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Selling Property While Going Through a Divorce

Posted Wednesday, April 22, 2015

A divorce can be a highly stressful and disorienting experience. Aside from having to endure a roller coaster of emotions, there are other matters and obligations that you must address as the situation progresses. This means that despite the fact that both parties are likely not getting along, they will need to make an effort to work together to achieve a common goal. The following are a few tips that will help to make the sale of property in a divorce go smoothly.

Bring the Issue of Selling Property up Early

Once it is clear that two people can not reconcile their differences and divorce is inevitable, they should immediately discuss how they plan to execute the sale of the property held in common. Making the decision to deal with the matter of property early on helps to exclude the property from being a mess to deal with once lawyers start going at it in court. A divorce attorney is typically interested in winning in court, not making certain that the property jointly held by both parties will fetch the best value on the market. Waiting until later does not guarantee for either party how a judge will necessarily rule in the matter either. By setting aside both parties differences to handle the matter before divorce proceedings drag out too far, this will help to ensure both parties get a meaningful amount of equity back out of their home.

Things That Need to Be Done

There will be a list of things that need to be agreed upon and done in a timely manner without a lot of fighting and disagreement holding up the process. Here are a few items to take note of as you proceed with the sale of jointly held property.

• Finding an agent
• Determining the fair market value of the home and a reasonable list price
• Handling any home repairs that need to be completed
• Showing the property to prospective buyers
• Fairly dividing up the proceeds from the sale of the jointly held property and obtaining separate payments through escrow

Once these items get taken care of and the house is sold, both parties should have an agreed upon amount to start over with after the sale.

Getting Help from Others

In some cases, it is simply next to impossible for people getting a divorce to work together without fighting. In this situation, it may be best to employ the help of a friend or two to act as a neutral party. This friend is intended to help ensure that the things that need to be executed actually get done. This works best when the mutual friend agrees to operate without bias towards either party, sticking simply to the facts and pointing out what each party in the divorce needs to do to make the sale of their property happen without problems.

Conclusion

To sell property during a divorce will take a willingness from both parties to get the job done. Although there may be some tension between both parties involved in the divorce, it is critical that they make a reasonable effort to work together to achieve this common goal. If one spouse wants the home and can afford to buy out the other, this is one method for bringing closure to the issue in a timely fashion; otherwise, both parties need to move forward in an agreed upon plan of action as amicably as possible.