Although estimates differ depending on who is asked, 30 to 35 percent of all Canadian marriages end in divorce.
There’s a piece of trivia to take to heart during those long, often confusing nights when you stay awake and wonder “What happened?”
But now is not the time to dwell on the past, but to deal with what’s currently happening. As painful as it may be, separating the marriage assets in preparation for the divorce is one of the uglier aspects of divorce.
There are several options as to what to do with the house when couples split up. The most common among these include:
- One party keeps the home by buying the other’s share.
- One party retains occupancy of the home temporarily (such as to raise the couple’s children in the family home).
- The house is sold and the proceeds split between the parties, according to their agreement.
If you and your soon-to-be-former spouse have decided to sell your home, we’d like to help you learn what to expect from the process.
The listing process
Listing a home is typically a pretty straightforward process but, unless the two of you remain on good terms, the “typical” doesn’t apply during a divorce sale.
Every aspect of the listing must be a joint agreement, from how much work you’ll do to prepare the home for the market to how much to ask for the home.
Easier said than done at this point in the marriage, right?
We understand that it may seem impossible to come to a meeting of the minds so what we do is arm both of you with the information that may help you get there.
We’ll tour the home, making note of what we think should be done to prepare. We’ll work diligently to come up with an attractive yet aggressive list price for the home. From there, it’s up to the two of you.
This is the part of the process where, despite the memories the home holds, despite the dreams that may be dashed at this point, you’ll need to also divorce yourself from your emotions wrapped up in it.
Only then will the two of you be open to advice on what needs to be done to sell the home quickly and for top dollar.
The marketing process
We won’t tell other agents or prospective buyers why you’re selling your home. Friends of ours hired one of the top Realtors in the city when they sold their Toronto home. He told all the interested buyers that they were getting a Divorce and wanted a quick sale. The Realtor got the quick sale he was looking for. Our friends lost $150,000. That was the difference in the offer that was made after the buyer heard what was happening.
It’s not anyone else’s business and, sadly, we’ve learned that news of a divorce sale causes many buyers to submit ridiculously low offers. That’s exactly what happened in the story above.
While living in a home that’s on the market is challenging to most who sell, when there is rancor in the house it becomes even more difficult. Keeping the house presentable at all times is hard even under the best conditions and last-minute requests to view an already disrupted home life need to be expected, planned for and accommodated.
The offers to purchase
Reviewing offers as they come in is probably the most challenging part of the process. Nothing will happen with an offer unless the two of you are in complete agreement.
This agreement extends to everything that a buyer may want to negotiate, from time limits for the removal of contingencies to price.
Discuss this up front. If you can agree to at least put your differences aside during this aspect of the purchase process it will go a long way toward a successful outcome.
Dividing the proceeds
Both of you will need to meet with your lawyers in advance of the sale to determine how to divide the proceeds from the sale. Once we have a buyer, the instructions will be submitted to the Conveyancer, or Real Estate Lawyer to finalize and finish the closing transaction of the property.
We understand the challenges you face, it’s our goal to make the process as easy on both of you as possible.
About the Author:
The above article How to sell your Vancouver home during a divorce was provided by Regan Pyke, a Vancouver Realtor and a leader in the field of sales, marketing, and real estate investing. Regan can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 778-228-2448.
Thinking of buying or selling your Vancouver West, or Kitsilano home or Condo? I have a real passion for buying and selling Real Estate, as well as marketing & real estate investing. I’d love to share my expertise!
