Go Back To Article List

Going Through Divorce and Selling Your House

Posted Tuesday, August 20, 2013

There are some advantages to selling your home when going through divorce. Both parties may end up with profits to start over with their lives. It also may help to make a clean break from your spouse. Once the decision has been made to sell, it is best to be through and follow some simple steps to help make the transition easier.

Work with an expert. It may help reduce your stress to work with a real estate professional who can assist you in making sure that all bases are covered when it comes to selling your home. If you cannot work together with one agent you may need to hire separate agents to represent each party. Your real estate professional will assist you in determining a selling price for your home, based on recent sales of similar homes in your area. This can help alleviate a situation where you may not agree with the other party on sale price for your home. They will also be marketing your home to help get it sold.

Get your home ready to be previewed by potential buyers - Make minor repairs, get rid of any clutter, give the home a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. You will need to discuss with your spouse where the funds for these necessities will come from. If you have both moved out of the home, you can also leave it up to the agent to stage your home for showings. If the majority of the prep to put your home on the market falls mostly on one party, you may need to compensate for the extra effort put forth.

If the market conditions in your area are not favorable to putting the home on the market, your home needs many repairs that neither party can afford, or you are in a situation where you need to sell my home fast you may need to consult a we buy homes investor. Private buyers/investors can typically close on a deal in less than 30 days. This can also help to alleviate the potential stress of costly broker fees, repairs you cannot afford and also being able to move on from your divorce situation faster.

You will have to communicate when the time comes to review any offers submitted by possible buyers. Especially in areas where the market is shaky. Your agent can advise you, but ultimately this decision is up to you and your spouse. Once your home has sold, you will have to divide any proceeds from the sale. The escrow company will distribute the money after paying off all obligations concerning the property and any other debts you chose during the divorce proceedings to take out of the money received from the sale of your home