Cost of sale? | Mumsnet

Emsy999 · 2024-05-14T16:13:38+00:00

Hi everyone, Myself and my husband are going through a messy divorce. He is offering to buy me out of the family home and is working it out as the following: House valuation - outstanding mortgage - early repayment fee - cost of sale = remaining equity ÷ 2 to work out 50% share he has offered me. How do I know that these figures add up and are correct? He's stating the cost of sale figure is 3% of the value of the house? Is this correct please? Also, should I be paying the early repayment fee and the cost of sale considering he is borrowing money from his family to essentially pay off the mortgage and buy me out? Many thanks

FatfunandADHD · 14/05/2024 18:25

Do you agree with the house valuation he has offered?

Outstanding mortgage and early repayment, these should be constantly adjusted to be correct on the day of the transfer.

I'd say it's cheeky to get you to pay sales costs as there are no estate agents fees and when I did the same process with my exH (I bought him out) it cost me about £800 for a solicitor to change over the title deeds but I took these costs out of my own share.

Is he keeping all the furniture if so make sure to ask for an allowance to be made for the value of furniture left behind as you'll have to repurchase everything again.

prh47bridge · 14/05/2024 18:51

Early repayment fee and cost of sale are not relevant. The property isn't being sold and, if he wants to pay off the mortgage early, that is his decision. Nothing to do with buying out you. However, as the PP says, there will be some fees to be paid to transfer your part ownership of the house to him.

Original poster

Emsy999 · 14/05/2024 20:51

FatfunandADHD · 14/05/2024 18:25

Do you agree with the house valuation he has offered?

Outstanding mortgage and early repayment, these should be constantly adjusted to be correct on the day of the transfer.

I'd say it's cheeky to get you to pay sales costs as there are no estate agents fees and when I did the same process with my exH (I bought him out) it cost me about £800 for a solicitor to change over the title deeds but I took these costs out of my own share.

Is he keeping all the furniture if so make sure to ask for an allowance to be made for the value of furniture left behind as you'll have to repurchase everything again.

I think the valuation price is fair.

We remortgaged last year onto a fixed 2 year rate so I thought the early repayment fee would be the same at any point during that period?

He's claiming that I am liable for half of the cost of sale fees (which are over £9k) even though he is buying me out.

I moved out of the family home a year ago and he wouldn't let me take anything with me. I had to start afresh which has put me into serious debt. I will ask the court to take this into consideration at our final hearing in October.

Thank you!

OP posts:

Original poster

Emsy999 · 14/05/2024 20:56

prh47bridge · 14/05/2024 18:51

Early repayment fee and cost of sale are not relevant. The property isn't being sold and, if he wants to pay off the mortgage early, that is his decision. Nothing to do with buying out you. However, as the PP says, there will be some fees to be paid to transfer your part ownership of the house to him.

Thank you for your reply.

The property isn't being sold at the moment but down the line when/if he decides to sell he's claiming it shouldn't be down to him to pay it all.

It's his choice to buy me out and use his family's money to pay off the mortgage I get that. But if both of us wanted to stay in the house and subsequently had to sell to split the equity we'd still have to pay the early repayment fee wouldn't we?

OP posts:

titchy · 14/05/2024 21:02

But if both of us wanted to stay in the house and subsequently had to sell to split the equity we'd still have to pay the early repayment fee wouldn't we?

Yes but the basis of the percentage split is what IS happening, not if this happened or that happened.

FatfunandADHD · 14/05/2024 21:02

Emsy999 · 14/05/2024 20:56

Thank you for your reply.

The property isn't being sold at the moment but down the line when/if he decides to sell he's claiming it shouldn't be down to him to pay it all.

It's his choice to buy me out and use his family's money to pay off the mortgage I get that. But if both of us wanted to stay in the house and subsequently had to sell to split the equity we'd still have to pay the early repayment fee wouldn't we?

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My understanding is that he can not speculatively ask you for money for the cost of sale that are not actually incurred. If he does incur cost for early repayment then yes you are liable for 50% of these.

I would ensure that it is mentioned that you moved out with nothing furniture wise and therefore wish for the contents value to be in some way considered in their considerations.

prh47bridge · 14/05/2024 21:23

Emsy999 · 14/05/2024 20:56

Thank you for your reply.

The property isn't being sold at the moment but down the line when/if he decides to sell he's claiming it shouldn't be down to him to pay it all.

It's his choice to buy me out and use his family's money to pay off the mortgage I get that. But if both of us wanted to stay in the house and subsequently had to sell to split the equity we'd still have to pay the early repayment fee wouldn't we?

Show quote history

Depending on the lender's terms an early repayment fee may have to be paid in that situation. However, if one of you bought another property with a mortgage from the same lender, that may avoid any early repayment fee.

But the important thing here is that you aren't selling the house to split the equity. The reason for an early repayment fee is his decision to use his family's money to pay off the mortgage. That is his choice. He could equally wait until the early repayment fee is no longer payable and then pay the mortgage (although it is likely that the interest payments would be more than the fee).