Divorce is a complicated stage in the life of a couple, and one of the most complex aspects that it brings with it is usually the sale of the family home. To that end, it is important to take into account a series of steps to follow, which will help you sell successfully. Next, discover how to sell your house after a divorce with the help of Montse Lara, a lawyer from the comprehensive home services platform Housfy.
The truth is that selling an apartment after a divorce requires careful planning and consideration of the legal and emotional aspects involved. After all, it is a delicate process, so legal aspects must be taken into account to guarantee the success of the operation.
It is important to bear in mind that the way in which you want to sell your home will depend exclusively on the type of matrimonial regime you have. But why?
The type of matrimonial regime, whether in community property, with separation of property or domestic partnership, determines how you will sell your home. Not only does it modify the steps to follow, it is also key when it comes to dividing the amount of the sale between both parties.
Before proceeding with the sale of the family home, it is crucial to ensure that what is being done is legal. It could happen, for example, that one of the parties of the couple is not willing to sell the house.
In this case, the lawyer for the Housfy comprehensive home platform, Montse Lara, clarifies: "if both are owners of the home or it is a joint property, both must agree to the sale in order to proceed."
However, the lawyer clarifies that, if the home is private property of only one of the parties, and this has been the couple's family home, the non-owner spouse must also appear in the deed and consent to the sale of the property. Therefore, in most cases, the consent of both will be necessary.
Let us now see what the steps to follow in general will be and that make up any process of selling a home due to divorce.
The first step in any type of home sale will always be the objective valuation of the property. It is essential to have a clear idea of what your home may be worth before putting it on the market. This appraisal, which Housfy also offers, makes it possible to obtain an indicative real value of the home, facilitating the sale process in the context of divorce.
In this situation, there may not be an agreement between the parties regarding the sale price or the distribution of income. A situation where the lawyer clarifies that the next legal step would be to resort to the judicial division of the condominium (if both are owners and are not married) or to the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime (if they are).
There are many situations in which there can be a disagreement between both parties regarding the value of the home, so it is best to sell through a real estate agent. Today, digital real estate agents like Housfy are especially useful, thanks to their ability to speed up property sales.
A careful presentation of the home will always attract a greater number of potential buyers. It is the law of life. Hence, having a well-prepared and presented home helps make a difference.
For this, it is important to pay attention to the details. Factors such as knowing how to highlight the strong points of your home or creating an attractive environment, but as depersonalized as possible will help to show the potential and the most important characteristics. A technique known as home staging, which may be face-to-face or virtual.
Once the house is prepared and the price established, it is time to promote it in the market. Today there are multiple ways to do it, but the digital way is the most efficient, since it allows reaching a greater number of customers looking to buy a home.
Also, when the offers start to arrive, one of the best tips to sell your house after the divorce will be to trust the help of real estate experts. This figure will become essential when managing negotiations carefully and strategically, achieving the best possible result for both parties.
In any sales process, having the necessary basic documentation is essential. A procedure that becomes even more important if behind the sale there is a divorce in progress.
In addition, when there are minor children involved, the measures are intensified. "Whenever there are minors, a Regulatory Agreement must be signed that contains the parent-child measures, such as the care and custody of the minor, the visitation regime, the distribution of expenses, among others," explains Lara, Housfy's lawyer. In cases such as Catalonia, a "Parenting Plan" must also be signed, which has the same objective as the previous document, according to the expert.
By accepting an offer and having all the legal procedures completed, the crucial moment of selling the property arrives. At this stage, the matrimonial regime that we mentioned at the beginning takes on special importance.
If you sell your house after a divorce under community property, it means that the amount obtained must be divided between both parties equally. In separation of assets, the distribution of money will be made based on the percentage of ownership of each party, present in the deeds. The same happens in the common-law relationship.
