Divorce is hard enough on our emotions, but it can also be tough to sell your home when you are moving away after divorce. Sometimes divorcees have the option of selling the home themselves, or it may be necessary for them to have a real estate agent help them locate someone who will buy their home for cash.
When a couple divorces, it is not uncommon for the parent who stays in the family home to struggle with how to sell a house shared by two people. This can be an incredibly challenging situation if the person does not have a new residence lined up and must find somewhere new to live while selling their old house. While selling a home following divorce may seem like an impossible task, there are some things you can do to make your life easier during this difficult time. Here are things that can help ease the process of both you and potential buyers:
Plan Accordingly
In today’s housing market, realtors suggest that homeowners who are moving away after divorce try to put their homes on the market at least five months before they plan on moving out of the property. This is to allow prospective buyers to have an ample amount of time to choose one of their homes.
Realtors suggest that homeowners look online at their town’s average housing prices and then price the home just a bit lower than the going rate to entice buyers to view it as a good deal. Home selling experts also recommend that, where possible, owners of family homes try to have all rooms painted in neutral colors with additional upgrades such as new flooring countertops/backsplashes in kitchens so that people will be more likely to buy them for themselves rather than for investment purposes.
Selling when you are not planning to move away after divorce immediately can be complicated when there are children involved. Parents may need to negotiate with their ex-spouse about who gets custody of the kids when they are selling. In some cases, parents may even have to interview potential buyers to ensure they will be suitable for their children if they buy the house.
Maintain a Good Relationship With Your Ex-Spouse
Since many homes going on sale in today’s market involve divorcing couples moving away after divorce, the two people involved must stay amicable enough to work together to ensure vital details are taken care of. Having a good working relationship should make tasks such as having children at certain times or keeping up the yard to get the house ready for sale much more accessible.
In some cases, you may have to be willing to work with your ex-spouse to let potential buyers into your home during odd hours or understand if they want to show it to many people at once. Be as flexible as possible, and try not to let disagreements about parenting get in the way of potentially selling your home quickly.
Understand that there are going to be things that startle or upset the children. Whether you decide to sell the house yourself without an agent or hire one for this specific purpose, there will inevitably come when something is not handled precisely how your children would like it. In these instances, it is best to give them plenty of time to adjust and reassure them that you are not planning on selling the house permanently.
Calling the Right People
Many people do not realize that this may even mean calling strangers into their homes if they are willing to work out an offer. Some agents would rather keep strangers off the property and only show it to interested buyers. Still, others would be willing to discuss taking care of an entire sale for the party moving away after divorce without ever setting foot on the property. They understand how much easier this makes things for everyone involved and will even work to protect your interests by placing a lockbox on the door or other security measures. All this is done without forcing a stranger into your home until you have already closed and settled on a deal.
Divorcees might want to try calling some of the people they know personally who have been looking for something in their neck of the woods. Many divorcees are willing to take less than what they would get from an agent if it means finding someone familiar who is willing to give them enough equity out of pocket so that they can save money on commissions and closing costs.
When selling a home, many divorcees choose to use a real estate agent or going directly to potential buyers instead of going through the waiting period associated with personal listings. Whenever possible, it is best to put everything in writing, even if you make phone calls or send emails back and forth. The reason for this is that you want to avoid having too many versions of the truth floating around about what was agreed upon before someone changes their mind.
Getting the Details in Writing
When selling a home significantly after moving away after divorce, it is nice to get details in writing. You can do this with your agent or directly to the buyer by explaining precisely what you expect from them, including how much money they would like waived from closing costs and what other deductions look like on paper. Whenever possible, divorcees know that using an agent makes things more straightforward because there is one less person in the middle when it comes time for negotiations over price and closing costs.
When divorcing for the first time, you will probably need to hire an attorney as well as a realtor. Your divorce may take some time, and during that time, you will likely be renting your home until the final papers are signed and filed with the state. After the divorce is over and you have moved out of your marital home, it can be challenging to separate yourself emotionally from everything inside of it, especially if your spouse’s furniture and household items are left within its walls by your spouse. It can be surreal to come back home one day and find someone else living inside, but this does happen. If this has happened to you before or after a divorce, then do not worry. You can still sell your house without trying to hold onto new memories.
When moving away after divorce, the first step is to contact your state’s bar association and ask them how you should proceed with the sale of your home. It may be that you will need to hire a lawyer or go through the legal process of transferring the title into your name before you can sell it, so this would require some additional fees.
List Your Home as Soon as Possible
The sooner you list your house for sale on the market, the higher chance of selling it within a few weeks. There are many homes available on the market right now because people want to move after their divorce. You will need to list your home for sale as soon as possible if you are trying to avoid paying a realtor’s fee. Most buyers want a house on the market for several days, but there is always someone interested in buying it as soon as they find it online. If you can sell your house fast, then you will not have to pay a realtor’s fee, and these savings could go towards hiring an attorney if needed.
Once divorce proceedings begin, it may become necessary to move out of your marital home as quickly as possible or even immediately, especially if you have children. If your spouse is being difficult and not cooperating with any reasonable requests, then you will need to take action or risk hurting your children’s well-being. In these cases, you may end up selling the home to buy another one in a safer environment.
There are many benefits to selling quickly when you are going through a divorce [and only when needed]: Less time will be spent in a house that was never meant to become anyone else’s. You can sell it before the housing market drops. Choosing between renting and buying becomes irrelevant. Selling it fast may give you more bargaining power over what price you sell. A buyer who needs a place quickly will likely be more motivated to make a deal than those looking at homes at their convenience.
Undertake Home Repairs
To sell your home easily, ensure that you have taken care of anything that needs to be fixed or updated before putting your home on the market. Buyers look for new construction and renovations assigning the place that is ready for them to move into; rather than bank repossessions and foreclosure sales, they will need to fix everything themselves.
Potential buyers also want to know if there may be problems with any part of your house’s plumbing, electrical wiring, foundation, roofing, etc., so make sure you tell them if this may become an issue.
Regular maintenance from a highly reputed local roofer, HVAC contractors, a dumpster rental company, and an electrician can prevent these things from becoming issues later down the line, though, just as an example of the benefit of being proactive. In some cases, you may have to complete some repairs before selling your home just because it is a good idea. It is also vital to look out for landscaping service providers like tree removal companies to promote a good-looking yard.
Hire an Attorney to Get the Title Transferred Into Your Name
It can be hard to sell your house when moving away after divorce if other spouses have an ownership interest in your current house. It would be impossible for you to find anyone willing to buy it without telling them about the situation. The best thing that could happen is if your spouse agrees to sign off on the property so you can transfer the title into your name alone. This way, they do not have any claim on anything inside or outside of the list price of your home. You can refinance it later if you want to get a better rate, but this is based on your equity in the property.
The title transfer is a very important step to take to sell your house. Before going any further, you will need to consult with an attorney who understands how important this step is before making any advertising or listing arrangements. It would help if you also spoke with them about how to go about paying off your existing mortgages together. This includes any second or third mortgages that were taken out and any home equity lines of credit.
There are laws in place that will allow you to transfer the title into your name without having to pay your spouse anything if they agree not to challenge it initially: but only if you have lived apart for more than one year. If kids are involved, you can wait up to three years, but this is the least amount of time required before transferring ownership.
Repainting the Home
One positive step towards selling the house quickly when moving away after divorce is by repainting it to look fresh and new again. You can do this from a distance by playing around with the color combinations to make it look bigger and brighter. This can be a huge selling point for people interested in making their home look more modern or more extensive than it is.
Repainting it yourself is usually a bad idea. You may want to reconsider having your spouse help you repaint the house, mainly if they used to live there as well. It would help if you gave yourself plenty of time to get everything done because allowing others into your house while you are gone will cause unnecessary stress. If you think painting may lead to an argument, then take care of them separately before bringing the paintbrushes and rollers together.
Everything Has to Be as Transparent as Possible From the Beginning
It would help if you let a potential buyer know that you are going through a divorce and that the property will most likely be going on the market shortly. This is usually something most agents have to disclose, so they will disclose it if asked. You will need to be honest with the agent and potential buyers. You cannot hide anything from people showing your home or an agent helping with the sale of your current house. Hiding information from them will cause problems down the line when you go about selling it for real.
People who are unaware of your situation may make poor offers. If everything seems too good to be true, then there may be a catch, especially when making offers at your home. You cannot just choose a random buyer when selecting who gets to purchase the house because it is all in their hands after that point.
As you plan on moving away after divorce, you can engage your home builder to help you hire the best house cleaning service providers for your renovations, house cleaning and repairs. Do not forget to get the best piano movers by hiring reputable moving companies with the help of your neighbors and friends. The best way to sell your home after a divorce is to ensure it is ready for someone else to occupy.
