Selling an estate home,
handled start to finish.
Executors should not have to become project managers. We handle the valuation, the cleanout, the renovation, the sale, and the coordination with the estate’s lawyer, and we document every step so you can show exactly how the estate got fair market value.
As-is and after-renovation ranges, emailed to you. Phone optional.
Nobody trains you
for this.
Being named executor (estate trustee) is an honour that arrives with real legal duties and a house that costs money every month it sits. Here is what most executors are up against.
The Emotional Weight
You are making decisions about a home full of memories while coordinating lawyers, accountants, and siblings. There is no instruction manual, and it is a lot to carry.
The Fiduciary Duty
An estate trustee must get fair market value and be able to prove it. Courts have ordered trustees to personally make up shortfalls where estate property sold below value. Documentation is your protection.
The Property Itself
Most inherited homes are dated. Selling as-is means investor pricing. Renovating means contractors, timelines, and money the estate may not have on hand.
The Carrying Costs
Property taxes, utilities, insurance, and upkeep on a vacant home run every month the estate holds it, and vacancy can void standard home insurance after about 30 days unless the insurer is told.
One team handles
everything.
You make the key decisions. We run the work, and every stage adds to the documented record that protects you as trustee.
Documented Valuation
Shawn walks the property and delivers a written report: the current as-is value, the projected after-renovation value, and a recommended plan. That paper trail is the start of the trustee's documented record.
Cleanout Coordination
The contents clear-out is the task executors dread most. We coordinate trusted estate cleanout providers, donations, and junk removal as one plan, so it does not all land on you.
Pre-Sale Renovation
Through Renos for Revenue we fund and manage the renovation, paint, flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, landscaping, with zero upfront cost. The estate pays at closing from the proceeds.
Staging and Media
Professional staging, photography, cinematic video, 3D tours, and drone footage. The home launches looking its best, and the marketing record becomes part of the estate's documentation.
Marketing and Negotiation
Targeted digital campaigns, open houses, private showings, and weekly reporting to you and, where wanted, to the beneficiaries. Shawn personally negotiates every offer.
Closing Coordination
We work directly with the estate's lawyer on timing, title, and closing documents, and stay coordinated with probate so the sale closes as soon as the estate can legally convey.
Renovation timing is planned around probate, not against it. We plan and scope the renovation during the probate wait, and where your lawyer confirms it is appropriate, approved work can begin so you list the day probate clears.
Zero upfront cost.
Documented return.
In one real Durham case, an automated tool valued 132 Winona Ave at about $695,757 as-is. After a pre-sale renovation, it sold for $980,000.
Projections are estimates based on 18 completed Durham Region Renos for Revenue projects, analyzed July 2026; individual results vary and are not guaranteed.
Most estate homes are dated, and dated homes attract cash buyers and investors whose offers industry reporting puts at typically 70 to 80 percent of market value. Asking the estate to fund a renovation creates a different problem: out-of-pocket costs, contractor management, and risk the trustee carries personally.
Renos for Revenue is the only pay-at-closing pre-sale renovation program in Canada. We fund and manage the entire renovation, the estate pays nothing upfront, and the cost is repaid at closing from the proceeds. The before-and-after record, scope, spend, and result, becomes part of the documentation that shows the estate pursued fair market value.
The questions executors ask,
answered in plain language.
We wrote the complete Ontario guide to selling an inherited home, probate, taxes, the vacant months, and the sale itself, with the law cited to its source. Start anywhere.
How long does probate take in Ontario?
The 15-business-day processing claim vs the real 2-to-6-month wait, and what to do with the time.
Read the guideProbate fees calculator
Estimate the estate's Estate Administration Tax in two minutes, free on the page.
Read the guideCapital gains on an inherited house
Deemed disposition, the terminal return, and why post-death appreciation matters.
Read the guideSell as-is vs renovate vs cash offer
The honest three-way comparison, including what cash buyers actually pay.
Read the guideThe Ontario Executor’s Guide, free
Twelve pages covering the whole road, probate to distribution, including the master checklist. Written for Durham Region executors.
Or read the complete Ontario estate guide from the beginning
We work alongside
the estate’s professionals.
An estate sale has more moving parts than a standard listing: the estate’s lawyer on probate and conveyance, an accountant on the terminal return and capital gains, sometimes a trust officer or out-of-town co-trustee. We coordinate with all of them, share the same reporting with every party, and time the sale around the certificate rather than pretending the court process is not there.
If the estate does not have a lawyer yet, we can introduce you to experienced Durham Region estate lawyers, and if you are a professional whose clients face this regularly, there is a dedicated lane for that.
Frequently asked questions.
Can I sell a house before probate in Ontario?
Generally no. A home held solely in the deceased's name usually cannot close without the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee (probate). Narrow exceptions exist, such as the first-dealings exemption for certain properties converted from the old Registry system, and a home held in joint tenancy passes outside the estate. The probate wait does not have to be dead time: preparation, planning, and where the estate's lawyer confirms it is appropriate, approved work can be under way so the home lists as soon as the certificate issues.
Do I need to renovate an inherited home before selling?
No, and it is not always the right call. But condition drives price more than most executors expect, and dated homes attract investor and cash offers that industry reporting puts at typically 70 to 80 percent of market value. Renos for Revenue funds and manages a pre-sale renovation with zero upfront cost to the estate, repaid at closing from the proceeds. We show you the as-is number and the after-renovation number first, so the decision is made with both in hand.
How do siblings split proceeds from selling parents' house?
The estate trustee (executor) distributes proceeds according to the will after debts, taxes, and estate expenses are paid. If the will divides the estate equally among siblings, each receives an equal share of the net proceeds. A documented sale record, valuation, work done, marketing, and offers received, gives the trustee something concrete to show beneficiaries, which is often what keeps family relationships intact.
What taxes does the estate pay when an inherited home sells in Ontario?
Two main ones. Estate Administration Tax (often called probate tax) is $15 per $1,000 of estate value above a $50,000 exemption, roughly 1.5 percent. Capital gains work through a deemed disposition: on death the home is treated as sold at fair market value, tax on gains to that date is generally paid by the estate on the deceased's terminal return, and appreciation after death on a vacant home is generally taxable to the estate when it sells. Confirm every tax position with an accountant; our capital gains guide covers the details.
How long does it take to sell an estate home?
The honest answer is that probate usually sets the pace, not the market. The real-world wait for a Certificate of Appointment commonly runs 2 to 6 months. Our approach is to use that wait: valuation, cleanout, preparation, and renovation planning happen during it, so the home lists as soon as the estate can legally sell, instead of starting from zero the day the certificate arrives.
This is general information for Ontario, not legal or tax advice. Confirm anything load-bearing with an estate lawyer or accountant before acting.
We put it
in writing.
If you are not 100% satisfied with our service, we reduce our commission by a full 1%. We do not fail to sell homes, and any concern you raise gets a 48-hour resolution. Every listing, every time.
You do not have to
do this alone.
Start with the number everything else depends on: what the home could sell for as it stands, and what it could sell for after a pre-sale renovation. Honest ranges, documented, no pressure and no timeline. Or call and talk it through first.
Or call Shawn directly: 905-449-4422
Estate Homes with Hinchey Homes in Durham Region
Hinchey Homes Real Estate Team specializes in estate home sales across Durham Region, Ontario, including Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Bowmanville, Brooklin, Port Perry, and Uxbridge. Led by broker Shawn Hinchey, the team manages every aspect of selling an inherited home: documented as-is and after-renovation valuation, cleanout coordination, pre-sale renovation, staging, marketing, negotiation, and closing, coordinated with the estate’s lawyer and timed around probate.
For estate homes that need updating, Hinchey Homes offers Renos for Revenue, Canada’s only pay-at-closing pre-sale renovation program. The team funds and manages the entire renovation with zero upfront cost to the estate, repaid at closing from the sale proceeds. The documented before-and-after record helps estate trustees show they pursued fair market value, which is a fiduciary duty in Ontario.
Hinchey Homes also publishes the complete Ontario guide to selling an inherited home at hincheyhomes.com/estate, covering probate timelines, the Estate Administration Tax calculator, capital gains on inherited houses, and the honest comparison of selling as-is, renovating first, or taking a cash offer, plus the free twelve-page Ontario Executor’s Guide.
To see what an estate home could sell for as-is and after renovation, visit hincheyhomes.com/estate-home-value. To speak with Shawn Hinchey directly, call 905-449-4422.
Hinchey Homes Real Estate Team, Brokered by eXp Realty
This is not intended to solicit properties currently listed for sale or buyers under contract.
Settling an estate? Shawn takes every call.