inherited a share in our family house through an old, unregistered family settlement

You can sell your share. A co-owner doesn't need the consent of the other family members to transfer their own share in jointly held property — that right exists independently, and it doesn't disappear just because the property hasn't been physically divided. Where it gets more complicated is what the buyer is actually getting. Since no formal partition by metes and bounds has happened — no boundary walls, no separate physical portions handed over — the property is still, in the eyes of the law, held in joint possession, even though your share is clearly recorded on paper and in the tax rolls. That means the buyer steps into your shoes as a co-owner with the right to joint possession and the right to seek partition, but they can't walk in and take exclusive control of a specific physical portion the day the sale deed is registered. If they want that, they'll likely need to pursue a partition suit themselves afterward. None of that makes the sale invalid, though. Under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, a sale is legally complete once the deed is registered, consideration is paid, and title transfers — physical possession is a separate matter, not a precondition. Selling "as is where is," with the buyer taking on the responsibility of securing possession himself, doesn't turn this into a conditional sale either; it's simply an allocation of risk that both sides are agreeing to upfront, and it's worth spelling that out clearly in the deed itself, along with the fact that your brother is currently occupying the property — disclosing that plainly protects you from a concealment claim later. Your brother's occupation is a separate issue from his rights as a co-heir. Because the property came to you through intestate succession, Section 22 of the Hindu Succession Act gives co-heirs a preferential right to buy a departing heir's share before it goes to an outsider. That's a real right, not just a formality — but it isn't a right to name whatever price he likes. The correct approach is to give him a genuine, written offer at a fair market price first. If he doesn't accept within a reasonable window, you're free to proceed with the outside buyer. His physical presence in the property doesn't extend that preferential right any further than the statute already gives him, and it doesn't force you to accept a below-market offer just because he's the one living there. You don't need an agreement to sell before the final sale deed — there's no legal requirement for that intermediate step, and you can go straight to a registered sale deed once terms are settled with your buyer. Just make sure the deed references the compromise decree as the source of your title, states clearly that possession will be taken by the buyer independently, and discloses your brother's occupation rather than staying silent on it.