House Sale

[Dogmum45]

NC for this

I’ve taken the house as part of my divorce settlement due to the equity.
I can’t take the joint mortgage on myself as I don’t earn enough so the house is on the market and has been for a few months.
Ex can’t get another mortgage as he’s named on this. He refuses to rent even though he could afford it so he’s moved in with his GF and her parents 30 minutes away (rent free)

The pressure for the house to sell is immense!
However, I’m loathe to reduce the asking price (priced in the middle of the 3 valuations) as we’ve calculated the amount I get based on the house selling for a certain amount.

i can just about afford the bills etc if I’m careful but can my ex put pressure legally on me to reduce the house?
We both need it to sell so we can move forward but I’m not prepared to lose out even more financially than I already have (he has a VERY good solicitor)

Any advice? It’s so anxiety inducing 😢

Christmas period is notoriously bad time . It’s quiet. Usually activity picks up spring. That remains to be seen e seen with economists/inflation/job losses etc this year but I’d give it until end March and see what the market is doing then.

but ultimately if not selling price will be a key factor

If I were you I would reduce the price based on the advice of an estate agent, as it will cost you far more in legal fees and stress if your EXDH has to force the reduction through court, and you will end up in a much worse position than you would have been if you had reduced the price now (you may have to pay his extra legal fees, your extra legal fees and accept the price drop).

It's very difficult to accept given your position, so do speak to the estate agent and go with their recommendation.

It’s only been on the market for 7 weeks so I’m not going to do anything at the moment. I think there has to be a certain amount of time before he could start pushing for a reduction.
Once we get into the Spring months and if there’s still no interest then I’ll reassess.
His GF has bought a house in the same village as me so he will be living with her.

The idea was to sign the mortgage into my name. I had it sorted but at the last minute, the mortgage company decided my wage wasn’t high enough! 😵‍💫

Have you tried other companies/brokers? If you can cover the bills, there may be a way. This gap while it's not selling may be your chance to give it another go with your own mortgage application. Otherwise I'd wait before dropping the price. It's not been on the market long and you can easily argue to wait till Spring is in the air. Divorcing couples are notorious for dragging their heels with sales anyway so you can be one of those if it suits you. DH can't call the shots.

I’ve thought about changing brokers but I’m on a really low rate and I would have to pay a redemption fee on the remaining mortgage as well. Then I would have to pay for a new mortgage and the rate would be double what I’m paying now so my payments would increase substantially even if I extended the length of the mortgage.
But it’s an option I’ve considered.

I’ll wait until Spring and then possibly appeal to my current provider and try again.

Ultimately I want the house sold as much as he does. It’s crippling me financially paying for it alone. But I can’t afford to lose out on a huge loss of the equity if I reduce.

If the wording of the order is written in the standard way and the order was that you either buy him out or sell, then there is probably wording to the effect that you must make your best endeavours to release him from the mortgage. This will mean if you can get another mortgage and release him now you must do so, even if it is at a much higher rate. You cannot simply serve your own interests here, you have to obey the court order so I would check that wording very carefully.

No wording to that effect. Just that I would transfer the current mortgage into my name as option A and sell the house as the default option. So we’ve moved to the default option as per the FO.
No breach of contract. Checked with my solicitor
I couldn’t afford to pay the payments on a mortgage at a higher rate. I was refused the current one. I’m certainly not going to put myself in a position where I couldn’t pay the mortgage and the DC end up having their home repossessed just to get him off it.
Neither of us is buying the other out.