SK’s story is very similar to ours. We’ve inherited multiple properties, and choose to sell everything.
This is what I keep trying to explain to you. Nearly all of the people I know who’ve inherited a house with a low tax basis ended up selling it. The reasons vary, but tend to be because they want to settle the estate and the easiest way to do that is to liquidate everything and divide up the cash; or some simply have no desire to live in their parents’ homes because they have lives elsewhere and don’t want to deal with the hassles of maintaining and renting out older homes, etc.
I’m not sure where you get the notion that everyone wants to keep their parents’ homes. That’s not what I’ve seen at all. And Mr. CAR and I are native Californians, as are most of our long-time friends, so have known quite a few long-time Californian families who’ve owned properties for many, many decades. This just isn’t nearly as common as you seem to think it is.
