and close the day the court paper drops. You don't lose the deal while you wait.

I live out of state. Do I have to fly to Florida? No. We close 60–70% of inherited Florida deals fully remote. Documents go out by overnight courier or e-sign, you notarize at a UPS Store or local notary (or via remote online notarization under §117.201), and proceeds wire directly to your bank.

There are four siblings on the deed. Can we still sell? Yes — Florida intestate property passes as tenants in common under §732.103. Every heir signs the deed at closing. We can coordinate a single closing where all four sign separately, or, if one sibling refuses, we can buy out the willing heirs' shares and pursue a Chapter 64 partition action ourselves so you don't have to.

Can the Personal Representative sign before probate closes? Once Letters of Administration are issued, yes. If the will grants Power of Sale (§733.612(5)), the PR can sign the deed alone without further court approval. If there's no Power of Sale, the PR petitions for an Order Authorizing Sale under FL Probate Rule 5.370 — usually a 30–60 day add.

What's the difference between a Personal Representative and an executor? Same job, different word. Florida statutes (Ch. 733) call the person "Personal Representative." Other states call them executor or administrator. If the will named someone executor, that person becomes the FL Personal Representative once the court issues Letters.

Do I need a Florida probate attorney? For formal administration, yes — Florida requires the PR to be represented by a FL-licensed attorney unless the PR is the sole beneficiary. For summary administration on small estates, an attorney isn't statutorily required, but speeds things up. We refer FL probate attorneys at no cost.

What about all the belongings inside the house? Take what you want. Leave the rest. We do the cleanout — furniture, clothes, appliances, the half-finished puzzle on the dining table. Zero cost to you. Most heirs give us a quick FaceTime walkthrough to flag items they want kept and shipped to them.

Can you buy the house if there's still a mortgage on it? Yes. We pay off the mortgage at closing out of the sale proceeds. Equity above the mortgage flows to the estate (or directly to heirs after summary admin). We've closed on inherited homes with conventional, FHA, VA, and HELOC loans.

What about a reverse mortgage on the house? We handle these often. After death, the reverse mortgage lender gives heirs roughly six months to sell, refinance, or pay off — extensions are common. We coordinate the payoff, settle at 95% of appraised value if the loan exceeds value (HUD non-recourse rule), and close before foreclosure.

There's a HELOC and the parent stopped paying it. Will that kill the deal? No. A HELOC is just another lien on title — we pay it off at closing the same way we'd pay off a first mortgage. Even if the HELOC was already in default and the lender filed suit, we close before the foreclosure auction and the deal still funds.

Can a non-PR heir sign the contract? An heir can sign a contract for their own undivided fractional share, but only the PR (with Letters) can convey the entire estate's interest. We typically draft a "subject to Letters of Administration" contract everyone signs, which locks the price and binds the heirs without forcing court action first.

Will I owe capital gains tax on the inherited house? Almost never the painful kind. Inherited property gets a stepped-up cost basis to fair market value on the date of death (IRC §1014). If you sell within months of inheriting, your basis is roughly the sale price — gain is near zero. Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax. Talk to a CPA, but most heirs owe little to nothing.

What if the house is a homestead with a surviving spouse? Florida's constitutional homestead (Art. X §4) restricts devise — if the decedent had a surviving spouse or minor child, the homestead can't be devised except to the spouse. The spouse usually has to join any sale. We pre-screen this on every intake call, so we never waste your time chasing a deal that has a homestead block.

What about federal estate tax? Federal estate tax only kicks in for estates above the federal exemption ($13.99M in 2026). Almost no FL inherited-home cases trigger it. Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax — zero.

Ready to Sell Your Inherited Florida House?

You don't have to fly to Florida. You don't have to clean it out. You don't have to wait for probate to close before locking in a price. You don't have to fight with siblings about repairs.

Tell us the address, where probate stands, and how many heirs are involved. Written cash offer in your inbox in 24 hours, with a clear net-to-you number and a closing path that fits whichever FL probate track applies. If you've got a probate attorney, we work with them. If you don't, we refer one at no cost.

Call Byron at 951-331-3844, text the address, or fill out the offer form.

Related reading: Florida probate sales, Florida divorce sales, we buy houses in Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami inherited-house, Tampa inherited-house, Florida condos, single-family homes, or start with a fair cash offer.