How to Sell an Inherited House in Pennsylvania

By Alex Buys Homes·Published Sep 29, 2026·11 min read

Inheriting a house often comes at the worst possible time. You’re grieving, and suddenly there are keys, bills and relatives asking what happens next. Before anyone can sell, Pennsylvania law settles who may sign, which taxes are owed and what happens if the family disagrees.

This guide answers each of those questions with the rules in effect as of September 2026. If speed is your main goal, our shorter post on the quickest way to sell a house you inherit covers that angle.

Who has the legal authority to sell an inherited house in Pennsylvania?

Legal title passes to the heirs, or to the people named in the will, at the moment of death, but “subject to” the representative’s powers (20 Pa.C.S. § 301). During the estate, the representative can take possession (unless an heir already lived there with the owner’s consent), collect rent and spend what is reasonably needed to preserve the house (20 Pa.C.S. § 3311).

Letters go to the executor named in the will. When there is no executor to appoint, letters of administration follow a priority list: those who inherit the rest of the estate under a will, if there is one, then the surviving spouse, then other heirs (20 Pa.C.S. § 3155). The Register that grants them is in the county of the person’s last family or principal residence, which may not be where the house is (§§ 3131, 3151).

Check the deed first. If the person owned the home with someone else as joint tenants with right of survivorship, or with a spouse as tenants by the entireties, the survivor takes it and the estate may have nothing to sell (PA Personal Income Tax Guide). An attorney can confirm this from the recorded deed.

What are the steps to sell an inherited house in Pennsylvania?

1. Find the will and the deed. The deed shows how the house was owned. The will shows who inherits it and whether it limits the power to sell.
2. Open the estate with the Register of Wills and receive letters.
3. Give notice. The representative advertises the letters once a week for three successive weeks and notifies beneficiaries and heirs in writing within three months. Our guide to selling a house in probate covers the full timeline.
4. Protect the house. Keep insurance, utilities and mortgage payments current. On a home with fewer than five units, federal law bars a lender from calling a loan due just because the home passed to a relative at the borrower’s death (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3), but the payments still have to be made.
5. Get a date-of-death value. An appraisal supports the inheritance tax return and your tax basis. The IRS says heirs who didn’t receive a federal estate tax value statement (Schedule A of Form 8971) can use the appraised date-of-death value used for state inheritance tax (IRS Publication 551).
6. Choose how to sell from the options below.
7. Close and wrap up. Liens are paid from the proceeds; the representative then pays the estate’s debts and taxes and distributes the rest.

How much is Pennsylvania inheritance tax on a house?

The tax applies to the value each heir receives, after deducting the person’s debts, funeral costs and the costs of running the estate, such as attorney and executor fees. The executor or administrator files the return within nine months of the death with the Register of Wills of the county where the person lived. A home a married couple owned jointly is exempt; a home owned jointly with anyone else is taxed on the deceased owner’s share (REV-584). The 4.5% rate for sons- and daughters-in-law comes from the inheritance tax law itself (Tax Reform Code § 2116).

Can you sell the house before the inheritance tax is paid?

Yes, but the tax still has to be settled. Pennsylvania inheritance tax, plus any interest, is a lien on the real estate until it is paid in full (Tax Reform Code § 2167). When the executor or administrator sells, having posted any bond the law requires, the lien on the property sold ends (§ 2170), and the estate pays the tax from its funds. If the heirs sell after the house is deeded to them, the lien stays with the property until the tax is paid, so expect it to come up at settlement.

Do all heirs have to agree to sell property in PA?

The exceptions come from Chapter 33 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code:

• The will restricts the sale. The representative then needs an order from the Orphans’ Court division of the county where letters were granted (§ 3353).
• The house is left to named people. They must join in the sale, or the court must approve it (§§ 3351, 3353).
• An heir objects. Anyone with an interest in the estate can ask the court to stop a sale that relies on the statute rather than a power written into the will (§ 3355).

After the house is deeded to several heirs, any co-owner who can’t get the others to agree can file an action for partition in the county where the property is (Pa.R.C.P. 1552–1553). If the court finds the property can’t be divided without spoiling the whole, it is first offered for sale among the co-owners. Co-owners who were sued and hold a majority in value can instead keep it by paying the others their shares at the court’s valuation. Otherwise the court orders a public or private sale, and it can credit or charge each owner for taxes paid and use of the property (Pa.R.C.P. 1563, 1566, 1568, 1570).

Partition is a lawsuit, with the time and fees that come with one, so consider a buyout or a written sale agreement among the heirs first.

How is inherited property taxed when sold in PA?

• Federal income tax. Your basis is generally the fair market value at death, or on the alternate valuation date if the estate chooses it (IRS Publication 551). Inherited property counts as held for more than one year, so any gain is long-term (IRS Publication 544). The gain is the sale price minus selling expenses and your basis.
• Pennsylvania income tax. Pennsylvania taxes net gains at 3.07% (PA tax rates). It uses the date-of-death value as your basis but not the federal six-month alternate date, and it gives no step-up for a home received as a surviving joint tenant or by a surviving spouse who held it as tenants by the entireties (PA Personal Income Tax Guide). The inheritance itself isn’t Pennsylvania taxable income (REV-584).
• Home-sale exclusion. The federal exclusion of up to $250,000 of gain requires that you owned and lived in the home for two of the five years before the sale (IRS Publication 523), so an heir who never lived there usually won’t qualify. Pennsylvania says an estate can’t claim its exclusion either.
• Realty transfer tax. The state charges 1% of the value, local governments can add their own, and buyer and seller are jointly liable (PA realty transfer tax). A deed from the estate to an heir for no or nominal payment is excluded (61 Pa. Code § 91.193); a sale to an outside buyer is taxed. See our Pennsylvania realty transfer tax guide.

What are your options for an inherited house?

You can keep it, rent it out, list it with an agent or sell it as-is for cash. The right choice depends on the home’s condition, its monthly costs, the number of heirs and the estate’s timeline.

An executor selling while administering the estate is exempt from Pennsylvania’s seller disclosure form (68 Pa.C.S. § 7302). Heirs who later sell to an outside buyer are not.

If the house is in good condition, the estate can carry it for a few months and the heirs want top dollar, listing will likely bring more. Agent fees are negotiable in Pennsylvania and must be set out in a written agreement (49 Pa. Code § 35.336).

A cash sale makes more sense when the house needs work the estate can’t fund, when heirs want one firm closing date, or when nobody nearby can handle showings. Be clear-eyed about price: we start from what the house would be worth after repairs and subtract repair, holding and selling costs and our profit, as How It Works explains. Our guides on how we calculate your cash offer, cash buyer vs. listing with an agent and how to tell if a cash buyer is legit help you compare.

Where do you open an estate in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos?

At the Register of Wills in the county where the person who died last lived. Each office handles probate and collects Pennsylvania inheritance tax for the state. Lehigh County’s office notes that its staff can’t advise you on estate filings and suggests an attorney.

We buy inherited houses across the region, including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Emmaus and Stroudsburg. When you’re ready, request a cash offer and compare it with what listing would bring.