Ready for a Divorce? Your House Isn’t
- 30.06.2008
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The Housing Slump Is a Stumbling Block in More and More Divorces
Last month, median house prices saw their largest annual decline in nearly a decade, while sales for single-family homes nationwide dropped 2 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. As shrinking home values, slow home sales and the credit crunch take their toll on American homeowners, splitting couples seeking to sell property might find themselves in a tougher spot than most.
It’s always complicated when people own a house, live in a house together and they need to get a divorced. It’s getting more complicated now because they both know going into … a divorce that it’s going to be harder to sell the house, in many cases it’s going to sell more slowly.
It’s an enormous financial drain, and even for people who have a lot of goodwill between them, it’s probably taking a toll on their health as well as their finances. Couples, for instance, may disagree on how to price their homes. They’re under great pressure to make a sale. But the market is slow and if they keep reducing the price, sometimes the sale price may go below the level of the outstanding loan.
When a home’s final sale price isn’t enough to cover its owners’ home loans, divorcing couples must decide how to split the remaining liability. Negotiating how to settle the debt can lengthen divorce proceedings.
One spouse, may not trust the other to pay his or her fair share and may demand other assets, such as a car or an investment account as collateral. And then there are the homes that just don’t sell.
Buyers are more likely to recognize a great deal on a home if they understand why it’s being sold in the first place.
