Sell an Inherited House in Century City

Inheriting a condo in Century City means inheriting a relationship with a building’s HOA as much as it means inheriting real estate. The Century Towers, the pair of 28-story luxury condominium buildings I.M. Pei designed at 2220 and 2222 Avenue of the Stars, opened in 1963 and 1964, and many of Century City’s other original towers date from that same decade — meaning a first generation of owners is now passing units to heirs sixty-plus years later. Cash Home Buyers CA buys inherited Century City units directly from the estate, the trust, or the heirs, and we manage the building’s paperwork ourselves.

Trust Sale or Probate: The First Question

If the unit was held in a living trust, the trustee can typically sell it without court involvement, following the trust’s own terms. If there was no trust, the estate generally goes through probate at the Los Angeles Superior Court’s probate department at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown. Whether that requires full court confirmation of the sale or can proceed under independent administration powers depends on how the will and the court proceeding are set up, and it’s worth confirming which applies to your unit early, since it changes the sale timeline meaningfully.

Why an Inherited Condo Adds a Layer

• The HOA needs proof of who can sign. A building’s management company typically wants a death certificate, letters of administration or a trust certification before it will speak with heirs about the unit’s HOA account, dues status, or transfer paperwork, on top of what escrow itself requires.
• HOA dues and assessments don’t pause during probate. Monthly dues, and any special assessment the building passes, keep accruing while an estate works through court, and unpaid dues can become a lien against the unit.
• Multiple heirs need to agree. When siblings or several heirs inherit together, everyone with an ownership interest needs to consent to a sale, and disagreement about price or timing can stall things longer than the HOA or probate process itself.
• The certificate-of-occupancy date matters if the unit is rented. Units in the original 1963 and 1964 Century Towers, and other buildings from that era, predate the city’s October 1, 1978 Rent Stabilization Ordinance cutoff, so a tenancy inherited along with one of those units may carry different rent-increase and notice rules than a tenancy in a newer tower governed by the statewide Tenant Protection Act.
• An outdated unit competes in a thin market. Redfin’s March 2026 data shows just 30 Century City sales that month at a $2,325,000 median, with a 123-day median time on market — a small pool that gets smaller still for a unit that hasn’t been updated since it was purchased decades ago.

Prop 19 and the Property Tax Reassessment

Under Proposition 19, an inherited property is generally reassessed to current market value when it transfers to an heir who doesn’t move in as a primary residence within specific timelines, which usually raises the property tax bill substantially compared to what the original owner was paying, sometimes for decades under Proposition 13’s assessment caps. Heirs who plan to sell rather than occupy the unit are less affected by the ongoing tax change, but the reassessment timing still matters for calculating what the estate actually nets from a sale versus a rental hold. It matters more in Century City than in a lower-priced neighborhood, because the gap between a decades-old assessed value and the roughly $2.3 million current median is larger here, which means the jump in property tax on an inherited unit that isn’t sold quickly can be substantial in dollar terms even if the percentage change is the same as anywhere else.

Small Estate Options for a Modest Interest

Not every inherited interest in a Century City unit goes through full probate. California’s small estate procedures can let an heir claim personal property below a statutory threshold without opening a full probate case, though a real estate interest, even a fractional one in a condominium, is treated differently than cash or personal belongings and usually still needs either a trust, a small estate affidavit tied to real property where the estate qualifies, or probate. Because Century City property values sit well above the typical small-estate thresholds, most single-owner units here go through a trust or full probate rather than a simplified small-estate process, which is worth confirming with the court or an estate professional handling the filing.

How We Handle an Inherited Unit

We work directly with the trustee, executor, or personal representative, and we’re comfortable with a probate court’s confirmation process when one applies. We request the building’s HOA financials, dues statement and any special assessment history ourselves rather than asking the estate to chase paperwork from a management company. If the unit has been rented out — common for a unit inherited from an owner who moved elsewhere years ago — we buy it with the tenant in place, reviewing the lease as part of our process. If multiple heirs are involved, we work with whichever heir or representative is authorized to negotiate, and structure closing so proceeds are distributed correctly through escrow.

Coordinating With an Out-of-State Trustee or Heir

It’s common for at least one heir or the trustee of an estate that owned a Century City unit to live outside California, since the neighborhood has long attracted owners who bought a pied-à-terre or an investment unit without living here full time. We handle everything remotely when needed — document review, offer negotiation, and signing through a mobile notary or remote online notarization where the title company allows it — so an out-of-state trustee or heir doesn’t need to fly in to manage the sale in person.

What This Avoids for the Family

Renovating a decades-old unit to sell it at retail value means fronting money the estate may not have and waiting months for the work and then the sale itself, on top of whatever time probate already takes. Selling as-is to us means one buyer, one closing, and no separate negotiation with the building over what condition the unit needs to be in. We also handle the city’s $5.60 per $1,000 combined transfer tax and the Department of Building and Safety’s 9A report as part of the purchase, so the estate isn’t managing those details on top of everything else. Recording happens at the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk, and once it’s confirmed, proceeds are wired the same day, which lets an estate close out the property and move toward distributing the rest of what’s owed to heirs without an open-ended wait.

The Same Process Applies Citywide

Probate procedure, Prop 19 reassessment rules, and how multiple heirs need to agree to a sale work the same way regardless of neighborhood. See our page on selling an inherited property across the rest of Los Angeles for that broader picture, and our as-is page for more on selling a unit without renovating it first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need to go through probate to sell an inherited unit?

Only if there’s no living trust. A trustee can typically sell under the trust’s own terms; without one, the estate generally goes through the Stanley Mosk Courthouse’s probate department.

What if we don’t know the HOA’s dues or assessment status?

We request that directly from the building’s management company as part of our process, so the family doesn’t need to track it down first.

Can you buy the unit if my siblings and I haven’t agreed on everything yet?

We can work with whichever heir or representative has authority to negotiate while the family finalizes agreement among yourselves, and we don’t require the unit to be renovated or cleared out first.

Will selling now affect the property tax reassessment under Prop 19?

Reassessment is triggered by the inheritance transfer itself, generally regardless of whether you sell soon after or hold the unit, so a quick sale doesn’t change that underlying rule.

Do you buy units that are currently rented out?

Yes. We buy inherited units with a tenant already in place and take the property subject to the existing lease.

To get a written cash offer on an inherited Century City condo, call or text 424-493-4424.