You inherited a house. Here is the order things usually happen in.

Who can sign for the house

A house that still belongs to the person who died belongs, for now, to their estate. Someone has to be given authority over the estate before anyone can sign a contract of sale for it. In New York that authority comes from the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the person lived, in the form of a document usually called letters: letters testamentary when there is a will naming an executor, letters of administration when there is no will and the court appoints an administrator.

Until those letters exist, an heir cannot sell the estate’s house, even the heir everyone agrees will get it. A buyer’s attorney and a title company will ask to see the letters before a closing. So the first practical question is not “what is it worth” but “who has letters, or who is applying for them” — and that is a question for an attorney who handles estates.

Not every inherited house goes through the estate. If the deed already named the person who died together with someone else in a way that passes ownership automatically on death, or if the house was held in a trust, the path is different. The deed, and an attorney, will tell you which case you are in.

What changes when there are co-owners

The moment a house has more than one owner, every owner has to sign to sell all of it. One sibling cannot sell the house out from under another, and one sibling cannot be forced to buy the other out at a price they did not agree to. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the conversation among the owners comes before any conversation with a broker or a buyer.

If the owners cannot agree on whether to sell, or on a price, there is a court procedure for it. It is slow, it costs money that comes out of the house, and everybody involved would rather you did not need it. Most families avoid it by agreeing early on three things: whether to sell, who runs the process, and how the proceeds are divided. Put that agreement in writing among yourselves, and ask an attorney to look at it.

A co-owner who wants to keep the house and buy the others out needs a price both sides accept and a way to pay it. The comparison calculator splits every estimate per owner, so the buy-out conversation can start from a shared number instead of two guesses.

Occupied or vacant

If a tenant lives in the house, their lease does not end because the owner died or because the house is sold. A buyer takes the house with the tenant and the lease in it, and prices it accordingly. A house delivered vacant is a different product with a different buyer pool. Neither is automatically better for you; it depends on the rent, the lease and the buyer.

There is a separate page on selling with a tenant in place, including where the official rules are published. It does not tell you how to raise a rent or end a tenancy, because those are legal questions about your specific lease, and that is what an attorney is for.

A vacant house has its own list: keep it insured (tell the insurer it is vacant — a vacancy can change the policy), keep the heat on in winter so the pipes do not burst, keep the water and tax bills paid so nothing accrues against the house, and make sure someone is checking on it.

The date-of-death value

Families are often told to get the house valued as of the date the person died. The reason is a tax one, and it belongs to your accountant or your attorney: they may need that figure later, and it is much easier to establish close to the date than years afterwards. Ask them whether they want an appraisal, what kind, and by when. This page gives no tax advice, and a broker’s opinion of value is not a substitute for what they ask for.

What to gather before calling anyone

• The deed, or the most recent property-tax bill, so the exact owner of record and the address are clear.
• The death certificate.
• The will, if there is one, and the letters from Surrogate’s Court if they have been issued.
• Every lease, and the rent each unit actually pays, in writing.
• The mortgage statement, and anything showing a lien, a judgment, or back taxes or water charges.
• Insurance: who the carrier is and whether it knows the house is vacant, if it is.
• The names and phone numbers of every co-owner, and whether they have agreed to sell.
• Keys, and a note of what is still inside the house. The contents are a separate job from the house and can usually wait.

None of this is required for a first conversation. It is the list of what the first conversation will end up asking for.