Need to Sell your Home During a Divorce? 5 Tips that can help
Selling your home during a divorce is everything but easy. It can be difficult dealing with the legalities, the lawyers, and making decisions you never thought you would have to make.
On top of that, you have to work through a wide spectrum of emotions that can leave you feeling lost and confused.
No one anticipates divorce until it happens so naturally there is a lot to process.
Unfortunately, if you owned a home together, this is another issue that needs to be dealt with.
Selling your home during a divorce might be challenging especially if you and your (soon-to-be-ex) partner can't agree on what should happen to it.
There are many factors to consider to ensure that you get the most out of the investment that you made as a married couple.
Many divorced couples are eager to sell because they want to get it over and done with.
This isn't always a good idea because buyers take advantage and you end up selling your house for much less than you were asking.
So what is the best solution? The truth is that each divorce is different and there isn't one single solution. However, there are a few tips that might help during the process.
1) Consider buying the home after the divorce
Some separated couples choose to offer the other person a buy-out and become the sole owner of the house.
This can be beneficial to you because you will have a place to live.
You can also consider renting it out to tenants. In this case, you will have an additional income and you can still leave the house to your kids when you pass.
Renting does, of course, come with its own set of challenges such as regular repairs and maintenance. Bear this in mind when making the decision.
Related Reading: Ugly Truths About Renting Out Your Home
2) Choosing to sell: agree on an asking price
For many divorced couples, however, selling to someone else is the better option.
It also gives both of you a chance to start over without any attachment to the other person (if you don't have kids, of course).
If you want to sell, then you and your ex-partner need to agree on an asking price.
The best thing to do would be to consult a real estate agent and have a home valuation done as soon as possible.
Working through a third party might eliminate some of the conflicts especially since the real estate agent will be offering their expert opinion.
Related Reading: 5 Valuable Tips to Creating a Marketable Home
3) Discuss the costs of selling the house during the divorce
Several things need to happen before your house can be sold.
Firstly, you might need to make some repairs to the house. If you want a good price for it, you can't sell it with broken windows and missing floorboards.
Secondly, you will need to pay realtor and attorney fees after the sale has been finalized. You and your ex-partner will have to sit down and discuss who is responsible for what.
Will you split the costs in half and go 50-50 or will you leave it to the divorce lawyers to include in the divorce settlement?
4) Consider the benefits of a cash offer
The fastest way to sell the house is by finding someone willing to pay cash for the house. They don't need to go through lenders to get approved first.
It saves a lot of time if they can transfer the full amount to your account immediately.
This way you and your ex-partner can move forward quickly whilst still getting a fair price for your home.
You can divide the cash as you deem fit without waiting months and months for the buyer to get the go-ahead from the bank.
Related Reading: What You Need to Know About A Cash Offer
5) Don't make any emotional decisions
The worst thing you can do for yourself is to sell the house based on emotional decisions.
Often during divorces people fight over petty things and seek revenge, thus making poor decisions that they regret later in life.
Rather enlist the help of a mediator or a real estate agent who can give you rational advice especially when it comes to selling the home.
If you and your partner are still on good terms during the divorce then have an open and clear conversation about what you expect. Listen to what they have to say and try to find common ground.
Final thoughts
Divorce is not something that anyone wants to deal with and selling a house on top of everything can be more than stressful.
Take a step back, consider all your options and try hard not to look at things through an emotional lens. It might be difficult at first but with these few tips, you can navigate through the process with a clearer and hopefully more open mind.