It is an understatement to say that divorces can often be pretty messy affairs, more so if you have marital assets to divide between you and your estranged spouse. Even though a divorce takes an emotional toll on both of the parties, you have to go through it and think of the future, more specifically a place to live.
The two alternatives before you are buying house from spouse in divorce or buyout house after divorce. In either case, things can get quite complex and apart from your divorce attorney, you should also take the services of an experienced real estate agent. We at Just Livin Realty have advised many of our clients about what to do with the marital home during or after divorce.
In this post, we will go through the safeguards that you should take to protect yourself from any pitfalls in the coming days.
Buying House From Spouse In Divorce
A home is not just limited to a roof over the head, it often means a lot emotionally when you have created many happy memories in that space. And then there are the children to think of for whom a move elsewhere can be traumatic. Taking all these factors into account, buying the house from your spouse in divorce is not a bad idea.
Typically, the best way to deal with a house during divorce is to sell the house and divide the proceeds equally between the spouses. But as we have seen, one spouse might want to retain the house. In that case, the value of the house can be exchanged with other assets of equal value and the person not getting the house removed from the title and mortgage and must move out.
Now, let us come to the safeguards to be taken before buying house from spouse in divorce.
The most important aspect to keep in mind here is that the value of the house has to be precisely arrived at. The buying spouse must have the property valued by a professional appraiser.
However, if you and your spouse do not agree to the value given, hire an experience real estate agent. We at Just Livin Realty have experts who continuously follow current trends in real estate and can market your property to maximize its value. We also look at the prices of similar properties recently sold in your neighborhood to arrive at yours.
However, before buying house from spouse in divorce, you should understand that there is an element of risk for both. If the property appreciates, the selling spouse will lose out. If the property depreciates greatly in the future, the buying spouse will lose out. Further, the buying spouse must be confident of being able to meet all the expenses of mortgage, taxes, and insurance independently.
Buyout House After Divorce
A marital house cannot only be bought out when the divorce proceedings are on, it is also possible to finalize the deal after divorce. But to buyout a house after divorce, an agreement must be finalized in this regard or else the court will order the house to be sold and the proceeds divided among the estranged couple.
Here is a safeguard to adopt if you want to buyout house after divorce. Choose to do so only if you have ample financial resources to maintain the house and pay the mortgage too. The selling spouse will get the name off the mortgage through a quitclaim deed and you have to take the full burden of the insurance and taxes too.
Further, if the divorce decree has alimony or child support, these will be counted towards expenses by lenders, increasing your debt-to-income ratio and reducing your eligibility to carry on with the mortgage. In that case, the house needs to be sold and the mortgage paid off and you can downsize to a smaller accommodation.
To take the problem off your hands and for professional guidance on buying out house after divorce, give us a call. We will get the best solutions for you.
Safeguards When Selling your Home After Divorce
It is not uncommon for potential buyers to be wary of buying a house from a divorced couple. Your divorce cannot be hidden and the decree will be in the public domain. Hence when listing your property, talk to your spouse and set a few guidelines to follow. When you put up an united front, it will ensure that the house is sold at a fair price.
Here are some points to follow.
Do not give an impression to potential buyers that both of you are not on the same page and that one of you want to sell the house and the other does not. The viewing process should go off flawlessly and contradictory instructions should not be given to real estate agents.
Next, do not reverse the sell decision under any circumstances. Sometimes, one spouse raises equity to buy the house outright and backs out from the market. It sends bad vibes and might not bring in buyers if you want to sell the property in the future.
Do not significantly overprice the property as buyers are aware of this trend when buying a house from a divorced couple. The reason for this is that spouses would want to sell their marital house at a price that will fetch them two homes for each to stay. Hence, do not set an wildly optimistic price that will keep your property on the market for months.
Regardless of whether you are buying house from spouse in divorce or after divorce, get in touch with our real estate professionals at Just Livin Realty. We have had divorced couple as clients in the past who had wanted to sell their marital home and had got the best solutions from us to the satisfaction of both. Call us today!