Few things have more impact on your life than going through a divorce. For many people, this is one of the most traumatizing events you can ever experience. When it’s amicable, it’s difficult enough. 

When there’s bad blood, it can be a nightmare. In the midst of the mediations and the heartbreaks, there is one big obstacle looming in the back of everyone’s mind. What do you do with the family home? 

Often, the simplest solution is to sell it and split the proceeds so that everyone can go their separate ways. Unfortunately, selling a house isn’t always easy at the best of times, and selling during the middle of a divorce can be even more challenging. What can you do? In this post, we’ll go over a few guidelines that will help streamline the process so you can move forward with the least amount of stress possible.

Legal and Practical Challenges

When a marriage disintegrates, the battle over the marital home can be stressful for both parties. It is highly recommended to work with an experienced attorney who can navigate the legalities while representing your best interests. This is true during an amicable split, and goes double for when things are less than cooperative. 

The problem with selling a family home is that both names are typically on the title. You can’t list it without the other spouse’s permission. The final decision only comes after many smaller agreements fall into place. For example, you must decide on a timeline, a price and what renovations you will do before putting your listing on the market. 

Reaching a resolution quickly is the best-case scenario. Otherwise, the courts may be involved, which can be an expensive and time-consuming process for both of you. 

Expert guidance has never been more essential when selling during a challenging market. The posts below will help you decide:

• Fact Vs Fiction About Working With A Real Estate Agent
• FSBO vs Real Estate Agent Assisted Sales: What’s Better?
• What’s in Your Listing Agreement?

Understanding Your Options

What happens if one spouse wants to leave the home and the other wants to stay? In this case, it will depend on your financial situation. If finances allow, you can sell your share of the property to your spouse or vice versa. 

If neither party can come to an agreement or has the ability to buy out the other spouse, the best course of action is likely to sell the home. The sooner the transaction closes, the sooner each of you can move on with your lives. This makes a seamless and successful sale a worthy goal to focus on.

Choose Your Expert Wisely

A divorce adds many complications, and you will want the help of a Realtor® to make your transaction as stress-free as possible. However, this raises another question. Do you both use the same real estate agent or should you each have your own? Generally, using one agent is more straightforward. If you can’t agree on who to work with, you have more decisions ahead.

Working with two different professionals from the same brokerage is the next best thing to having the same agent. It also helps to provide a united front to potential buyers who can view and consider your home without being distracted by any conflict or negativity.

You could retain separate brokerages where you’ll each have a designated agent working on your behalf. This arrangement is called a co-listing or co-brokerage agreement. If there is a lot of discord between you and your former spouse, this can be a way to sell your home while minimizing your contact with each other.

Preparing Your Home During a Divorce

During a standard transaction, we focus extensively on preparing the home for sale through deep cleaning, decluttering and making minor updates. Anything that makes the property more appealing to potential buyers can increase your final selling price. 

However, divorce changes everything. We are often working within a very short time constraint and need to sell quickly. There simply may not be enough time to perform as many upgrades as we would normally like. When the divorce is contentious, preparing the home can be even more challenging. 

Do you need more help to prepare and price your home effectively? The resources below will give you some ideas:

• What’s Your House Really Worth?
• A Back to Basics Guide to Maximizing Your Sale
• Our Full-Service Real Estate Team’s Guide to Marketing Your Home

Making the Most Out of Your Situation

In the event that you can not renovate and prepare your home, you will rely even more on a skilled real estate agent. The good news is that as important as presentation is, there are other tools to help you sell your home faster and at the highest amount under the circumstances:

• Setting an effective price point will allow you to capture maximum buyer interest, greatly increasing your chances of earning top dollar from your sale. Overpricing even a little can cause potential buyers to pass you by. Underpricing can mean you will earn less than you deserve. Your agent will help you determine the precise price range that will help maximize the value of your home.
• Promoting your listing to the highest number of qualified buyers is essential. When multiple parties are interested, you are more likely to receive better offers. Your real estate agent should have a built-in marketing system that exposes your home to a wide audience, both online and offline.
• Networking can often turn up a buyer quickly. An established Realtor® usually has a vast number of contacts, including other real estate professionals with their own lists of interested buyers. 

Full renovations may be out of the picture, but you can still make your home show well by keeping it tidy and maintained and by cleaning up around the exterior. If you work with a full-service team like Woolcott Real Estate, effective staging is one more tool that can help you maximize your results. With the sale of your home behind you, both of you can take the next step toward healing and move on to the next chapter of your lives. 

Do you have questions about selling your home in a challenging situation? Our compassionate experts are here to help. Reach out today or call (905) 332-9223 to begin the conversation.