Selling house

[nofuturewithout]

If you receive an offer on the house you jointly own with your ex and one agrees but one doesn’t then what happens? Do you both have to agree on the offering price before it’s accepted or if one wants to sell, even if the offer is way below the asking price, is it allowed?

Without a court order you both need to be in agreement to sell.

A court order can transfer responsibility to complete the sale to one of you.

It’s impossible to say who is being unreasonable here. The market is stagnant and property is taking time to sell at lower prices. One of you might be rushing to sell at a rock bottom price. One of you might have marketed it too high.

Thanks so much for replying. Basically he has a heck of a lot more money than me. When we divorced I took 30% of our assets due to the house deposit being made solely by him. He can buy a house outright but I only have a deposit for a house in the area we live. He is wants to accept an offer made on our house that is significantly below the asking price. He is insisting we sell but if we do at that price then I can’t afford a 3 bedroom property of any description in the area where we live. I wouldn’t get a mortgage for that amount even with my deposit. He knows this which is why he is trying to fuck me over. He earns a six figure salary but I earn a low two figure.

Stand your ground then. Don’t let him bully you. It’s not like you aren’t willing to sell so would cost too much money and time for him to take you to court.

How long has the property been on the market? If it is a few weeks then it would be reasonable to refuse it in the expectation that the market will pick up again in September.

There is also a possibility that you are marketing it at too high a price. This means you don’t get included in searches for people who would make a better offer.

Maybe go onto the property board and post a link asking people for advice on whether to sell at that price. They can be an objective group who will tell you if it is overpriced or not reflecting recent market falls.

There is also the divorce factor, some people are put off buying in this situation. They worry the sale will fall through because you aren’t both vested in selling. You can just end up attracting investors or low ball offers.

Say you’ll agree if he gives you a bigger cut.

So couple things

you need to be realistic in current market and be objective about the price you expect to achieve. Talk to the agent, look online and what’s seeking and sold prices and use these as a guide

dont be seen to draw out selling as your ex could ultimately take it back to court to remove you from the process in which case you’d get no say

but also don’t be bullied into taking something ridiculous just because he wants to move on

is the % agreed in signed consent order ?

If you can’t agree a sale then either party and take it back to court for a judge to decide.

My now OH had a signed consent order which stated that the FMH had to be put up for sale by a certain date. When that date came the EW refused to sell, refused to get valuations etc and stated she wouldn’t be selling and had ‘changed her mind’ (despite agreeing to the sale as part of the consent order 5 years earlier).

My now OH took it to court & the judge signed over the entire process to the EH (my now OH). The house was sold within 3 months.

Before it gets to that stage (as you don’t want the process taken out of your hands) I would see if you can agree.

No, we are divorced and I accepted 30% of our assets. I don’t want his money and never have which is why I accepted the 30%. I need the house to sell as closer to the asking price. It’s up for £600 000 but we were offered £500 000.

It’s been on the market for 5 weeks

5 weeks in the Summer isn’t time to panic and take a price drop. But you should do some research on current market conditions and make sure it is being marketed properly.

Forget about the exs motivations. He can’t force a sale at this stage.

What you really want to know is whether you have marketed it too high given such a low offer. Ask for feedback on their offer. Check recent sale prices. Ask for some objective opinion on the price.

Being divorced doesn’t stop you negotiating.

Buyers aren’t going to make offers based on what you need. They make offers based on what they think the property is worth.

IMO not getting many offers in the summer isn’t a definitive indication that it over priced. But house prices are falling and mortgages are getting more expensive. You really need to get some objective advice on the price.

Also check out prices on the property you want to buy. They will also have fallen.

You could also try to get your ex to give the 30% of equity at the price it was valued at when you negotiated. He could say no but you won’t know until you try.

@underneaththeash it does if they have signed consent order snd ex won’t agree anything else ( and why would he ?

The house next door is not modernised inside: old fashioned kitchen and bathroom, garden overgrown and is up for £80 000 more. We pug it up for £30 000 less than it was valued at as I had some my research and I do want to move asap but I don’t want to give the house away!

Buyers aren’t going to make offers based on what you need. They make offers based on what they think the property is worth.

This says it all really. It's no good comparing with the house next door which is up at a higher price, because presumably that won't sell either - unless there's something about it which genuinely makes it a more valuable property than yours.

The market is pretty crap and with the cost of living crisis and uncertainty about interest rates, it's a buyers market and people won't buy if they feel the price is too high or that they can do better by waiting.

It's early days so I wouldn't panic yet, but ultimately your hand will be forced if you try to insist on a higher price than you have offers for.

I don’t know anything about your local housing market. Therefore my below advice is very generic.

There is some research that suggests asking prices are 20% higher than current sale prices.

If estate agents valued it at 570 and they know their market that is probably the ceiling price in a falling or stagnant market. I would probably be prepared to take c 5% below that.

A savvy buyer who knows the local market will have a good idea what your property is worth. They will know the asking price is too high and I think they will be looking to offer 500-550, depending how cheeky or serious they are. Personally 550 would be a serious offer.

Again I would say because it is the summer and the house has only been on the market for a few weeks you can hold your nerve for a bit.

Presumably you got a number of agents in to value the house before you placed it on the market - what range of prices did they advise? On the non-modernised house, a GP surveyor I know told me people often pay over the odds for unmodernised properties because they underestimate the work / cost.

I would ask the EA not to mention the divorce, people will worry about the sale going through or will guess one of you may be desperate to sell, so give a very low offer.

Look at recent sold prices in the area, not offer prices. Can you evidence the asking price?

Work out how valid the offer is before ruling it out is your asking price realistic

Update: we got offered £5 k less than the asking price the week later and he said we needed to accept the first offer. He did this so I would receive less.

This is the best win-win advice where you appear cooperative and as long as you get the amount you want, who cares where it comes from.