Argument about value of house post divorce

[redeemthepathgirl]

Hello if anyone has any advice or tips , would be v v grateful. Divorce and consent order complete and the latter does specify joint conduct of sale by agreed estate agent of marital home at price agreed by both parties. Just found out by post that XH has told estate agents to reduce house price without telling me and all the marketing infor etc has already been altered. Estate agents not returning calls or emails. Is there anything I can do..other than weep? Reduction is big..and really affects my share of the proceeds but not his as much.

Speak to the estate agents and get a realistic assessment from them about what the property is worth. Consider your position after that.

Go and speak to your solicitor

Surely if it's been agreed that the sale is a joint sale at a pre-agreed price then the estate agent should have had agreement from both of you before dropping the price

Hi Resolution and Sarsaparilla.. thanks for those thoughts...yep, have made appointment for Monday...more expense of course..I think in any case estate agents are in breach of their contract with me as they did not get my agreement. That point aside ( and who likes estate agents), the agents are pretty slimey and cavalier..I suspect XH will do this again. If we go back to court I guess judge will only say we use 2 different agents..XH not in family home and has no access even when seeing our kids..

You can't use 2 estate agents - it has to be one. the court will expect a report from the agents, so you should go ahead and speak to them at least before you incur any cost.

Just had letter from his lawyer stating he want firesale.

What exactly did they say?

The judge might suggest or tell you both to get an independent valuation, agreed and appointed between the solicitors. This might not be good news for you, as my exh demanded an independent valuation of our house, xh believing it was worth more than my ea said, and the independent one valued at much much lower.

Which, at the time was great for me, but it wouldn't be for you. So be careful.

It's crap this, hope it works out for you.

Hi and thanks for interest
He is making an application to court for sole conduct of sale, time limit to sale..thus firesale is obvious ( he is a control freak) which is a variation of consent order. He asks for my retrospective consent to the variation in price of house ( reduction) which he and ea have already done on web etc etc!!.My name is on contractwith ea and consent order specifies jt conduct. Seeing lawyer Monday. I get a percentage share of proceeds.I really feel I cant trust ea let alone xh. He doesnt seem to care what it goes for!
Shocking.. am really upset..you think you have a deal and then this happens but then again that is why I left him! House market stale everywhere.

Unfortunately the court will want to see the house sold for whatever it will fetch in the current market.

You need to get your own surveyor (not estate agent) to tell you how much it's worth if you want to challenge the marketing price and the suggested sale price.

agree with resolution

you will have to defend application and if he is saying that the estate agent has recommended it, no interest at the higher price, you are opposing price drop unreasonably because you want to stay there as long as possible etc (all arguments run very often and on the face of it plausible especially if estate agent backs him up - after all you HAVEN'T got a sale at the higher price) then it is relatively difficult to defend.
You will have to get another estate agent to say that what he is doing is unreasonable in the market, convincingly. Perhaps to say that it hasn't been on the market long enough (if that is true) or that a price drop is sensible but not as much as he is suggesting (and justify it). Your ex will say that that agent just wants the business and again, the judge might think that is a factor.

your ex will also say that the lower price might drum up interest and get several people bidding on the property achieving a higher price and again that is fairly difficult to contest, it might.

Property tends to sell at its market price, really.

What is current price and what is new price? Or if you don't want to give the figures, what is the percentage drop? and how long has it been on the market?

ps if by the time your case gets before a judge, if he has got an offer at that lower price it is going to be very difficult to defend I'm afraid.

Hi significantly, he has agreed to change ea.

heyt bb..order was early sep..just got notice for hearing re sale..not dragging my feet, getting minor works done and rehauling garden myself. Lwyer thinks he has no grounds for sole conduct anyway..

hey bb tx for interest...There is no specification re time at all in the consent order . I assume he is going to try and get a time frame as well as price variation..( I have already got other est agents to quote). He is v difficult to deal with and highly litigious... The order indicates jt conduct of sale as he is very controlling so not sure if he wd get direction on that...tx..bit hacked off really as I am working hard to paint and tidy house