Selling your home doesn’t need to be.
Going through a divorce brings on extreme emotions, and having to deal with selling a home is one of the last things you want. Having represented sellers going through this painful process and moving on from divorce myself I’m incredibly sensitive to those forced to navigate through the sale of a family home. I work diligently to take the burden of the home sale off their plate as much as possible.
I try to teach people to think with their brain not their heart. This is a business decision, and the decisions you make now will affect your future. How you rebound from this divorce is directly related to the decisions you make when you are in the divorce. In many of contentious divorces the marital home can become a source of revenge, strife and sometimes financial ruin. That once important financial asset to the couple now becomes a chess piece.
The sale of a house usually comes because one of the two involved can’t afford it. The same income that went to support one household is now going to two households, and the cost of divorce can be outlandish.
The cost isn’t limited to lawyers’ fees. One spouse has to find new furniture. You no longer qualify for your cell phone’s family plan. Someone has to find a health insurance plan. The list goes on and on, and the expenses can pile up.
Some sage advice…
Take care of yourself
Through all the court dates, the doubts and the anger, self-care will become very important. You need your strength and best wits about you. You also need to believe that your best days are ahead.
Believe that this too shall pass. For me to have a client call me two or three years later, I sometimes don’t’ even recognize them as a person. All that toxic hell they were living through is over.
Don’t be married to the house
Don’t remain married to the mortgage. If one person can’t refinance the mortgage, then sell the property.
You are paying a lawyer to be smart for you, but some lawyers and even judges think that if you sign off on the title then you are signing off on the mortgage. That is not true.
Don’t sabotage your own profits
Many times, one spouse does not want to sell the house, but there is a court order to do so. That anger causes the devil to come out and ruin parts of the house – or they sabotage an open house by not keeping the house clean.
Hire a stager
The showing condition of the house is very important. A lot of times in a divorced house, there is deferred maintenance, and no one can afford or has the energy to fix things. The house is the number one form of capital in most marriages.
Many times, the couple ends up needing every penny they can get out of the house. I rarely put a house on the market if it isn’t staged to look it’s best – it can facilitate the sale, and as an Accredited Home Stager, I offer this service to my clients.
Take everything when you move out
If you are the spouse moving out of the house, take everything with you right away. Don’t necessarily think you will go back without a court order. If someone is thinking of divorcing and thinking of leaving, take everything that is yours with the anticipation that you aren’t going back. Many times the spouse comes back to get their stuff and the locks are changed, alarms are on, dogs are bought.
Make copies of everything
Before you leave the house, make copies of all the tax returns, financial bank statements, and anything else you think could be important in the selling of the house.
Hire a real estate person familiar with divorce knowledge
It is imperative that your real estate agent establish neutrality with both sides of the couple. My goal is to remove any bias, position the home in its best light, cast a wide net to identify buyers, and sell the home for the maximum value in the least amount of time. Need some assistance? Click here to get started today.