Going through a divorce can be one of the most difficult times of your life. It is both painful and stressful.
It may be impossible for one party to carry the burden of the mortgage alone, or the parties may need the money to start over with their new, separate lives. Whatever the reason, selling your house during a divorce is a common reality.
You don’t have to make it harder on yourselves than it has to be. Selling your house while divorcing in Sacramento is a lot easier if you focus on selling fast. Here are our best strategies and ideas to help you navigate the real estate portion of your divorce as carefully and efficiently as possible.
Real Estate Issues Can Be Complicated During a Divorce
During a divorce, the two parties seek to split their assets in half. In California, a no-fault divorce state, assets and earnings made during the marriage are generally split down the middle (unless you have a pre-nup or there are other mitigating factors).
For liquid assets (like your savings account), dividing things is pretty to do. For other assets, including real estate, it’s not so simple: How do you split a house in half? Your home is one asset that derives its value from being whole.
There are a few ways to resolve your property assets. Let’s talk about it.
Here’s How To Split Real Estate Assets in a Divorce
There are a few common ways to figure out how to settle matters of real estate.
- The two divorcing parties can sell the property and direct their attorneys to apply the money earned from the equity to any outstanding debts related to the property (such as a mortgage or closing costs). Then they can split any remaining profit.
- One partner can buy out the other person’s interest in the home. If you really want to stay, consider refinancing and using the money to pay out your ex-spouse as a part of the divorce terms.
- You can hold on to the property for now. If the market is in a bad place, you could continue to co-own the home as business partners of sorts, then sell later down the line when the price is right so you can both maximize your profits.
Most couples choose to either buy each other out or sell the home ASAP so they can move on. If you want to sell, there are some ways to expedite the process.
The Fastest Way To Sell A House During a Divorce
When it comes time to sell, most people think of selling through a real estate agent. Unfortunately there’s a few problems with this strategy:
- An agent may insist that you invest money in property fixes before you sell the home. This prolongs the sales process, and potentially your divorce. Can you afford that?
- Once the house is listed, it can take 3-6 months to sell (sometimes longer). Can either party wait that long?
- Your agent will involve both parties in the negotiation with the buyer and there is A LOT of paperwork to shuffle back and forth. Do you have the patience for this?
Selling through an agent is a costly and time-consuming way to sell, and it can actually prolong the divorce and cause additional tension and arguments between the spouses.
Fortunately, there’s another way to unload your property during a divorce! You can sell your home to a real estate buying firm (which is what we do here at California Family Homebuyers). The real estate buying firm will buy your house quickly, for cash, in as-is condition (and as a bonus, there are never any commissions or fees to pay).
You don’t have to clean up or fix up the property and the sale can be completed in days, not months, with very little paperwork. In addition, we work on your timetable. Need the money in two weeks? No problem. Want to finish up the kids’ school year? That’s OK too.
If you’re going through divorce and are ready to move on, give us a call and tell us about your home. We specialize in buying homes during a divorce. We want to help you expedite your divorce by buying this house from you. Do not hesitate to contact us today.