If you’re in the process of a difficult divorce and working to figure out what to do with the property that you own together, then keep reading below for our tips on selling your house while divorcing in Lancaster…
Divorces are often difficult and trying times for everyone involved, both emotionally and often times financially. If you own a house with your ex, you’re not along in wondering what to do with likely one of your largest marital assets…your house.
Selling a House During a Divorce
Typically, if there is not a prenuptial agreement in play, the martial assets are split 50/50 in most states. That can be straightforward for some assets, but for things like real estate, vehicles and other non-liquid assets it can be trickier.
Since you can’t just cut a house down the middle and each decide what you’d like to do with your half, you’ll need to have a frank and hopefully amicable conversation with your ex about what to do. If one of your really wants to keep it they can potentially buy the other one out for fair market value. That said, often spouses can’t afford the house by themselves, so the property needs to be sold.
Sell it to Split it
One of the only ways to “split” the house up is to sell it outright.
The house may have some expenses incurred during the sales process, or there might be outstanding bills, or there might still be a partial outstanding mortgage on the property. So the two divorcing parties should probably just sell the property and direct their attorneys to apply the money earned from the equity to any outstanding debts.
What’s left over can be split between you and your ex at whatever split is agreed to (half and half or otherwise).
But before you can do this, you need to figure how you’re going to sell. This can be a point of contention as well, so make sure that you know all of your options and decide together what is the best path forward.
What’s the Quickest Way to Sell a House During a Divorce?
When looking at options of how to sell, many times folks only consider listing the house via a Lancaster real estate agent. However, there are some drawbacks to going that route. First, the agent will often want you to fix up an issues at the property before you list. This again comes back to who is going to pay for that out upfront? Next, the house can often take months to sell and depending on the situation, often times the parties can’t wait that long to get their proceeds. Finally, the process of listing the house is very paperwork intensive and can often require MULTIPLE back and forths with potential buyers, the agents, and your spouse in order to get the house sold. In situations where communication is poor to begin with, this can be a huge headache.
Fortunately, another option available is to sell to a company like We Buy Lancaster Houses. We buy houses directly from the owners without the need to list it on the market. We also buy the houses FAST and in “as-is” condition so you don’t need to worry about fixing anything. On top of that, when we buy your house directly there are no commissions or other fees to pay!
If you’re going through a divorce and want a simple solution to sell your property so that you can move on with your life, give us a call. We work with divorcing couples all the time and would love to help you with a simple straightforward solution to sell you house.