Executors tend to assume selling an estate home works like any other sale, just with more grief attached. Legally, there are three different doors — and which one the estate walks through is decided before the sign ever goes in the yard.
Door one: power of sale in the will. If the will gives the executor authority to sell real estate, the executor can generally proceed without a separate court proceeding. Smoothest path, fewest surprises.
Door two: written consent of all heirs. Ohio law (ORC §2127.011) lets the estate move forward when every heir and beneficiary consents in writing. Two conditions catch people. The sale price must be at least eighty percent of the appraised value — which makes the quality of that appraisal matter enormously. And the path is simply unavailable if any interested party is a minor or has been found incompetent. No exceptions, and no one can consent on a minor’s behalf. A single seventeen-year-old grandchild named in the will closes this door.
Door three: the court-supervised land sale. When neither of the first two applies, the fiduciary files a land-sale action under ORC Chapter 2127 asking the court to authorize the sale. It adds filings, time, and court review of the terms — the court’s job is protecting the estate and its beneficiaries. There’s also a mechanic on this path that surprises even experienced agents, involving when the real estate commission gets approved. That one deserves its own issue — it’s next week’s.
Why this matters on day one: the door determines the timeline, the paperwork, and even the listing strategy. An eighty-percent-of-appraisal floor changes how you think about pricing. A court-supervised sale changes what belongs in the listing agreement. Knowing the door before listing is the difference between a clean closing and a stalled one.
The practical first steps are the same behind all three: confirm the authority with the estate’s attorney, and get a defensible valuation — because two of the three doors lean on that number directly.
If an estate you’re advising isn’t sure which door applies, that’s a five-minute conversation between me and the attorney — and the market analysis that follows is at no cost, no obligation.
Andrew Howell, REALTOR® | eXp Realty · (614) 632-5733 · andy@centralohioestateservices.com.
Andrew Howell is a licensed Ohio real estate agent with eXp Realty and is not an attorney. This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal or tax advice; confirm current thresholds and procedures with a licensed Ohio probate attorney.
