Selling a home is difficult; divorcing is also not easy—executing the two things simultaneously is even more complicated. Here are a few tips to help you sell your marital home when divorcing:
Get Professional Help
It is possible, though not advisable, to sell a house without a real estate agent. However, you shouldn't try it if you are also dealing with your divorce. Selling a house is time-consuming, and it is best if you can dedicate yourself to it. There may be repairs to make, staging to execute and showings to hold; doing this while also grappling with your divorce isn't easy. Hire an agent or real estate broker to sell the house and focus on your divorce.
Agree On Most Things Beforehand
In most cases, you will sit down and discuss the sale of the house with your chosen agent. Take the opportunity to go through all the potentially polarizing issues and agree on what to do in each case. That way you won't have to meet all the time and discuss issues as they crop up; that can be difficult to do if you are having a difficult divorce. Leaving several issues pending may also bring scheduling conflicts with your divorce issues.
Make the Decisions Together
Even if you have agreed on most things before listing the property, others will still crop up during the sale process. You should consult each other on such issues; unilateral decisions will only derail the process. What do you do when the real estate agent calls and informs you that a buyer would like to know if you can fix the gutters? Pick up the phone and consult your soon-to-be ex-spouse to discuss it first.
Deal With the Emotions
Divorce is an emotional roller coaster, and the sooner you acknowledge this, the better you will be. Unfortunately, your emotions can derail the process of selling the house if you aren't careful. For example, if you are bitter about the divorce, you may decide not to care too much about the sale or even sabotage the process with the hope of hurting your partner, not knowing that you are also sabotaging yourself. Therefore, it's best to acknowledge your emotions and deal with them; for example, you can join support groups or seek therapy to help you cope.
Rely On Professionals
Before selling a home, you may find that you need to make some repairs, improve the curb appeal, and stage the house so that it can appeal to the widest number of buyers possible. Most homeowners handle these things on their own and only outsource those services that require professional input. However, that may be difficult for you to do if you are going through a divorce, so it's best to rely on professional from the start.
Are you thinking about listing your home for sale? Although it might not seem like a pressing priority, being able to list your home when you want to can really help you to stay financially liquid in a slow market. However, you have to know the tricks of the trade if you want to prevent problems in the long run. I began carefully thinking about different ways to improve my sales tactics, and it was really cool to see how many of the ideas we had helped. This blog is all about listing your home for sale and preventing issues in the long run.