What to do re: divorce/house not selling/wanting to live in another town

[Deema8]

Getting divorced. Home been on market since September, dropped price, no offers. Estate agent saying market is terrible and to leave on market but may have to drop more in future, or come off market but return in spring. I'm in the south east.

I have been stuck in the marital home for two years and am working and socialising in a town 35 minutes away. The time I spend at home is impacting my mental health very badly.

I have considered getting a lodger in my home and using the funds from that towards a room or small property in the town I am working and socialising in. The property would remain on the market and I would be transparent about that, and charge on the lower end to compensate. One month rolling contract. They'd also have a three bed house to themselves a large amount of the time.

Are there any issues with this I'm missing? Can anyone else think of any solutions?

Please be gentle with any comments. Feeling at rock bottom at the moment.

Thanks

So sorry to hear how you are feeling.
I'm not sure about your lodger idea TBH- sounds a bit complicated and delaying the inevitable but maybe others can offer insight.
Can you afford to drop the price again now?
This is what I did and miraculously was inundated with serious buyers after months of trying and one reduction despite my agent reassuring the perfect buyer was out there. Things may or may not pick up in spring who knows, but your estate agent doesn't exactly instil confidence in getting a sale any time soon.

This must be such a tough situation, just remember it won't last forever.

My initial thoughts would be, will your mortgage bank allow you to have lodgers? Insurance? What about viewings if they don't keep it clean? What if they don't respect your house and you end up with more issues than it's worth?

I would say you may be better off as stinking it out and either reducing the price again for a quick sale or trying to find a way of being happier where you are while you wait for the spring (which historically I think is a better market). 6 weeks really isn't a long time in this market.

Do you need to sell to buy your ex out? How does he feature in all of this? It sounds like the burden is just on you currently?

I agree with standardmum and FasterMichelin. Taking a lodger is going to give you more stress and complication. Mental health is more important than money so perhaps it would be best just to grasp the nettle and drop the price down to the point where it's such a bargain it's bound to find a buyer? Okay you might lose a few thousand £££ (or even a few tens of thousands) but you'll make up that money again in the future and right now it sounds like you just need to get free of the current situation. Hope it all goes well for you.

I’m sorry your situation is so tough. I’ve am mid- sale and purchase in the south east and my experience is that well-priced property is selling. I know it probably isn’t the news you want, but you might need to reduce the price.

It’s worth saying that when we were beauty-contesting estate agents, the valuations differed by up to 25%. We went for an agent with excellent local knowledge who priced around the middle. It seemed like some agents were just in complete denial about the reality of the market.

I think there are essentially two markets at the moment - one for people prepared to wait for months and months in the hope of a buyer prepared to pay a premium, and one for people who want to get a deal done and get moving. I’m not sure if we’d have got more money by pricing higher and holding out - but for us that wasn’t the priority.

I think it’s working out which market you sit in and making a plan accordingly.

I can only imagine how frustrating this is. I agree with others that introducing lodgers is a very risky thing to do for you.

I had a quick look at the latest RICS report (below). It may be worth, metaphorically, putting your feet up for the next few weeks ahead of the budget as that is what seems to be slowing things down in the South right now. I suspect that Labour (like all new incoming Govs) are over-egging how bad the actions will be so that most people feel a sense of relief when the budget is finally delivered. Essentially, they'll duck the major issues and fail to address them.

Having said all that, you are entering the quietest time in the market so I think you may only have the choice between taking it off and resisting in spring, or cutting the price to make it an outstanding proposition. Make a decision after the budget.

www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/market-surveys/September_2024_RICS_UK_Residential_Market_Survey.pdf