House purchase, from the grandparents to the grandchildren

Hello,

the topic has already been discussed, but in our case it is a bit more special and so far I have not been able to find any answers.

Beforehand, I am aware that this is not legally binding and that probably none of you are lawyers.
I am only looking for some guidance. I will have to go to a lawyer anyway - but I want to gather some basic knowledge beforehand.

So here is the situation:

My grandparents are quite elderly and want to sell their property including the house.
They had commissioned a real estate agent who said they would probably get €170,000 for the house and the land.
There is already a potential buyer. But my grandparents have not been able to make up their minds yet. After so many decades, saying goodbye is difficult for them. Therefore, the house has still not been sold.

In the meantime, I (grandchild) have taken a liking to the house. I would like to move in there after modernization.
So we are talking about personal use.

Since my grandparents will probably not live for another 10 years - I of course hope so, but they are already over 90, you naturally have to consider what happens with the heirs.

We definitely want to avoid any inheritance disputes.

For this reason, a gift is of course out of the question for now.
Also, the house must be sold for a realistic amount so that in the end no one can claim that we bought the land below value, right?
I assume that the real estate agent’s opinion is irrelevant here and you have to do something official for that? If yes, who do you turn to, what does it cost, how fast does it go?

Now comes the point that makes my inquiry not comparable with what I have otherwise found here:

For 15 years or more (I honestly don’t know exactly, but it is well over 10 years), I have already owned 1/3 of the house. The remaining 2/3 belong to my grandparents.
Do any advantages or disadvantages arise from this?

If the house is officially valued at €170,000, can my grandparents then sell it to me for 2/3 of the price without the heirs being able to object?
I already own 1/3 after all.

How does it look with the taxes?
I have read that in case of sale (within the family?), with planned personal use, no taxes are due, is that correct?

I am grateful for any advice I can get,

Thank you

Jupiter

ps: no idea if this is relevant, but the house itself is probably worth hardly anything. A lot really needs to be done, especially energetically. But the plot of land with 4000m² is really big. So the value lies, if anything, in the land, not the house.

The best solution is certainly to talk with the other potential heirs and the grandparents, check expectations, and find common ground. How well this works in your situation, of course, I cannot say.

If you already own 1/3, it is fair to set only the remaining 2/3 as the purchase price. It is also fair to base it on a current market price.

It would, of course, simplify matters if your grandparents paid the purchase sum to all heirs as a preliminary inheritance / gift. This way, everyone feels they are receiving something at the same time. From a tax perspective, this only has a positive effect if the inheritance amount exceeds the allowances for inheritance tax. Whether the grandparents want this is, of course, entirely up to them.

According to my information, no real estate transfer tax is incurred for a sale within the family.

Legally speaking, your grandparents can largely do what they want with their property.

Hello, thank you for your response.

Since my grandparents want to take the money to purchase an age-appropriate condominium or at least be able to pay the rent for such a place without worry until the end of their lives, your suggestion unfortunately falls flat. Especially since there has been no contact with some of the heirs for decades.

For me, the only question is whether I can simply accept the broker's appraisal of 170k€ directly and if a purchase price of 113k€ (2/3) is legally sound, or if it is better to commission an expert appraisal right away.

Since I don’t even know some of the heirs (children from the first marriage), I really have no way of knowing what's on their minds and therefore want to protect myself.

In the end, having to pay something afterward because an heir claims that I deprived them of their inheritance would not be in my interest.

Otherwise, you are certainly right, my grandparents can do whatever they want with it. But I unfortunately fear that selling below value will come back to haunt me in the end.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

The inheritance history is complicated. First, the questions arise: how many heirs are there who are eligible, and what is the order of inheritance? Is there already a will? You are initially only a grandchild and not a child of the current homeowners. If there is no (Berlin) will, a portion must already be inherited by the children, even if only one grandparent dies. The rest is inherited later.

Everything is complicated, unless the grandparents sell you the house now!

Make sure you get a proper appraisal, not a broker's estimated price. There are specialized appraisers, if necessary also through local banks. If you know the heirs, ask them if they agree with the appraisers to avoid disputes later. But as long as there is no inheritance to be settled, all others have no say. Once you know the value, the remaining 2/3 share will be sold to you and that’s that.

What’s interesting is that you already own 1/3. If now the unknown heirs receive and want to sell the remaining 2/3, this can end positively or negatively for you. Either you block and only offer below value, or the heirs bluff and demand much more. If no one gives in, there will probably be a partition sale.

So, long story short: proper appraisal, buy directly, and you’re on the safe side.

, Check! That was the plan too, better to get everything settled now and be done with it.

Thanks again for the sentence about the appraisal. I'll see if I can reliably get something like that.

Oh, one more thing. Does the seller have any leeway with the appraisal, does anyone know?
Just because there are compulsory heirs, no one can force my grandparents to sell the house for exactly the determined price, right?!

Hmm, was the 1/3 that already belongs to you the inheritance? Or how did you come by it? Have you already bought it? Or inherited it from another decedent? Then that does not belong in the consideration. And if people want to sell their property, then they are allowed to do so. No matter how old they are – the heirs still have to keep their legs nicely still. You only inherit after the death!

So, to put it bluntly: if your grandparents want to sell their possessions (and that is the remaining 2/3 of the house), then they can do so as they please. And if they then somehow squander the money and nothing is left, then the heirs are out of luck. It is their money, and they can do whatever they want with it.

If they sell to you, then at the usual market value. Then that is a legal sale, the money belongs to your grandparents, and they can do what they want with it. What the heirs want is irrelevant. If nothing is left of the money, then so be it; and that is your grandparents’ legal right. After you have bought at the usual market value, no gift that is a kind of “inheritance in advance” has taken place. No one can then obstruct you.

However, I would caution: if your grandparents receive only about €120,000 for the sale and want to pay for rent for an age-appropriate apartment until the end of their lives as well as moving costs and possibly new furniture that might be necessary, it could get tight. Especially if it is a type of residence, for example, with care/support.

What also works: you receive the house and, in return, pay the rent of the grandparents and commit to supporting them until the end of their lives. There are fixed rates, and if that roughly corresponds to the value of the house (or a part value), then that can be credited, and that does NOT count as an inheritance share! You have essentially “bought” and “cared for” the house or the corresponding share. Advantage: you don’t have to pay everything immediately now, and your grandparents don’t have to fear that the money might get tight near the end of their lives. If your grandparents die earlier than expected, it still doesn’t count as inheritance, as you have made the deal to the best of your knowledge and belief – for you it just gets cheaper than expected (the risk is that they live significantly longer, then you pay for it).

I would consult a competent notary here – but please definitely check beforehand whether the notary is experienced with this. Unfortunately, I had an unwilling or incompetent notary in a property matter and that cost us an extreme amount of time and nerves.