Finally, the divorce is over, and you are ready to move on with your life, away from any reminder of the ordeal, including your marital home. It’s hard to move on when the house you live in carries all the good and bad memories you went through in your marriage. So, what happens to a house in a divorce?
For a clean slate, selling the house would be an excellent way to start over. But selling a house during a divorce is not as easy as you’d like it to be if you both own the house. It gets complicated if you have a mortgage that you both qualified for.
At Florida Cash Home Buyers, we are local Tampa FL home buyers that can help with your situation. We buy houses in Tampa Florida and we’ve had a client in the past with the same situation as yours. In this post, we’ll address all the divorce and mortgage questions you may have. This will make it easy for you to make informed decisions moving forward.
Should You Keep or Sell the House?
Ideally, this is a decision you and your spouse need to decide on. If both of you cannot seem to come to an understanding, there are laws that can force an outcome, depending on where you live. It may be possible to keep the house if you have special memories and emotional ties you don’t want to cut off.
On the other hand, you may sell the house if you can no longer afford the mortgage payments, and if living there is too painful for you. Your wants might not be financially feasible, which makes cooperation with your spouse better in this situation.
How Do You Split a House in a Divorce
Most people who end up in a divorce sell their houses and split the profits in equal shares. During the legal proceedings, your home was referred to as the former matrimonial home, so if you are able to afford the mortgage on your own, you can choose to continue living in the house.
You can buy out your partner’s share and ask them to move out. Still, if your spouse wants the house and you don’t, they can also do the same, and you can be the one to move out. If neither of you wants it, then selling it and sharing the profits may be the best decision.
What If Your Spouse Refuses to Sell?
What happens to a house in a divorce if a spouse refuses to embrace the idea of selling the house and they can’t afford to buy you out? You may have to force the sale. This means going to your attorney and filing a motion to a family judge to force the sale.
If during the sale process you are at odds with your spouse, it’s imperative that you have a professional real estate agent so they’ll manage communications and transactions. At this point, hiring one of your friends as your agent is not a sound idea because your ex-spouse will undoubtedly feel as if the agent is on your side.
What Steps Should I Take When Selling the House?
The first thing you need to do is find a solicitor who’ll help you determine whether selling in the current market is a good idea. After this, get the house ready for evaluation, and as soon as you get to know it’s worth, you can put it on the market.
Before you sell a home, you need to ensure that all debts owed against it are paid in full, and you have the title in a safe place. If the house needs any repairs, this is the best time to have them taken care of so you can start showcasing it to potential buyers.
Selling the house may take a while. If you want to sell it faster, you may want to auction it. With an auction, the base price is usually set, so you’ll know the minimum price you’ll get at the end. You could also talk to cash buyers if you want to have cash in several days. These are just some of the options you have depending on how fast you want to sell your home.
Should One of You Live In the House During the Sale?
Whether either of you stays or leaves is more of a personal decision. Still, it may be challenging to sell an empty house. Besides, it’s not sustainable for you to have three houses when going through a divorce, so it makes sense for one of you to stay. Whoever stays behind should ensure the house is clean and organized at all times to raise its marketability.
Should You Disclose Your Divorce to Buyers?
This is among the most popular mortgage and divorce questions when selling a house after a divorce. You are under no legal obligations to disclose your divorce issues to your buyers. If you choose to deal with a real estate agent, they must be discreet and keep your confidential information. When buyers ask why you are selling, you can simply tell them you are downsizing.
What If Your Spouse Owned the House Before Marriage?
Do you own any share of it? Essentially, property owned before marriage solely belongs to the person who bought it then. However, if the name of the other spouse was added to the deed after marriage or the other spouse was involved with renovations of the property, they also own a share of it.
How Do You Sell the House Fast?
If you are looking to sell the house fast and get this whole thing behind you, you should consider selling to cash buyers. Selling a house after a divorce can be a challenge because you are already drained from the whole divorce process. What you need to do is move on quickly. Cash buyers will purchase the house as is.
You don’t have to market it, stage it, or tolerate multitudes of buyers during an open house. All you need to do is find a reliable company that will take the house off your hands so you can finally move on.
Divorce and Mortgage Questions: Settling the Matter
Now that you have answers to your burning divorce and mortgage questions, you can finally sell your home and start a new healthy life. If you want to go through the fastest house sale, give us a call, and we’ll make you an excellent deal. You can also go through our website for more insightful information about selling your house after a divorce.
Sell My House in Tampa FL
Need to sell a home quickly without the hassles of divorce and mortgage? Consider selling to a buyer that pays cash for houses in Tampa FL like us!
If you think you need to sell your house in Florida fast, then we can help. We at Florida Cash Home Buyers are local homebuyers in Tampa FL, and we’re helping local homeowners have a quick and hassle-free sale. If your Tampa FL house qualifies, we can make you a quick and fair cash offer.