Divorce: How to Sell Your Home Quickly & Fairly

(upbeat music)

Everyone, welcome to the Danny Buys Houses
podcast.

I'm your host, Danny Johnson, real estate investor
and founder of Danny Buys Houses in San

Antonio, Texas.

Now, if you're going through a divorce or thinking
about it and wondering what to do with the house,
this

episode is for you. Today, we're tackling how to
sell your home fast and fairly during

a divorce here in San Antonio or any surrounding
areas in South Texas.

I'll walk you through the options, how a cash sale
can help, and answer some listener questions

along the way. So, let's get right into it.

All right. Divorce is tough, right? I've seen it
up close helping

people sell houses for over 20 years, and I've
been through it myself and do not wish it upon
anybody.

Uh, in Texas, we're a community property state,
uh, which means that anything you and

your spouse bought together, like the family home,

gets split 50/50 in a divorce settlement
typically, unless you've got a prenup saying

otherwise. Now, the judge will aim for equitable
distribution, but it's not always

simple. The house,

it's often the biggest piece of this puzzle and
who gets what.

So, what are your options?

All right. If you're- you're facing divorce,
you're separated maybe, and you're trying to start
planning

through, you know, if this plays out all the way,
what- what's gonna happen with all of our assets
and how are

we splitting things up, uh, one option is one of
you keeps the home,

right? Maybe you buy out your ex with cash or
refinance to cover their share of the marital

home equity.

Uh, it works if you've got the money and you, uh,

you know, and one person wants to stay. All right.

Two, you sell it

the old way. You list it with the realtor and, uh,
you know, you- you fix it up.

You- you have people come through, walk through
and make offers on it and, uh,

you know, sell it and close it and split the
profits.

Now, that option is gonna take time though.

Right now in San Antonio, 74 days on market
typically, uh, on average, and

you've got to agree to everything, you know, as
far as what the seller wants done or the...

I'm sorry, the buyer. If a buyer comes through and
they want certain things done or fix stuff after
the

inspection, all that kind of stuff, you gotta- you
gotta work through that and- and, uh, you know,
possibly

even have the funds to have to make those repairs.

All right. Three, you hold onto it with
co-ownership agreement.

Can be... You know, it's kind of rare because it
could be messy and usually ends up being a
headache,

especially if you guys are not getting along, uh,
that's- that's (laughs) probably not gonna be a
good

option. Okay? Now four,

and this is where Danny Buys Houses and other cash
home buyers come in, you sell fast to a

cash home buyer like us. And- and why- why choose
what's behind door number four,

right? It's- it's because of speed and fairness,
right?

Divorce can drag on enough without waiting months
to sell your house.

Now we buy your house as is, no repairs needed, no
staging, uh, no having

to schedule a bunch of showings for people all the
time and having to be out of the house because
people are

coming to look at it. You skip the fights over who
fixes the, you know, leaking

faucet and- and mows lawn and- and maintains the
home.

Uh, we can close as fast as, you know, a week or
so, five days,

uh, you know, or when you guys want. So, if it's
something like two or three weeks, you know, it's
whatever

works for you really. Uh, you can both get some
cash to split and move on.

So, here's how it works. You and your ex agree to
sell, right? That's the first step.

Sometimes a real estate, uh, mediator can help if
you can get some mediation involved,

uh, if you guys are not on the same page.

And- and sometimes it's even, you know, helpful to
go ahead and get a cash offer

to show your,

uh, soon-to-be ex-spouse,

uh, you know, to see this is what we can get
quickly without hassle. It...

You know, it's more of a concrete thing instead of
just a, you know, idea or, uh, you

know-

you know, a hopeful thing that- that you're just
talking about.

You know, if you have a concrete written offer,
you know, 'cause we don't charge anything for our

offers. There's no fees, there's no obligation to
accept the offer.

And, uh, you know, we do that for free. You can
just get an offer from us.

So, the process is one of you calls- calls us or
you fill out the form on,

uh, dannybuyshouses.com. You know, that's our
website, dannybuyshouses.com.

There's a fast cash offer form in there. It only
takes two minutes to fill out.

And, uh, closing happens,

uh... Well, we visit the house, right?

We look at what the value is, uh, once it's fixed
up, if it does need repairs, and we make you a
fair

cash offer,

right? So, if you guys agree to that, we can- we
can sign a purchase, uh, agreement and that'll

go to a title company, a local title company.

We use Old Republic Title

and they do all the paperwork, make sure
everything's in order properly and,

uh, and schedule that closing, right? And when the
closing happens, we sign, you sign.

You get a check, you guys are done. You each get a
check, right, if you want it split at closing.

All right. So,

uh, let's talk about an example. So...

And- and these are not real names because, you
know, I don't want to, you know, have any- any-
anything

identifying anybody, but Mark and- and Jen,

uh, is what we'll call them,

you know, divorce was final, but the house off of
Blanco,

uh, was- was kind of a-

a battleground. It needed a new roof, it needed...
Uh, neither wanted to pay for it.

They called us, we offered cash and closed in 10
days, right? That's pretty quick.

They split the money, signed the papers, walked
away. Uh, they were finally done with it.

No realtor's fees, no arguments more importantly,
and just a clean break, right?

Uh, just moving on, getting on with their lives.

Um, and that's what we do. We help... We make a
divorce property division,

uh, simple, right? Less of a hassle. You guys have
enough going on with- with the- with the

separation and divorce. So,

now this- this makes at least one of those a
little bit easier.

So, let's hit some listener questions that we've
received.

Um,

some people have sent these in and I want to get
to some of them. So, here we go.

First one is, "Uh, my ex won't agree to sell.

What now?" This is from Laura in San Antonio.
Laura, a tricky spot. You know, I don't deny that.

If the court's involved, they might order the
sale.

So, talk to your, uh, attorney or lawyer about
that.

If not, mediation can push it through,

uh, a lot of times, and we bought houses
mid-divorce with one spouse signing off, uh, after
a

judge's ruling and, uh, you know, we can work with
what the judge, uh, says can

happen. All right. Next, "Can we... Can we sell if
we owe more than it's worth?"

That's David in New Braunfels. David, uh, that's
tough. (laughs) Uh, y- you...

I mean, it's not gonna happen. You can try a short
sale.

We talked about that in the foreclosure episode.

I think that was Episode 6 of the Danny Buys
Houses podcast, uh, where the lender agrees to

forgive the difference of what you can actually
sell it for versus what was owed.

Um, check out that episode for more detail on that
though.

All right. Last one here. "How do we split the
money fairly?" This is from Tina in Boerne.

Hey, Tina. Uh, we pay you a lump sum at closing.

You and your ex, uh, can decide on the split.

Uh, usually 50/50 in Texas, but you know, if you
got a deal, we'll follow it.

Cash, uh, you know, when you get that payment out.
Um, and- and you can also...

You know, we say one lump sum, but it's the total
that's gonna be made on the sale.

So, if- if you guys are separating that, I think
that you could probably have, uh,

you know, that done at closing off... You know,
it's called the- the closing settlement statement.

You can look and have each half maybe go off of
there so that you each are getting that and

not worrying about one person getting into their
account and not sharing the rest, you know,
situations

like that. So,

no, that's possible.

All right.

So, are you ready to sell and move on? Here's how
you get started, right?

You go to dannybuyshouses.com and you do... You
fill out that fast cash offer form. Takes two
minutes.

Tell us about the house. We'll schedule to go out
and take a look at it and, uh, and make you a
quick

offer.

And there's no obligation, right? Like I said, if
one person's not on board, you can still get that

offer and- and, you know, it might help to have
that so they can see here's already

a bonafide offer. We can- we can make this simple
if we want to.

So, there's no pressure. If it's right, great. If
not, then no problem.

And, uh, that's how it works. So, I know divorce
is a storm, right? I get it.

I've been through it. Uh, the house can feel like
an anchor dragging you both down.

And I've been helping San Antonio homeowners since
2003, so I've seen how quick,

uh, a quick cash sale can help people and lift,
uh, that weight off their shoulders.

So,

if you'd like to- to find out more or get started
on that, just give us a call or head to the
website

there at dannybuyshouses.com.

Thanks everyone for tuning in and, uh, share this
with someone navigating divorce.

Uh, they'll thank you for it, I'm sure.

And next episode, we'll cover how to sell a rental
property fast with or

without tenants. So, you don't wanna miss that if
you're facing a situation.

Uh, I currently am with a tenant right now where I
wish I could sell to somebody instead of deal

with that, but- but that's, uh, a different story
for a different day.

Uh, this is Danny Johnson from Danny Buys Houses
saying take care and let's get you moving forward.

Sell smart. See you next time.