#Collaborative post
There are so many things that you have to consider when you are thinking about divorce, but one of them is going to be what you do with your house. Most of the time, one person keeps the house and the other person goes elsewhere. Others, the house is sold and then the proceeds are split in half for both sides of the couple to figure something out.
Many couples choose to sell and split, especially where both have contributed to the house and where no children are involved. When children are in the picture, parents will get the best conveyancing solicitor they can afford to sort out the new property! There are many issues with divorce, but selling a house is not the easiest thing to do in general, let alone after a divorce is happening.
Keeping the house is equally hard, so sales is the future here. If you are looking to sell your house after divorce, you should think about what you need to know to make the process as smooth as possible.
- Get prepared. You are going to have to prepare yourself- and your children if you have any – for the sale before you go for it. If you want to sell the house quickly it will need to look amazing and be a place that you want to sell. If you think about how your house looks right now, would you be happy to sell it as it is right now? If not, it’s time to stage it and get it right as much as possible. Look at the details from top to bottom, inside and outside. Doing this will ensure that you put your house’s best foot forward.
- Close the deal. You might be lucky and sell your house pretty much immediately. Most houses in good condition are being snapped up straight away right now, and that will be the ideal thing to happen. You are bound to receive a fast offer and it’s important that you do all that you can for it to be a fair offer.
- Divide the cash. When you are selling to split the proceeds, make sure that you have a lawyer involved. You need to ensure that you are getting an equitable division of the assets: what you put in, you need to get back. After you have divided the cash, you should think about how you can have everything put in place to buy a new house all over again.
- Getting a new mortgage. If one of the spouses wants to retain the house, then you need to think about buying out your ex partner. You will have to look at refinancing where possible and start all over again and that can be pretty tough! Make sure that you have options where you can and speak to a mortgage advisor and a bank manager to learn what your options are to buy them out and how to do it.
- Look at continuing to own together. If you have children you might think about co-owning the house and ensuring that you keep the roof over your children’s head as consistent as possible. There needs to be legal advice here, because without it, you could descend into chaos and that’s really not the ideal here! You need to make sure that both parties get what they need from this deal and there has to be some fail safes in place.
- Settling debt. If you think about any debts on the house, you need to sell it and cover the debt. If you sell the house to pay legal fees, you can manage it all and come out of it without too much of a black mark on your record.
- Consider capital gains. Capital gains can still occur when you are selling after divorce, but the exclusion is only up to $250,000 in profit. You need to sell the house before 3 years have passed, as it will be more profitable for you to sell your house before the divorce where possible. Deciding to sell the house before you get a divorce may be your best option. Every situation is different but there are undeniable benefits to doing it!
You deserve a brand new future and if that means selling your house and moving on, then doing that is the smartest thing that you can do. Take the best advice possible and make your house sale as easy as possible – you deserve a next step that really will make a big difference.