5 Tips To Help You Sell a Home During a Divorce
You’re Not Alone
The reality of a divorce, even if it’s a mutual dissolution on amicable terms, can be absolutely mind-numbing. In the best of circumstances, it’s miserable. Having to sell a home during a divorce makes it even worse.
The range of emotions is off the charts and it seems like every day there’s only one thing on your mind: Getting through it while maintaining your sanity.
As difficult as it is, no one is alone although it may seem like you’re the only one who understands what it’s like.
It’s Too Common
Statistics show that 40% to 50% of marriages end in divorce. While divorce rates have been on the decline since 2000, there were 787,251 divorces in the U.S. in 2017. While that number seems astronomical, it’s a decrease from well over 827,000 in 2016.
If there’s no way to keep your home after the divorce, the following tips could help you get through it. Remember, as with everything else in life, your mindset toward the end result will do more to help the process go smoothly than any other factor.
Luckily, with these tips from real estate professionals with years of experience can help you navigate the process of selling a home during a divorce.
1. Do Your Best To Leave Emotions Out of the Process
To sell a home during a divorce is very hard. What makes it harder is letting emotions run the show. Thinking toward the end goal and staying as level headed as possible, even if you’d rather not sell your home, will help.
Having a go between to communicate with your spouse can ease the day to day drudge.
2. Selling Your Home Is Business
During a divorce, selling the home is less about two people dissolving assets then moving on to the next phase of their lives.
It’s best for both parties to settle the matter, distribute the proceeds as agreed and move on. Often times, the process gets muddled by less than amicable feelings toward each other.
There are no winners in a divorce proceeding. Resolving to get the job done as quickly as possible will help the process along. Interfering with the process will only result in hurting yourself financially. This is the worst case scenario.
Setting aside the unpleasantness of the proceeding will go a long way to preserving your financial and metal well being.
3. Hire an Agent You Can Both Trust
Hiring an agent you can both agree on to help with the sale is crucial. Don’t hire your spouse’s or your friend to get the sale done. You’re much better off hiring someone neither of you knows or a trusted referral.
This will help with the transparency of the situation and give you peace of mind that the interests of both parties is the primary consideration. Impartiality is important.
4. Be Flexible
The home sale decisions aren’t all financial, either. Divorcing couples have also been known to battle over the little decisions, like improving curb appeal or repainting the interior.
Disagreements over home sale details may give you an outlet to express your anger or need for revenge but all you’re really doing is delaying the process. Often times, the small decisions don’t mean much to the successful sale of the home.
Your agent is a specialist in this regard and you’d be doing yourself a favor by routing all communications with your spouse through he or she. Let your agent take the hassle off of your shoulders when you’re trying to sell a home during a divorce. It just makes sense.
As long as you’ve hired an agent you can trust, you won’t need to be concerned about decisions being made regarding the home sale without your consent.
5. Keep Paying the Mortgage
As long as the home and the loan are in the name of both spouses, both are responsible for the debt—even if only one of you or no one is no longer living in the home.
Failing to pay the mortgage will not only make the selling process more difficult and cut into the proceeds of sale with penalties and fees, your credit rating will suffer. Mortgage lates on your credit report are not good especially if you’re planning of buying another home after the sale.
It’s a good idea to have your attorneys work out an agreement between you and your spouse at the beginning of your dissolution as to the disposition of the mortgage debt during the divorce/sale. That way, it’s perfectly clear who is responsible for what.
This could also include all of your additional debt other than your mortgage. Anything that can be done to relieve the stress of a divorce is time well spent.
If you need help selling a home during a divorce, please call me. I’ve representing many couples in situations like this and can help you navigate it with the least amount of stress possible. Please click here for my contact page.
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This post isn’t a comprehensive guide to all of your options during the sale of a home during a divorce proceeding. Please consult your attorney and financial adviser for all considerations regarding selling your home during a divorce.
