Even under the best of circumstances, selling a house can be a little bit stressful.
And when you’re already going through a tense or difficult season, that just makes things worse.
Take, for example, divorce. It can be emotionally and financially draining, to say the least. Throw a house sale on top of all that and you may begin to feel really overwhelmed.
And yet, real estate transactions are quite common during divorce, as both partners seek a fresh start and a new, unencumbered life.
So what should you know about getting your house sold while in the midst of a divorce?
In this post, we’ll offer our advice for how to sell a home during this major life change—but remember, you can also get individualized house selling tips when you request your free SOLD.com report. Get yours today!
How to Sell a Home While Getting Divorced
Make Sure You Take Care of Yourself
First things first: Your mental and physical wellbeing are way more important than any house. Above all, make sure you’re taking the time you need to relax, to unwind, to go to therapy, and to vent with close friends.
Frankly, as you strive to uphold your mental and emotional wellbeing, you may not have anything left over to sell the house yourself—so don’t feel any shame in hiring a real estate agent to handle the day-to-day stuff. Again, your health is what’s most important.
Talk to Your Lawyer
The hardest scenario of all is when you and your spouse don’t agree about the future of the house you’ve shared. If that’s the situation you’re in, it’s always best to work through your attorney.
Often, the court will order the home to be sold and profits split equally between the two spouses. This is often the best option anyway, as it ensures you both have the same stake in getting the place sold.
Also note that, if you and your spouse do decide to sell, you can share the same real estate agent—because again, you’re working toward the same goal.
Stage and Declutter
Many of the typical rules of real estate sales hold true even in these most delicate situations. For example, no matter how amicable or acrimonious your divorce, you will always need to stage the home, make necessary repairs, and declutter it.
There may be some advantage in you and your spouse going “half-sies” on the cost of a pre-listing inspection. The inspection will provide you with an unbiased baseline for what does and doesn’t need to be done to get the home sale-ready. Then, you can split the to-do list and either handle the items yourself, or hire someone to do it for you.
During a divorce, there’s a decent chance that one or both spouses will already have moved out. That’s frankly a positive thing, at least from a selling perspective; it makes staging and decluttering easier, and it keeps you from having to coordinate showings with one another. If you’re still living in the home, though, make sure you follow the real estate industry’s best practices for maximizing space, etc.
Agree on the Offer
Hopefully, you and your spouse will be able to agree on the asking price, and then agree on which offers to accept or reject.
If you do have disagreements, though, make sure you seek the advice of both your real estate agent (if you choose to work with one) and your divorce attorney. When in doubt, lean on their wisdom. After all, that’s why you hired them in the first place!
House Selling Tips for Divorcing Spouses
Divorce is never easy. Selling a house can be hectic. Add them together and you have the recipe for stress—but with the right approach and skilled counselors, you can get through the process and start your next chapter.
Hopefully, these tips will point you in the right direction. And don’t forget that you can get independent, third-party guidance for your home sale when you request your FREE seller’s report from SOLD.com.
Get yours today and make an informed decision about your listing. Get your SOLD.com report right away!
