Selling the marital home without adding to the divorce
A divorce sale has two clients and no agreement, which is a situation most buyers handle badly. We have been through plenty of them, and the approach that works is the same every time. One written number, delivered to both parties and both attorneys at once, with nothing said to one side that is not said to the other.
We will deal with your attorneys directly if that is easier, and we will hold a closing date to suit a school year or a lease. If the house would net more listed, we will tell you that too.
A number, not a range
The largest asset in most divorces is the house, and it is the one nobody can price until it sells. So the divorce stalls on a guess, and each side's guess tends to favor the person making it.
What we provide is one written number on a Commack house in its current condition, the same number to both parties on the same day. It converts the biggest open question in the divorce from an argument into a figure everybody is working from.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom on Elder Drive. A house on Cobb Lane. Both in Commack, bought and paid for by us.
Commack is roughly 36,536 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11725, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, split-level, ranch. Around Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. We have been buying across Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the Commack 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.
No showings, no staging, no strangers
Condition is not a problem here, and in a divorce that matters more than usual, because repairs mean deciding together who pays for them.
We buy as is. Deferred maintenance, a half finished project somebody stopped caring about, contents still in the house. None of it needs resolving before we make an offer on the Commack property, and none of it becomes another line item in the divorce settlement.
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 Commack
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Commack houses actually sell for.
Work it against Commack's own numbers. The median sale here is $840,000. A 5% commission on that is $42,000, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $16,800. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $58,800 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 Commack the median house takes about 29 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 74 to 89 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 | $840,000 (Commack median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$42,000 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$16,800 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 29 days (Commack 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 | 74 to 89 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 | $781,200 | The number we put in writing |
Assumptions: 5% commission and about 2% seller closing costs on the listing side, and both move from deal to deal. Repairs and the cost of holding the house are not deducted, since they vary by property. A well-kept house with a good agent can come out ahead of a cash sale, and if that describes yours we will say it.
What happens when one spouse will not sell
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 Commack house is worth today.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
Every line below is a cost of listing a house in a divorce the retail way that simply does not arise here.
- Agent commission
- $42,000 at 5% of the Commack median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $16,800 on a $840,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever the house needs, paid up front none
- Cleanout and removal
- Charged by the truckload, and done before the first showing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities while you spend 74 to 89 days finding a buyer and waiting for their loan none
If one of you wants to keep the Commack house
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 Commack 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 Commack 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 Commack 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.