How to Sell a House During a Divorce: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Step 2: Provide your agent with the relevant details of your divorce decree

After you hire a real estate agent, make sure they’re up to speed on any rules from your divorce decree about the property. This usually includes which spouse is in charge of the sale — often the one still living there — the listing price, and how to handle price drops. The decree might also spell out who’s responsible for repairs and how to approve those costs.

When you get an offer on the house, your agent needs to know who has the power to accept it and if there are any minimum price requirements. Having the right agent can make all of this way less stressful, leading to a smoother home sale during your divorce.

Step 3: Get the house ready to sell

In most divorces, you’ll want to sell your home ASAP to avoid carrying the costs of the mortgage payments. At the same time, you and your ex will both want to get the highest price possible — unless one of you is planning a buyout and hoping for a low appraisal.

So, the usual home-selling tips still apply: deep clean, declutter, and stage the place to make it look great for potential buyers.

Here are some pro tips to help you tackle the home prep process while dealing with a divorce.

• If parting with certain items during decluttering feels too tough, consider putting sentimental things in storage until you’re ready to deal with them emotionally.
• Experts suggest that at least one person should stay in the house until it sells. You don’t want to risk maintenance issues — because things always seem to go wrong when no one’s around — and an empty home usually doesn’t show as well.
• Trust your agent’s advice on home repairs and prep. They’ll know exactly how to get your place ready for a home inspection and what local buyers are looking for. Just remember, your agent has to stick to the rules in the divorce decree. There might be limits on how much can be spent on prep work, or guidelines on who needs to be consulted — like you, your ex, or the judge — before making any decisions.

Step 4: Price the home to sell

When selling your home, your real estate agent will do a comparative market analysis, or CMA, which checks out similar home sales nearby to give you an idea of what your place is worth.

Although the CMA is a widely used and highly respected tool for pricing homes, it still might leave too much room for disagreement during a contentious divorce.

In that case, a home appraisal comes into play before listing the home. However, you’ll have to pay between $300 to $500 to get a pre-listing appraisal. No matter how you decide to price your home, steer clear of the biggest blunder: overpricing. This can scare off potential buyers and make your house sit idle on the market.

Step 5: Develop ‘reason for selling’ talking points with your agent

One of the top questions that your agent is likely to receive during an open house or showing is “Why is the seller moving?”

Your agent isn’t required to share that kind of personal information with a potential buyer, but skirting the question may lead the buyer wondering what’s wrong with your house. For that reason, it’s best to talk with your agent about how you want them to answer this uncomfortable question.

Viele has a tactful script that he uses to share just enough so that buyers know what’s going on without getting into details, such as: “The sellers will be going their separate ways, but they are working together to achieve a smooth transaction, and I will do everything I can to see to that.”

If you don’t want your agent to share details about your split, you can ask them to say something generic like: “They are moving on to a property that better fits their family’s needs.”

Whatever you decide, be prepared for buyers to ask the question, and have that discussion with your agent about your preferences.

Step 6: List, market, and show your home

At this stage, your agent will list your home on the multiple listing service (MLS), which will then blast it out to all the top real estate websites. They’ll also roll out your home’s marketing plan, which might include a mix of online and offline promos. You’ll need to decide if you want to go with an open house or just do private showings. Keep in mind, open houses can be a hassle and might draw in nosy neighbors curious about what’s up with you and your place.

Regardless, be sure to talk with your agent about any times that are off-limits for appointments, and if those living in the house will be expected to accommodate last-minute showing requests.

Step 7: Consider offers from buyers based on your priorities

When it comes to fielding offers, you might find that things become complicated. You’ll not only be negotiating with the buyer, but also with your former spouse.

However, with some pre-planning and pre-discussions about the goals of the sale, you will be all set to make this step as smooth as possible. Talk with your Realtor® about what your priorities are — such as selling as fast as possible or getting a certain dollar value to cushion a tentative divorce financial situation — before those offers start rolling in.

In most cases, they want to move on to the place they’ve already chosen, Viele says. “The house may be the only thing tying two people together and they want to cut that tie and move along.”

Step 8: Complete the closing process with your agent’s help

Once you’ve found a buyer, you are in the home stretch, but beware there could be unexpected issues that come up during the closing — particularly when emotions are high.

Viele recalls a situation where one of his clients did not want to let go of a home because of the memories. He said that she was hit hardest when an offer came in, and she had a hard time agreeing to it.

If that’s the case, you may need to bring in a third party, like a lawyer or mediator, to come to an agreement, but that can take time and potentially lead to you losing out on an offer.

“It’s very important for the Realtor to understand that there may be more work to a divorce sale than other types of sales,” Viele says.

Another thing that might come up is who’s on the hook for repairs found during the home inspection. Just like everything else, talking it out early on will save you a lot of hassle down the road.

Step 9: Collect and split your proceeds according to your state’s laws

It’s possible for you and your spouse to agree ahead of time how to split the proceeds from the sale of your home. If you can’t decide, your state will decide for you.

Your property division laws will fall into one of two categories:

1. Community property, where everything is split 50/50, or
2. Equitable distribution, where the court divides the property in a fair manner, considering factors like earnings contributions and who is raising the children.

Nine states follow community property law for real estate:

• Arizona
• California
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Washington
• Wisconsin

If you live in one of these states and sell your home, you’ll split the proceeds equally if you reach an impasse. Otherwise, you’ll go through the process of equitable distribution.

You’ll also want to be aware of preserving the capital gains tax break in a divorce. Married couples that jointly own their home can exclude up to $500,000 of their home sale profit, but they have to meet the ownership and use tests to qualify.

That can get tricky based on when you sell and if one spouse has already moved out. Your best move is to consult an experienced tax professional to handle this part of your finances.

Selling the house so you can finally move on

Selling a home during a divorce can make an already challenging process even more complicated. But understanding the steps involved and working with experienced real estate agents and tax professionals can help you manage it. Stay focused on your goal: Transitioning to the next chapter and achieving a smooth real estate transaction.

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