Couple divorcing/separating

[lightand]

Hi

If you bought a house where the couple were divorcing or separating, did it all work out ok?
Did it all take longer?
Was it all more fraught?

I know every case will be different, but wondered how it all worked out.
Asking for a friend/type thing.

I've brought and sold in this situation.
First house I tried to by and fell in love with but the couple got back together.
Another house I did actually buy but threatened to pull out. The couple were not even in the same country. I gave them a deadline and they pulled through.
I've sold as a separated couple but it was all amicable.
Honestly, these days, the agent does the viewings so really you'd have no real idea of the circumstances of those selling, other than what the agent told you.
If the property was right, it wouldn't make any difference to the buyer.

We bought one house when a couple divorced. He moved out early leaving her behind. He took light fittings, leaving bare wires and his bodged diy jobs. On completion, we arrived with our removal van to find her still with all the furniture in the house, attempting to ferry things in a transit van. In the end, we moved her stuff on to the lawn and moved ours in.

It was more complex because they were obstructive with one another and we had a lot to sort out from his poor diy.

We’re currently buying a property from a divorced couple. The sale of the house is subject to a court order. It’s slow progress as neither are willing to communicate with each other and neither of them seem to want to take the ‘lead’ on the sale of the house. I’m hoping we get there eventually but it does feel like it’s going to be hard work!

These are all the types of potential problems I am concerned about.
It may be a bumpy road.

I like some of the ideas on here if it all does go bad.

@lightand There are several potential pitfalls but there don’t have to be.

They are selling. Do both parties agree with this? Is one party very aggrieved with selling up? Or are both ready to move on and want a quick sale? If they are committed to the sale, no issues really.

Do they have the financial agreement dividing up assets? If it’s been agreed, there is a need to sell one assumes and they have agreed on splitting assets.

The biggest issue would be if one party is very reluctant to leave and wants to stay and buy other party out. This person might be trying to get the money together and delay the sale. If one party feels aggrieved, they can stall decisions abs said to get at other party.

So my advice would be trying to delve into how far they are into the divorce and is there 100% agreement that the house is sold. Is there a financial settlement agreed? You also have 2 people having to find new properties so maybe finding out post sale arrangements they are making could be useful, but they might not say! You don’t want a sale delayed because one party cannot move out.

My friend's buyer turned out to be divorcing and selling the family home when they were several weeks into the chain and she started chasing up why nothing was happening. Although he was SSTC on his home when she accepted his offer she hadn't known he was still living with his ex wife who was also searching for her new property (he had viewed her house with his new partner so she had just assumed they were selling their previous property together). She essentially got stuck in two chains as he and his ex were trying to line up both their onward purchases to complete on the same day. It took 7 months and an ultimatum that she would put it back on the market before it finally all went through. I understand why people don't want to reveal all their personal circumstances but it certainly put me off buying or selling to someone going through a divorce.

It might be one or both owners are already out of the house. Without asking no one knows. It does matter what the dynamics are between the vendors.

I dont know full circumstances.

I think I will come back to this thread and the posts, if/when things get sticky.

Thanks for your help.

Following as we've offered on a house with a court ordered sale. It's currently taking around a week for each bit of negotiation to go through which is not filling me with optimism.

If they accept the latest offer I'll be having a bit of the cards on the table chat with the EA about what we're expecting. It's been on the market since just after Xmas as well so it's not like they've got people beating a path to their door.