Selling the marital home without adding to the divorce
Selling houses is what we do, and in a divorce we do it in a very particular way. Everything goes to both sides at the same time. Nothing gets negotiated with one spouse behind the other. The number is written down so nobody has to remember what was said in a phone call.
We also know who to call. Divorce attorneys, appraisers who do formal valuations for court, and CPAs who handle the tax question on a marital home. Those are separate professions and we will point you toward people we trust.
Why a divorce sale needs a number, not a range
An agent gives you an opinion of value and a listing price. What actually arrives, months later, may be higher or lower. That uncertainty is very hard to divide, and in a divorce everything eventually has to be divided.
A written cash offer is a fixed figure. It goes straight into the negotiation, into the attorneys' file, into the spreadsheet where the rest of the divorce settlement lives. Some couples accept it. Some use it as a floor and list anyway. Both are sensible outcomes.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A house on Lincoln Avenue. In Roosevelt, bought and paid for by us.
Roosevelt is roughly 18,066 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11575, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, colonial, ranch. Around Nassau Road and the Meadowbrook State Parkway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. We have been buying across Nassau County for 15+ years. We know what the Roosevelt Union Free School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
Selling a Roosevelt house without showings
Keeping a house presentable for strangers is a shared job, and in a divorce the shared jobs are exactly the ones that stop getting done. Then the showings go badly, the price drifts down, and it becomes one more thing to blame each other for. That is the ordinary course of a listed divorce sale, not a worst case.
There is no sign with us, no listing, no photographs online, and no open house in Roosevelt. One visit, one number, one closing date.
Closing the divorce sale on a date that suits both sides
If one person needs to stay until the end of a school year, or until a new lease starts, we can set the closing for then. The date is one of the terms we agree, not something a buyer's mortgage timetable dictates to you.
In a divorce that flexibility is worth real money, because the alternative is usually one party paying for two households while everybody waits on an underwriter. Divorce settlements get signed on the assumption the house closes when it is supposed to.
What the two paths cost in Roosevelt
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Roosevelt houses actually sell for.
Work it against Roosevelt's own numbers. The median sale here is $598,693. A 5% commission on that is $29,935, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $11,974. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $41,909 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Roosevelt the median house takes about 51 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 96 to 111 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $598,693 (Roosevelt median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$29,935 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$11,974 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 51 days (Roosevelt median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 96 to 111 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $556,784 | The number we put in writing |
The listing column assumes a 5% commission and seller closing costs of about 2%. Both vary. We have not subtracted repairs or the cost of carrying the house while it sits, because those depend on the property. A house in good condition listed with a good agent can absolutely beat a cash offer, and we will say so if that is your situation.
Both names on the deed
If one spouse wants to sell and the other does not, the answer is usually not found in real estate. It is found in the divorce itself, and your attorney is the person who can tell you what a court can order.
Our part is simpler and we do it well. We provide a written offer that both sides and both attorneys can see at once, which at minimum removes any argument about what the Roosevelt house is worth today.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
These are the costs of putting a house in a divorce on the market through an agent. None of them apply when you sell to us.
- Agent commission
- $29,935 at 5% of the Roosevelt median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $11,974 on a $598,693 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 96 to 111 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
When a divorce buyout beats a sale
There is also a tax question, and it is a real one. How proceeds from a marital home are treated can depend on filing status and timing, which is a CPA's territory rather than ours.
Ask one before the divorce settlement is finalized, not after. We will happily give you the sale figure to bring to that conversation, and we will wait while you have it. Nothing about our offer expires because you took two weeks to get proper advice.
Common questions
Do both of us have to agree to sell the Roosevelt house?
Yes, everyone on the deed signs. What we can do is make sure both sides see the identical number on the same day, which removes one of the things divorcing couples most often argue about.
Can the offer go to our attorneys directly?
Yes, and often that is the simplest way to handle it. We have worked divorce sales entirely through counsel before and it usually lowers the temperature for everyone.
Can we sell before the divorce is finalized?
It depends on your agreement and on what your attorneys have arranged. Selling during a divorce rather than after it is common. Ask counsel first, then tell us the closing date you need.
What if my spouse is still living in the Roosevelt house?
Common in a divorce, and not an obstacle. One visit is all we need, arranged around the person living there, and the closing date on the Roosevelt house can be set far enough out to make the move manageable.
Will you tell my ex what I said to you?
No. We say the same thing to both of you and we do not relay anything else. That even-handedness is the only way a buyer can be useful in a divorce.