I feel like I'm betraying my parents by selling their house.
That feeling has a name — the second goodbye. It's real, it's almost universal among the households I've walked through this, and it does not mean you're doing the wrong thing.
A few true things. The house held your parents' lives; it was never the container of them, and selling it doesn't undo a single Sunday dinner that happened inside. The memories move with you. And your parents' hope was never that the house would become a weight their children carried out of guilt — a home kept as a museum nobody can afford to visit honors no one. Most households tell me the same thing a few months after closing: the grief stayed, the dread lifted, and they could finally remember the house instead of managing it.
There's no clock on this, and nobody should hand you one. When you're ready — even if ready is a year away — just call. The first conversation is only a conversation.
I wrote this answer, and I stand behind it. I'm Chris Deutsch, a Minneapolis Realtor (MN #20382264). Twenty-five years of walking these neighborhoods, checking basements, and sitting across kitchen tables from people making exactly this call. I re-check every answer and date it — this one was last verified .
If your situation is more specific than the market, that's the one worth talking through. Email me at chris@lakesarearealty.com.