Has anyone been in this kind situation? How did things work out?
Supporting information: no money inherited in CH (a few thousand francs in the deceased’s bank account).
Thank you in advance.
Inherited mortgaged property from father in Vaud following his death nearly three years ago. Three siblings inherited the property. None of the siblings are Swiss or residents in Switzerland. One in France, one in UK & one living in both Japan and Canada. The one in UK will go along with the majority decision regarding the property. The one in France is ready to sell. The one in Canada/Japan is undecided regarding selling, renting out or keeping the property.
Can the undecided sibling buy out the other two? A community of heirs (rental, keeping) is often complicated by agency costs, taxation etc. – not a viable long-term solution IMO. Unless you have a special connection to the property/country and can’t foresee issues between those involved, I’d recommend selling off.
Good luck. I know the problem.
"The one in Canada/Japan is undecided regarding selling, renting out or keeping the property."
And who is going to managed?
My advice: sell the property
The problem with these situations is that every sibling has veto power on every decision, usually it's best to sell it off. If it has sentimental value and is to be sold internally, you could use either an external offer or an ordered valuation (we got two done) as the price base.
It was always our parents' wish and aim to keep ours/theirs in the family, so it got sold to one of the grandchildren at 15% rebate. However, a rebate among the siblings may be a bad idea, it will probably be brought up later on if there's conflict.
This is an emotional and a rational decision.
For the emotional part, each person needs to examine questions such as, for example: Did I love my father and do I feel that he loved me? Does it matter to me what he would have wanted (if I even know this)? Do I love that house and does it hold happy memories for me? Are there things now left or stored in the house that I would like to fetch and own, where I now live? Do I imagine ever wanting to "go home" to live in that house, because it is just right for me? Would I like one last chance to have a holiday there and take photos, before I could say good-bye? Do I want the house to be preserved for my children?
For the rational part, draw up a financial plan for the options of sell, now, as is sell, later (for example if someone still wants to have a last holiday in the house, or wants the chance to fetch things from there), including the cost of the delay sell, only after having renovated rent out as is, with no fixing-up (if, indeed, the house is in a good enough condition for tenants) rent out only after having renovated.
Into both sets, consider the a factors labour : who is going to make all these enquiries, about which costs will be incurred with which options, or supervise work done on the house financing : who is going to put up any money needed, if you choose the course of renovations. time : who may need a decision to be taken slowly or quickly, and why and how the siblings will compensate each other - should they want or need to be compensated - for doing the work or putting up the finances or causing the delay or speeding things up.
Finally, decide whether there is a point at which, no matter what the other two siblings want or don't want, it would be better just to walk away.
Shouldn't the legal aspect be checked, like are the heirs Swiss, are they allowed to owe/rent out property in Switzerland if they don't live here?
However, should you want to sell, here's a website about calculating prices.
Thank you all for your responses. I really do appreciate the thoughtful replies.
The undecided heir was thinking about buying out the other two heirs, but the bank is not enthusiastic to deal with someone living between Canada & Japan. Their first question is ‘tell us first where you reside officially/fiscally.’ So there was not much enthusiasm on either side to pursue a discussion. The bank basically said that clients based in North America, Japan & UK are very complicated to deal with for a Swiss bank right now.
There is indeed some sentimental feelings for the property. Full disclosure, I am the french based party & have been dealing with the property thus far. Add in Covid & there is not much enthusiasm for everyone to come over to Switzerland and deal with everything once and for all.
So I guess I was just wanting to know if there is light at the end of the tunnel! But thank you again for the replies.
Can you rent it out until you've come to a decision?