Should You Sell Your Home Before or After a Divorce?

Divorce is never easy.  Splitting the assets can be a real hassle, especially when it comes to the house.  So, is it better to sell your house before or after the divorce settles?  Either way, there are pros and cons.

Before

If you plan to sell the house before the divorce, there can be several benefits, mainly financial.  $$ If neither can afford the home on their own, selling before the divorce settles will alleviate the burden of either taking on the costs of the homes.  Also, the money from the sale can be put towards your future.  Another advantage of selling before the divorce finalizes, is the probability of paying less capital gains taxes.  If it sells while your married, each party may avoid paying taxes on their share of the house.

Here are the drawbacks.  The family life has already been disrupted, and selling the house may add more angst for the kids or either spouse.  Some buyers, may know that you are getting a divorce and will use this as a way to put in a low offer.  With sales slowing recently, it may take a while to sell the home.  This situation could lead to an extension of the divorce proceedings.  If this not a “friendly” divorce, there may be issues of how the sale money is split.  This should be clarified before the house goes on the market.

After

While it seems like there are a lot of advantages to selling before the divorce, there are also positives to selling after.  If you wait until after the divorce, the flames that may have flared during the settlement, will have some time to cool.  When emotions are calmer, it makes for calmer times and more thought out decisions.  Also, it may become easier to negotiate with your former partner.  Waiting, also, allows for the homes equity to increase.  As long as the house is kept in order and mortgages are being paid, the less debt on the house means more equity. Holding off on selling, also allows each partner to relocate without being in a rush.  This may also make the split a little easier on the kids as it will not be such a quick transition to a new home.

Some of the pros for selling before the divorce settlement become cons if you sell after the divorce finalizes.  One, you may have to pay some hefty capital gains.  Also, the longer you have the house, the longer you have ties with your former love.  If it was a messy divorce, you ex may try to sabotage the sale of the house.  He/she may not respond to those involved in the transaction, delaying the sale.  If one spouse is still living in the house, they may not leave it in the same shape as when you were last in it (more bluntly put, it may be a mess).    Another disadvantage is you may be left to sell the house on your own.  If the other home owner wants nothing to do with the sale proceedings, it may be left to you to handle everything, while they will just sign the paperwork.

Either way has its pros and cons.  Think things through with a calm mind before a final decision is made.  Below are more articles relating to this topic.

Read the Original Article Here: Is It Better to Sell Your House Before or After a Divorce?

Additional Articles on this Topic:  https://www.homelight.com/blog/dividing-real-estate-in-a-divorce/https://www.homelight.com/blog/divorce-house-settlement-options/