house less than he thought

What is the name of your state? tx

my stbx thinks we can get a 100,000 or more for our house, which is unfinished and has told me i need to move out or start looking my lawyer told me not to worry, which i am not i can 't see a judge making a mom and two kids move during a divorce, when with our income combine we still can make the payments and i could make the payments on my own if needed.

but the thing is we got our tax report from the county they have it appraised at 84,000, well i had a market evaulation done yesterday the agent said if the house was in good condition they would list it between 75,000-80,000. but we have alot to be done and it would be listed for under 75,000 and we owe 73,000.

does this give me a better chance of getting to keep the house? if i get the house would i have to pay him equity later that was not there at the final of our divorce, if i sell the house in 5 years?

wichitafalls1 said:

What is the name of your state? tx

my stbx thinks we can get a 100,000 or more for our house, which is unfinished and has told me i need to move out or start looking my lawyer told me not to worry, which i am not i can 't see a judge making a mom and two kids move during a divorce, when with our income combine we still can make the payments and i could make the payments on my own if needed.

but the thing is we got our tax report from the county they have it appraised at 84,000, well i had a market evaulation done yesterday the agent said if the house was in good condition they would list it between 75,000-80,000. but we have alot to be done and it would be listed for under 75,000 and we owe 73,000.

does this give me a better chance of getting to keep the house? if i get the house would i have to pay him equity later that was not there at the final of our divorce, if i sell the house in 5 years?

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This is general information, but generally the appraised value of a home is what is divided at the time of the divorce. If one of the parties refinances the house into their own name, and takes full responsibility for the house, then they are the only party that benefits from any future sale.

If the party does not refinance, but must keep the other party on the mortgage, for a period of time, then that can change....because that party's credit is still tied up in the house. However many different kinds of agreements get made.

One step you need to take is to have a professional appraisal done. If the professional appraisal backs up the realtor's market evaluation you have room to negotiate with your spouse.

You also might want to check into whether or not it would be possible to refinance the house into your own name, or whether a refinance would be possible at all with the home's current condition and potential lack of equity.

thank you, i actually have the county tax office coming out next week to see what the true value is, hopefull it will lower my taxes too. i just knew the house was not worth what he thought and the housing market here is down 20%. i know it needs alot work but why should i leave where my kids have been raised and something i am paying to own and rent instead most apartments here are like 580 and thats for 2bed/1bath, no utilities.

just an update, the tax office came and looked at the house, they lowered the value from 86,000 to 73,500. we owe like 73,000 and change on the the thing. if we where not getting divorce i would be mad, we have been working on this house since we moved in 10 years ago. since we are getting a divorce it is a little funny, because he thought we would get 100,000 for the house atleast, and i would tell him that we couldn't, he told me i was stupid and didn't understand how it worked. the realtor came by too, before the tax office and he said he would only put it on the market maybe at 74,000 but that was pushing it with all the work that needed to be done and if it was completed he may put it at high for 75,000-80,000 but that was pushing it, that he thought would be good to get 75,000 if finished, then we would have to subtract realtor fees and all that stuff. sorry so long.

wichitafalls1 said:

just an update, the tax office came and looked at the house, they lowered the value from 86,000 to 73,500. we owe like 73,000 and change on the the thing. if we where not getting divorce i would be mad, we have been working on this house since we moved in 10 years ago. since we are getting a divorce it is a little funny, because he thought we would get 100,000 for the house atleast, and i would tell him that we couldn't, he told me i was stupid and didn't understand how it worked. the realtor came by too, before the tax office and he said he would only put it on the market maybe at 74,000 but that was pushing it with all the work that needed to be done and if it was completed he may put it at high for 75,000-80,000 but that was pushing it, that he thought would be good to get 75,000 if finished, then we would have to subtract realtor fees and all that stuff. sorry so long.

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The appraisal is more useful than the tax assessment in most cases. Generally, there is NOT a 1:1 relationship between the assessed value and the appraised value (I used to live in a house where the assessed value was about 1/6 of the appraised value).

In general, if you keep the house, you're going to have to pay him 1/2 the difference between the marital value (which is presumably the full value if you bought it when you were married and paid the expenses with marital funds) and the debt. So there is an advantage to you for the appraised value to be low.

Of course, he could claim that HE wants the house for that price and you end up in court with the judge having to make an arbitrary decision. If you have custody of the kids, that might work in your favor, but no guarantees. So if he wants the house or thinks that $75,000 value is too low, you will probably end up negotiating with him on the value of the home. For example, you might agree that for divorce purposes, you'll put the value of the home at $83,000 and you will take the home and pay him $5,000. Given the costs and uncertainty of litigation as well as the expenses of selling the house, you may find that this makes more sense than insisting on the appraised value.

Your attorney can help you with this.

quit claim deed

is this a form your lawyer draws up with divorce proceedings or do you get it from the county office? should you have it before the final when you go to court or does the court order start the process to get one?

wichitafalls1 said:

is this a form your lawyer draws up with divorce proceedings or do you get it from the county office? should you have it before the final when you go to court or does the court order start the process to get one?

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At the time of your divorce, the decree will tell you how assets are to be divided. If you end up with the house and the other person is ordered to sign a quit claim deed, then your attorney can draft it.

You can always ask for it to be signed before the divorce is final, but it would not be wise for the other side to do so. Better to wait until everything is all final and then sign the documents to settle things.

thank you, i just wanted to have as much as possible done that day in court so i would not have to see him, or have to wait on him.