A parent dying is always a difficult time. What can make it even more difficult is when you have to deal with what is left behind, like putting a home up for sale. If you are in that position, you want to know some things that will make it easier for you to sell your parent's home after their death. 

Check the Will

The first thing you should do is check to see if there is a will. Your parent might have left it with a lawyer or in a safety deposit box, if you don't know where it is. Your parent may have appointed an executor to handle their estate or left the house to someone in their will. If there is no will or no executor, someone will have to step up and work with a lawyer to make sure that the estate gets probated so that the house can either go to someone in the family or be sold. 

Have a Point Person

If you have a lot of siblings, you may have a lot of trouble working with the real estate agent to get the house sold. There can end up being a lot of opinions as to what the house should be priced at, whether a particular bid is good, or any of a thousand other things. What you should do is set up one person to handle communications with the real estate agent. If there is an executor for the will, that person should ideally be the contact person, but that may not be possible. If there is only one person who talks to the real estate agent, the agent is going to be able to more effectively work for you and sell the house. That doesn't mean that your siblings or other family members don't get a say; the point person can talk to everyone, and then get back to the real estate agent. 

Get the House Inspected

Before you put the house up for sale, you should have a home inspector come in and look at the house. That way you can fix all the big problems before the real estate agent lists the house. Otherwise, you run the risk of having your sale go off the rails because the buyer found something that was too big for them to want to deal with. 

If your parent has died and you have to sell their house, it can be very hard to deal with. Having a place to start can make it easier.