What should I do with an inherited house in Colorado Springs?

It depends on your goals and on what the house costs you while you decide. An inherited house is never free: property taxes, insurance, utilities, and repairs keep coming, and inheriting one can set off changes in your own home too. Start by confirming the property taxes are paid with the El Paso County Treasurer and the house is insured. Then decide what matters more to you, speed or return. A cash sale closes fast but usually at a steep discount. A well-prepared listing usually nets more if you can afford to wait.

Start with what you inherited and who can act

Before anyone decides anything about the house, it helps to know how it's passing to you. That decides who can sign, and when.

• Through probate. If the house was in your parent's name alone with no beneficiary deed or trust, the court appoints a personal representative who handles the house. See whether you need probate to sell a parent's house and how long probate takes.
• Through a beneficiary deed. A recorded Colorado beneficiary deed passes the house to the named beneficiary without probate. See how a Colorado beneficiary deed works.
• Through a trust. The successor trustee manages or sells the house under the trust's terms. See how to sell a house held in a living trust.

If there's a mortgage, it doesn't disappear, but you may not have to pay it off right away. Federal rules let a family member who inherits a home keep the existing loan in many cases, and once the servicer confirms you as a "successor in interest," it has to treat you like a borrower for information and payment options. A reverse mortgage works differently: it comes due after the borrower's death, and the heirs get a short window to buy the home, sell it, or turn it over to the lender. If the balance is more than the house is worth, the heirs can sell for at least 95% of its appraised value to satisfy the loan. Call the servicer early either way.

If you inherited the house along with brothers or sisters, the decision becomes a shared one. That's its own conversation: see how siblings can decide what to do with a parent's house.

An inherited house is never free

You inherit a house, but it's never free. There are always things you have to do to it, and the costs keep running whether or not anyone lives there: property taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn care or snow removal, and the repairs that show up once you start looking closely.

Inheriting a house can also change what happens to the home you already live in. One client of mine inherited a nice house and decided to move into it. That meant getting her own home ready to sell, and that's where the surprise was. A wet spot in the middle of her living room, which she first thought was the cat, turned out to be a broken sewer pipe slowly coming up through the floor. The plumber's quote was about $54,000. She had to weigh whether she had the mental bandwidth to take on the repair before listing, or sell as-is, with the cost reflected in the price and the quote kept good for 90 days so buyers could rely on it. In the end she put work into both homes, the inherited one less extensively. It was a surprise opportunity, and it wasn't a bad decision, but the costs were more than she expected.

That's why I recommend pricing out both houses before you decide, not just the one you inherited.

What to check first in El Paso County

Property taxes: the El Paso County Treasurer

Many inherited homes are paid off. Among homeowners ages 65 to 74, about 58% own their homes free and clear, rising to 69% at ages 75 to 84 and 82% at 85 and older, according to an NAHB analysis of Census Bureau data. When a home is paid off, there's no lender escrow paying the tax bill. The owner paid the county directly, and after a death, or while an estate is tied up in probate, that payment can be missed.

So one of the first things to do is check the El Paso County Treasurer's website or call the office to confirm the taxes are current. Colorado collects property taxes a year in arrears. In El Paso County, the full payment is due April 30, or you can pay in two halves, due the last day of February and June 15. Late payments accrue interest at 1% per month, and there's no grace period. Real estate taxes that stay unpaid are offered at the county's annual tax lien sale in the fall. The tax lien follows the property, not the owner, so it stays with the house until it's paid.

The Assessor: mailing address and exemptions

Make sure the El Paso County Assessor and the Treasurer have a current mailing address, so notices of value and tax statements reach whoever is handling the house. If your parent had Colorado's senior property tax exemption, it was tied to them as the qualifying owner, so expect the house's tax bill to change once ownership changes. Confirm with the Assessor. See how the senior property tax exemption works in El Paso County.

The deed: the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder

Deeds, beneficiary deeds, and death certificates that change title are recorded with the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder. An empty house is a target for deed fraud, so it's worth signing up for the county's free Recording Notification Service, which alerts you when a document is recorded against the property. See how seniors and families can avoid real estate scams.

Utilities and insurance

Call Colorado Springs Utilities (or the home's providers outside the city) to move the account out of the deceased owner's name, and keep the heat on through the winter so pipes don't freeze. Then call the homeowners insurance company. Many policies limit coverage once a home sits vacant for a period of time, so ask what applies and whether you need a vacant-home policy. See selling a parent's home from out of state for more on looking after an empty house.

Keep it, rent it, or sell it

Moving in

Moving in can be a good decision, as it was for the client above. Plan for two projects instead of one: preparing and selling the home you live in now, and whatever the inherited house needs. Ask your CPA how selling your current home works under the home-sale exclusion, and how a future sale of the inherited house would be taxed once it becomes your home.

Renting it out

Renting can build long-term wealth, but it's a business. Kristen and I have kept homes as rentals over the years, and we've sold one through a 1031 exchange. Before deciding, run the full cost of ownership against realistic rent, set aside money for repairs, and plan for things to break, because it's when, not if. See whether a Colorado Springs home makes a good long-term rental and whether to sell or rent when you move. If you're inheriting along with others, everyone on title has to agree on being a landlord together.

Selling it

If no one wants to live in it or manage it, selling is often the cleanest path. The next decision is how.

Speed or return on investment

When someone calls me after inheriting a house, the first question is about their goals. If you're selling, it usually comes down to what you value more: speed or return on investment.

Speed is a cash offer. You can close quickly, you take whatever cash is available, and you get certainty. The trade-off is price. In my experience, cash offers on inherited houses often come in significantly below market value, anywhere from 30 to 50% off. Verify who any cash buyer is before you sign anything.

Return on investment means going after fair market value and selling at retail. That's the better fit if you can afford to wait a little and carry the house while it's prepared and marketed. The goal is to position the home to sell: price it well, prepare it well, and present it well.

You don't have to abandon speed completely. You can price the home a little more aggressively, for example about 5% below where you might otherwise list, and still prepare and present it well. That often attracts buyers sooner without giving up anywhere near what a deep cash discount would. See how to price a Colorado Springs home and what it costs to sell.

The tax side: stepped-up basis

When you inherit a house, your tax starting point (your "basis") is generally the home's fair market value on the date of death, not what your parent paid for it. Any gain on an inherited house is treated as long-term no matter how soon you sell. So if you sell soon after the death for about what the house was worth then, the taxable gain is often small. If you hold it for years and it rises in value, that later increase can be taxable, and renting it adds its own tax rules.

Because the date-of-death value matters so much, it's worth documenting it. Questions to bring to your CPA:

• How should we document the home's value on the date of death, and does that call for an appraisal?
• If I rent it first, how does that change the tax picture when I sell, and is a 1031 exchange an option later?
• If I move in, how would a future sale be taxed?
• How do selling costs and any repairs we make before the sale affect the result?

See capital gains when you sell a longtime home and whether to sell, gift, or leave a home to your children.

What could change the answer

• How the house passes to you. Probate, a beneficiary deed, or a trust decides who can sign and when you can act.
• A loan on the house. A regular mortgage can often stay in place; a reverse mortgage starts its own clock for the heirs.
• Its condition. Major repairs can tip the decision toward selling as-is or toward a cash offer.
• Other heirs. Shared ownership means a shared decision about keeping, renting, or selling.
• Your own home and finances. Moving in or keeping the house can set off a sale, repairs, or carrying costs on the home you already own.

When to talk with a professional

Sources

• El Paso County Treasurer, General Questions (due dates, interest, liens): https://treasurer.elpasoco.com/general-questions/
• El Paso County Treasurer, Tax Lien Sale: https://treasurer.elpasoco.com/tax-lien-sale/
• El Paso County Treasurer, Property Tax Statement Explanation: https://treasurer.elpasoco.com/treasurer-elpasoco-com/property-tax-statement-explanation/
• Colorado Division of Property Taxation, Senior Citizen and Veterans with a Disability Property Tax Exemption: https://dpt.colorado.gov/property-tax-exemption-for-senior-citizens-and-veterans-with-a-disability
• NAHB Eye on Housing, Single-Family Detached Homes Still Dominate Among the 55+ Population (September 2026): https://eyeonhousing.org/2026/09/single-family-detached-homes-still-dominate-among-the-55-population/
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, With a reverse mortgage loan, can my heirs keep or sell my home after I die?: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/with-a-reverse-mortgage-loan-can-my-heirs-keep-or-sell-my-home-after-i-die-en-242/
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, report on obstacles for homeowners after death or divorce (successors in interest): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/newsroom/cfpb-report-finds-mortgage-companies-create-obstacles-for-homeowners-after-death-or-divorce/
• 26 U.S. Code § 1014, Basis of property acquired from a decedent: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1014
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 551, Basis of Assets: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p551
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p544
• Internal Revenue Service, Publication 523, Selling Your Home: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523