Along with my 5 siblings I inherited a home in Washington state - We own this as 'tenants'. 2 sibling want to sell, the others do not! All of us owners live in Canada. What rights/options do the sellers have if any?

Not sure about Canada but I would contact my attorney and send a letter to the other three saying they have 2 choices; either buy out the interests of you and the other wanting to sell or you will force a sale and split the profits.

Talk to a lawyer in Washington state.

In a case like this, it just takes one of the owners to stop the process and you have 5 people involved.

At least here in California, you cannot even get the home listed without the signatures of all parties.

I would guess your going to have to spend some quality time with the other owners and really pin down what their interests are. See if you can satisfy them so that you can get the go ahead to start the process to sell the home.

R

Robert,
I guess you have never heard of a partition suit. This is fairly common in inherited properties where one or more of the owners do not wish to sell. Those that do wish to sell can bring a partition suit and the judge will most often order the property to be sold instead of a physical split and the procedes split between the owners.

In the worst case scenario the parties can sell their interests in the property to anyone that will buy the interest and the remaining owners will find they own the property with someone they do not even know.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought we could list a home even if only one spouse signs the contract.

You're rights Artiste.

Only one owner needs to sign the listing agreement, but ALL parties must sign the purchase contract.

So of course it is beneficial to have all parties also sign the listing agreement, otherwise you would waste your time marketing, finally accepting an offer, and then be met with a refusal to sign.

That's what I thought until I read Robert's post and that had me questioning the listing rules.
Thanks, Auburn.

Sounds like the court will probably order an agent to sell the property and and attorney would probably split all the proceeds between the siblings.

Let me know if you need an agent wherever you are located in order to sell your property. I will get one for you.

You need to find out What Type Tenancy you have. Several Forms exist. The most common is Tenancy in Common where each may hold different percentages of ownership however it is an undivided interest in the property and the interest may be transferred or inherited. Transferred can mean you can sell your undivided interest and the person you sale that interest to becomes the Tenant in Common. Problem is few people would want to have that type ownership in most properties but it is very common in my area which has a number of vacation resort type properties with that form of ownership and they are sold but until very recently they could not be on the MLS... now they can as can other fractional ownerships.

Joint Tenancy is another form where all tenants have undivided interest and possession and have the right of survivorship. As one tenant dies the other acquire an increased share of the total ownership. A joint tenant can also sell their interest but the buyer doe not become a Joint Tenant they are a Tenant in Common and their share will not increase as other owners die off... until they all die off.

You probably don't have a Tenancy by the Entireties. Marriage laws would have to be very lax.

Other forms of Tenancy also exist but are typically none ownership statuses and possession only statuses such as Tenancy at Will and Tenancy at Sufferance.

If you want to sell your interest you probably can but you need to understand that its value would probably be lesser to "outsiders" than to family. You should consult with an attorney but formal partitioning of the property is not the only way to receive funds from your interest in the property.

The best way is probably to have the property Appraised by an Appraiser acceptable to each owner, and have an agreement that one or more of the others must pay a set percent of the appraised value, generally not 100% of what your percent ownership is... that would be unreasonable in most cases. You will generally have to offer some discount as you would if you sold the interest to a different individual... if you can find one.