Selling Your Home During a Divorce 😔 [VIDEO]

Question: Libby, I’m going through a divorce. Do you have any advice about selling my home? Answered by Libby Guthrie

Video Transcript

Hello, I’m Libby Guthrie with Keller Williams Realty in Northern California. Today, I’m going to talk about a pretty sensitive subject, which is selling your home when you’re going through a divorce.

At the end of this video, you can request our free guide “Preparing Your Home To Put It On The Market.” We’ll be happy to send you that.

Divorce is one of those life events that ranks right up there as being one of the most stressful to go through. Then you add on if you have to sell a home and move moving is can be very stressful too. I’m going to give you a few tips today on things to think about when you are going through a divorce and you need to sell your home.

As we talked about, it can be a very hard thing to go through getting a divorce and then you need to sell your home. It can be sometimes embarrassing too, and expensive because not only do you have the cost of selling the home, you also have your real estate attorney cost possibly, and your divorce attorney costs.

Personally, for me, it was a very hard thing for me to go through. Years ago, I had to sell a home and was going through a divorce. It was the first home that me and my first husband bought together, and it was a very emotional thing. I remember driving up after the yard sign went up into the yard, and I just became very emotional about the whole thing and it was very stressful and embarrassing.

This was at the time before I even got into real estate, so I know what people are dealing with when they need to sell their home while they’re going through a divorce. I’ve personally helped a lot of people that have been going through a divorce and I’ve helped them sell their home.

First of all, you want to consult with your real estate attorney and or your divorce attorney. Research to see if there’s going to be any tax consequences and consult your CPA or your tax preparer.

Here are a few things to think about. Should you sell the home or should you stay in the home? Will you be buying out your spouse? Can you afford the payments by yourself? Or if you do have to sell, are you going to be able to afford payments on another home?

Sometimes you may be advised to go ahead and deed your interest of the property over to your spouse. Just be aware if there is a mortgage on the property, you may still be liable for the payments even though you’re not legally on the title of the property.

If you do decide to sell the home, involve your children in with the discussion. Talk about moving. Talk about the fact that they may have to go to a different school, they may have some new friends. So make sure you have that discussion with them and explain what’s going on.

Choose a real estate professional that you’re both comfortable with. You may want to think about talking to the person that sold you the home originally that helped you with the purchase. Choose a Realtor that is knowledgeable about divorce sales. A competent and knowledgeable and experienced agent will not take sides during the divorce sale, but they will act as a mediator between the two of you. Remember, the agent’s job is to get the home sold.

Something to think about, who will be responsible for making any necessary repairs to prepare the home for sale or any repairs that need to be done once you’re in contract with a buyer? Who will be responsible for making the payments on the home, paying the taxes and the insurance?

How much will the split be between you and your spouse? Will it be 50 50 or some other arrangement? Most of the time, things like that are worked out in the divorce decree, and you do need to consult your real estate attorney and or your divorce attorney. Talk to your real estate agent about their advertising and how they’re going to advertise the home.

One thing I don’t advise is to advertise the home as a divorce sale, for example. That just is showing that you might be desperate and a buyer may think that they could get a little bit less for the home because you do need to sell it through a divorce.

Yes, it will be difficult selling your home going through a divorce. I can speak from experience that you will get through it and it will be best once this is behind you.

I hope these tips have been helpful for you. If you know of anyone thinking about buying or selling a home, I’ll be happy to help them, even though if they’re not located in the Northern California area, as I have other real estate professionals all over the United States that I can refer them to.

My number is 925-628-2436. Don’t forget to request your guide on “Preparing Your Home To Put It On The Market” and we’ll be happy to send you that. Thanks a lot.

End Transcript