6 Tips From Real Estate Agents Specializing in Divorce

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2. ‘Fighting about the home sale will cost you both time and money.’

When it comes to dividing assets, the marital home is often one of the most valuable assets. But, whereas bank accounts and 401k’s can literally be split in half, that’s a lot more tricky to do with a home.

Contention and disagreements about the best way to move forward are all but inevitable. Some of the most frequent arguments include:

• Whether to sell the home and split the proceeds, or have one person keep the home and buy out the other
• If one person is buying out the other, whether there are enough other assets to cover the equity owed to the person moving out or if there needs to be a cash-out refinance
• If the home was purchased prior to the marriage, how the equity balance should be determined where it isn’t equal
• If selling, trying to figure out which repairs and upgrades to make, and who’s going to pay for them
• If selling, agreeing on which offer to accept or which buyer concessions to make

Whatever the issue, neither party wins in the long run when you and your spouse fight about the home sale.

“Just remember that every argument and disagreement during the divorce is costing you money. A lot of times, only one spouse is giving me 100% effort and the other party is working against us,” says Fore.

“And if one spouse is fighting the home sale every step of the way, the divorce attorney may need to get a court order to move the home sale forward — which will cost you.”

Every time your divorce attorney needs to negotiate one of these little skirmishes, they’re going to charge you — which adds up fast at an average rate of $312 an hour.

But maybe your spouse is the one paying the divorce attorney, so you’re only too happy to rack up the bills. Well, if your spouse can prove that you’re purposely dragging out the home sale to delay the divorce, the court may order you to pay your ex’s attorney fees.

3. ‘Accept what the numbers are telling you when you get an offer.’

A spouse determined to finalize the divorce as swiftly as possible may do anything to get the home sold — including accepting any lowball offer that comes along.

However, just because an offer isn’t quite as high as you expected doesn’t mean it’s a bad offer — and turning it down may not be the smart play.

Instead of worrying about why your ex wants to accept or turn down an offer, you need to do the math and let the numbers tell you what to do.

“When the couple is determined to disagree over an offer, we go through the numbers very carefully,” explains Fore. “For example, if it’s less than one party wants, we talk about what it’s going to cost to hold onto the house if we don’t take the offer that we have on the table. If they continue to fight each other, that’s not going to give them a financial advantage in the long run.”

In some cases, it may even make sense to pursue cash offers at a lower-than-market value in order to sell your home fast.

HomeLight’s Simple Sale can help you receive a cash offer in 24 hours and avoid the potential disagreements and strain that the home-selling process may add to an already stressful divorce.

4. ‘Only one spouse should remain living in the house when you’re trying to sell.’

If you’ve read the book or watched the film based on the Warren Adler story “The War of the Roses,” you know that living with your spouse while you’re in the midst of a divorce is a terrible idea that’s practically guaranteed to end badly.

It’s 10 times worse when that divorcing couple is engaged in a battle royale over the sale of their home.

“The home sale is always smoother when both spouses can agree that the house is going to show better and sell quicker if one party has already moved out,” advises Fore. “Because, if the spouse currently living in the house doesn’t want to do anything to get it ready to list, selling the home becomes that much more difficult.”

There are multiple reasons for having only one spouse live in the home during the sale:

• The person with more at stake (if any) can remain to ensure the sale goes smoothly
• Scheduling showings is significantly easier with only one person
• The agent has one point of contact for small decisions about repairs and improvements

However, just because it’s best that one spouse moves out doesn’t mean that you should both vacate the property.

There are multiple reasons not to sell the house while it’s vacant:

• Vacant houses are typically harder to sell
• They receive lower offers because the rooms look smaller than they actually are
• You may have to pay for special vacant home insurance as empty properties attract crime