I read this article from statesman.com….
Not to scare any of you couples buying a house together, but it is something to think about. People change. Things change. This is something to consider when buying. There is always a resolution and when buying a home, if done wisely and while having good advocacy from a professional, you can prepare for possiblilities of the future. It’s always an investment. Period.
A house divided can sell
Realtors, lawyers offer tips on how to deal with a divorce.
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Sunday, February 04, 2007Couples buying a house together are often in the throes of marital bliss. “Oh, darling, it will be our home forever and ever . . . and the nursery can go here!”
Unfortunately, the reverse is also true when a couple get divorced. The same house and its sale can become points of bitter contention.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- West Texas State School official was living with 16-year-old boy
- IndyMac to bring at least 300 jobs to North Austin
- Parents win suit against Hyde Park Baptist
- Woman in vacuum store seriously injured by car
- Freshman rule benefits players, colleges, NBA
Share This Story
“I’ve always hated this house. She picked it, I didn’t.” Or, worse yet, “He spent the night with his mistress in this room. It makes me sick.”
Divorce can be one of the most financially disastrous events for homeowners, possibly outweighing other changes such as sudden job transfers or, even worse, being laid off.
And the financial truth for many couples is that most of their joint wealth lies in the value of their home. Although it is usually in both parties’ best interests to sell the house quickly, bad blood on either side can sometimes slow down or derail a sale.
This isn’t a minor problem. From January to April 2006, the latest period for which statistics are available, 26,027 couples in Texas divorced, according to the National Vital Statistics Report. During the same period, 49,222 marriages in Texas were recorded.
Whether divorcing couples decide to sell or keep the house, it’s important for everyone’s financial safety to remain as calm as possible. It might seem obvious, but the better the separated husband and wife can negotiate with each other, the more financially beneficial the end result will be.
“Divorces get sticky,” said Cord Shiflet, a real estate agent with Moreland Properties. “I’ve done a lot of divorce situations, and the important thing is to separate emotions from facts and deal with it, so we can make decisions that are in the best interests of both parties. We are there to represent everybody, to sell the home for the highest price. We are good, honest, ethical people. Let us do our job.”
Real estate agents know their clients are going through a stressful time, and they are sympathetic.
“People get emotional,” said Jason Crouch, real estate agent and co-owner of Austin Texas Homes LLC. “Our job is to be good listeners and help them work through it. Realtors have to be good listeners. It’s part of our job. Sometimes you have to deal with them separately.”
Both the former husband and wife need to understand that the agent has to communicate with each party, area real estate agents said.
“Because I’m representing both of them, they both need to be aware of what’s going on,” said Sherri Williams with Keller Williams Realty. “I can’t do something special for one and not include the other. If I’m selling it for them, they both need to be cc’ed on the e-mails” regarding the sale.
In addition, Williams said, the real estate agent is not there to help the couple decide who gets what amount of the money from the property, or who gets what possessions. That’s a job for the couple’s divorce lawyers and the court.
But couples also should not worry that the particulars of their split will be gossiped about by their agent, Williams said. “Confidentiality is a major, major thing for us as agents,” she said. “It’s so important in our business. As their agents, we will keep things confidential.”
If the couple decide to sell, attorney Glynn Turquand, a partner with Walters & Turquand LLP in Austin, has several suggestions for making everything go smoothly:
•Use an agent-picking formula. Some couples cannot agree on which real estate agent to use. Turquand suggests that one party pick out three agents whom they like, and then the other party can select an agent from that list. That way, both parties feel they had a hand in the selection process, he said.
•Decide who will live in the house, and have that person be the agent’s primary contact. For example, if the wife is the one who remains in the home, she will be responsible for arranging showings and open houses with the agent.
•Don’t tell potential buyers that the home is being sold because of a divorce. Buyers are bargain-hunters. If they know about the divorce, they’ll think the owners are in a hurry to sell and will be likely to accept a lower offer. To make the most money on the house, it’s best if people think a happy couple is still living there. Which leads to the next next point, which is . . .
•Keep two toothbrushes in the master bathroom. If one spouse doesn’t live there anymore, he or she should leave enough clothes and personal effects to make it seem as if a couple still lives there. You don’t want house hunters more interested in why half of the master bedroom closet is empty than in why they would want to buy the house.
•Figure out your asking price — and your bottom line. Divorcing couples need to agree on the list price, as well as the lowest price that they would both accept. A couple who can’t agree on this bottom figure might end up with their house on the market for a long time because one party refuses to accept a lower offer.
•Make your expectations of the sale time realistic. Maybe the husband thinks it’s possible to sell the house in a week. Maybe the wife wants another six months to look at new schools and neighborhoods for their kids. Both parties need to agree on an amount of time that is realistic. For example, if they put the house on the market now, they should express whether they expect it to be sold by summer, Turquand said.
•Make an inventory of all the belongings. Maybe it’s Aunt Mary’s china dish you always wanted to keep, or the grand piano. Before couples put the house on the market, Turquand advised making an inventory of all the items. Write down what each of you wants. The judge can later say that any items not claimed can go with one party or the other, or be put in a storage unit. In any case, all the stuff will have to be dealt with before the buyer can move in.
•At the closing, put both spouses’ names on the check. “By having both of their names on it, one party can’t take all of the money,” Turquand said. “Both of them have a say on where the money goes.”
Other factors
During a divorce, many women want to keep the house without recognizing the sometimes burdensome demands of the mortgage, utilities, maintenance and taxes on that asset.
Also, many men often demand the pension without recognizing that every dollar coming out will be fully taxable at ordinary income tax rates at retirement, whereas a stock account or bank account would have a significantly lower tax cost.
Both factors should be considered in any divorce settlement, personal finance columnist and Los Angeles Times reporter Kathy Kristof advises.
The bottom line is this: Divorce is complicated and messy. So be prepared to do a lot of homework.
This article contains material from wire services.
