Selling a home is never easy but nothing can compare to having to sell during a divorce. It may seem hopeless but we are here to tell you that all is not lost. Here, we have laid out exactly how you can sell during this rough patch in your life.
We won’t go into reasons why but suffice it to say that not all marriages work out in the end. For some couples, the day just comes when it’s time to close one chapter in life and move on to the next. It’s never an easy nor a tearless process but, at the end of the day, it is what’s best for both people. Yet, divorce is unfortunately never as straightforward as signing some paperwork and moving on. You see, a marriage is far more than just a legal contract, it’s a merger of two lives—memorials made and material possessions accrued together.
Splitting up who owns what can quickly turn into an emotionally taxing and infuriating situation. You quickly realize that everything has a value, and your possessions must be divided up according to that value. Some belongings—like your great-grandmother’s collection of chinaware—hold more sentimental value. Other things, such as vehicles or electronics, hold actual monetary value. But, for most couples, a house represents the largest asset shared between two people.
Like a marriage, a house is more than just one thing. Yes, it is a property, but it’s also a home where two people spent years together, building a family and a lifetime of memories. For some, moving out and selling a house can be the hardest part of getting a divorce. Even in the best of times, selling a house is never easy. Compound that with the emotional rollercoaster of a divorce and the entire process can become overwhelming. Yet, for others, getting out from a stifling mortgage can be an absolute necessity.
In this article, we will look at some factors that influence the sale of a house during a divorce. We hope to ease your process and get you set up for the next stage in life. If you are ready to take the next step, let’s begin.
Why Sell During A Divorce?
Although emotions tend to run high during a divorce, assessing the values of and dividing up assets—especially a house—is a necessary evil that can throw a whole mess of monkey wrenches into the equation. With real estate, you have to consider the current housing market, the condition of your home, and whether or not you’ll be able to sell before finalizing the divorce. It can be a lot to juggle while also dealing with the emotional sides of a separation.
This seems like more work than necessary, so why bother selling during a divorce at all? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until after the papers are signed and then just split everything evenly? Perhaps yes but remember that not everyone can afford to take this route. Divorces are often expensive and, if you add on the cost of fixing up a house, many couples simply cannot pay to cover it all.
Also remember that, unless one spouse is willing to take on all renovation fees, the cost of fixing up a house will have to be evenly divided between the couple. If neither person can agree, they could be left with an arrangement set by the judge that benefits neither party.
Unlike with life’s other major expenses, people don’t generally save for a divorce. Therefore, when it happens, it comes as a blow to the bank account. Selling their most valuable asset—their home—can help soften the blow and set them up for the next stage in life. Some couples can wait until after the dust has cleared but it’s not always an option.
Not everyone can afford to wait until a divorce is final to sell their house, especially if it’s becoming prolonged. They need money to continue supporting their families and selling a property can quickly fix the problem. This is especially true for parents. Providing for children on a single parent’s income can prove to be a major burden. Unless they can stay with family, one spouse will likely be paying for separate accommodation, on top of the cost for their house’s mortgage. With everything else going on, the last thing you need is more undue stress and unhappiness.
What Does The Law Have To Say?
Selling during a divorce can be tricky for more than just the obvious reasons. While property contracts come with their own sets of laws, divorce adds a whole other layer of legal technicalities to wade through. Each state is different so, if you’re not located in Florida, we recommend looking into your area’s statutes or discussing it with your divorce attorney. However, if you do own property in Florida, you should be aware of the following information.
Under state law, without a settlement agreement already in place, neither spouse can profit from selling their marital house and any settlement agreement should detail exactly how the profits are to be distributed. This is to guarantee that assets are equally split between both parties. This is because Florida law ensures equitable distribution of assets to keep one partner from taking advantage of the other.
This means that, unless you have a settlement agreement already worked into the divorce papers, you will most definitely need to deal with your house before signing. If you fail to take either step, the judge presiding over your case will be left to assess which spouse is more entitled to the profits. This could potentially leave you scant of any money made from a sale.
For more information, we recommend you speak to a divorce lawyer who can provide better details regarding the extent of the law.
Options Besides Selling
We understand that selling your home is another layer of unwanted stress in an already difficult time of your time. To make anything off your investment, you would likely have to invest more into your home. Yet, renovations take time and money that most couples going through a divorce just don’t want to spend. That leaves you with a couple of options.
First, you could buy out your partner’s half of the home. This would make the property entirely yours, exempting it from the process of divide assets. This would require a massive amount of upfront capital that most people do not have. However, if you can afford to do so, you then have the option of fixing up the home and selling it for your own profit or retaining ownership of the house.
Another option is to sell the house “as is”. Selling “as is” has the benefit of being quick and is less expensive than remodeling an entire home. Though, keep in mind that any home listed “as is” will not fetch as much as it would if it were newly refurbished. Also, some buyers may be wary of purchasing a home listed “as is”. Buyers can often assume the worst and be scared off by potential structural damage that would cost too much to repair. This is especially troublesome if you are located in a market saturated by more attractive low-cost prefabricated homes.
For couples with the resources to do so, you can also ride out the divorce, put a settlement agreement in place, and sell your home once it has been remodeled, as discussed above.
Is All Hope Lost Then?
All hope is not lost! Even if you are looking to sell your home immediately but worry about how you will find buyers, we have a solution for you. By going through our service, you can quickly sell your home for a reasonable price without the hassle of going through a real estate agent. Unlike a typical company you would use to sell a home, we work a little differently.
Here at My Florida Home Buyers, we are a real estate solutions company, meaning that we buy homes knowing that they may not be in the best financial or physical condition. We can offer you an honest price for your home, take care of the finer details, and get you set up for the next chapter in life. All you have to do is provide us with some personal information and we’ll take care of the rest.
How Can This Be True?
If it sounds too good to be true, it’s not. The way our company works is that we buy homes in need of some love, take care of any repairs, pay outstanding debts, and then resell them on the open market for a higher price. We offer our clients honest and transparent cash payments upfront, or we can cut a check. This is how it goes.
First, you will need to provide us with some personal details, as well as the details of your house. What is your home address? How many bedrooms and bathrooms does the house have? Are you the current occupant or do you have tenants? How soon do you need the house sold? In what condition is the house?
From here, we will set up an appointment that fits your schedule to come and inspect the property. Our inspection shouldn’t take more than half an hour or so and, at that time, we will walk around, take photos and some video, and make notes of what possible repairs will need to be made. We then take our report back to the office and do some market research. Once we have an idea of your property’s value we will come back with a reliable rate for your home.
It’s important to point out that the rate we give you is a net sum. There are no hidden commission fees and we will cover any closing costs. What you see is what you get. The only time our offer is liable to change is if you were not entirely honest about your home’s financial condition. If at closing we find a few liens on the house, our offer will change to account for the cost of paying those debts.
Therefore, you must be transparent about your current situation. There is nothing to be ashamed of, after all, we are accustomed to working with people going through your current struggle. We’re here to help and we offer the most reasonable prices we can.
What Happens To My Home?
Once you accept our offer, we will take it from there. You don’t need to worry about going through more lawyers, as we will send off the paperwork to a local attorney and get it sorted in no time. Once everything has been drawn up, we can send over the closing papers, have you sign them, get them notarized, and then that’s it; you’ve sold your house! We will pay cash upfront or cut you a check for the exact sum we initially offered.
You don’t have to worry about tidying up the property; just move out and take the next step into your new life. We will begin renovating the property to get it flipped onto the open market. We know that you are already going through a rough time so we aim to make everything as simple as possible. Our goal is to help ease you through this period. Let us know what we can do.
Some Final Thoughts
Going through a divorce is never an easy process. If you are struggling to make ends meet and need to sell your home as soon as possible, it’s not always affordable to wait for a remodel. To keep yours and your spouse’s assets equally distributed, it would probably be best to sell your home “as is”.
Rather than fighting to bring buyers in, consider selling to a real estate solutions company like My Florida Home Buyers. We are prepared to make you a fair offer and can get you set up for the next stage in life in no time. Give us a ring at (352) 519-4512 or fill out our information form online to get set up with an appointment. We are here to help quickly get you through the hardest parts of your divorce.