• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Husband wont list house at Current Market Value - mid divorce

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.



Bali Hai

Senior Member
We owe more than the origional price because of closing costs. There are obviously too many issues here. But to anyone who was completely judgemental and disrespectful to me? That was rude and unnecicary.
Get the property appraised.
Sell the property.
Selling price - mortgage + costs = equity.
Equity\2=the proceeds you each get.

OR, you pay out to him his share of equity less closing costs and you refinance. OR, he pays out to you your share of equity less closing costs and he refinances. Quit claim deed will be transfered to buyer at closing.

Not that hard.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Get the property appraised.
Sell the property.
Selling price - mortgage + costs = equity.
Equity\2=the proceeds you each get.

OR, you pay out to him his share of equity less closing costs and you refinance. OR, he pays out to you your share of equity less closing costs and he refinances. Quit claim deed will be transfered to buyer at closing.

Not that hard.
his name is on the title as well. She cannot sell the house without his agreement and involvement

especially since there is an ongoing divorce, selling the house is a very unlikely immediate action. There is almost assuredly more to the marital estate than just the house. Heck, for all we know, the husband may be entitled to every penny of equity from the house, or just the same, he may be entitled to none of it or anything in between.


OP is just going to have to wait and work this issue through as the divorce proceeds.
 

single317dad

Senior Member
There is almost assuredly more to the marital estate than just the house. Heck, for all we know, the husband may be entitled to every penny of equity from the house, or just the same, he may be entitled to none of it or anything in between.
That's the vibe I'm getting here. I imagine the husband plotting, thinking (wrongly) "OK I get the 401(k), she gets the money from the house, so I'll screw her on the house."
 

gillbott

Member
OK.

In 2000 we bought the house for 280k
He moved out voluntarily in July 2012
Later in the summer, we agreed to sell the house -- location re girl's school, too big, seller's market, our only asset and etc.
We signed and filed the divorce papers in January 2012 (one of those here's the forms let us file for you places)
He lost his job (chemist) in February 2013, due to misconduct, and was denied unemployment
The divorce stalled because he didn't have any income to report
He decided, on his own, to move to his parent's house, even brought some things here to store
I hired an attorney about two weeks ago and he said not to worry, that no judge will agree.

I know once an order is filed, he will be in contempt of court if he violates it by continuing to be unreasonable about selling the house for it's best offer. But where would he go to court and when? He's 300 miles away (by his own accord, OK??)

My husband has a mental/personality disorder, diagnosed in about 2001, for which he was hospitalized for about three weeks about a year later. His diagnosis is not a factor in this, although it may have an impact. It is arbitrary, because whether it is his neurosis, or his wanting to manipulate the situation, he still won't agree to sell the house for what it's worth. He is unemployed, and I have been paying all the bills, including the mortgage since March. I do not want to seek psych testing, it won't change the fact that he is being difficult.

In about late April, we agreed to sell the house. I am an educator and have the summer off, so the plan was to get it going no later than May 30. Our realtor did the comparitives, I did some upgrades (from my inheritance) and she wants to list the house at 399k. Before using my inheritance becomes an issue here, I told my husband I was going to do these upgrades in February -- I said that they would make the house more valuable and he was fine with it then. There is a good chance it will sell for more because of it's location and etc. Houses are going for 20k more than listing price in this area.

So, we go to the meeting where she presents her prospective sale price, and we are supposed to do the initial signatures and decide on a date to list it. Suddenly, he "wont sign for anything above 290k." This is where the 19k closing costs come in - commission, transfer fees, taxes and etc. She explains that this will actually leave us short and we will have to come up with this money (19k) to be rid of the house. I'm not sure why he made it for 10k more than we bought it for -- whatever, not important.

All I have been trying to find out is if there is a way that I can list the house for what it's worth. I know that we both have to sell it. I know that we have to agree on a sales price first. I know that there are tons and tons of signatures and negotiations and calls with the realtor, I know that it is time sensitive. I am familiar with the complexity and the emotional difficulty of selling a house, I was successor trustee for my Dad's house. If he "won't sign for anything above 290k", how can I sell this house. How am I going to get the signatures and etc, given how impossible he is choosing to be, coupled with the fact that he's 300 miles away?

I am not trying to break the law, I'm simply wondering if there is some sort of doccument, or court order, that will allow me to sell the house without needing his signatures over and over. I only had one offer on my Dads, which is 300 miles away. The paperwork I had to fax, the signatures, the disclosures, and it was crazy. I had to keep one stack of papers organized and I was overwhelmed. I was wondering about Quitclaim only because it would make it so that I could take care of all of it. I have a feeling that he will be impossible for every signature. I do not want every last dollar. I just want to get as much equity as it has for our entire family and when the money is available, we can divide it at the settlement.

This is not about me trying to manipulate/be the powerful one, this is not about a custody battle, this is not about whether he is currently earning his salary, and it certainly isn't about secret assets. Please don't be disrespectful to me by bringing this all up.

This is about the fact that the house is worth significantly more than what he will agree to list it for, and I'm stuck because he's also on the deed.
 

Bali Hai

Senior Member
That's the vibe I'm getting here. I imagine the husband plotting, thinking (wrongly) "OK I get the 401(k), she gets the money from the house, so I'll screw her on the house."
Whew! I thought you were going to advise her to acquire sole title to the property through adverse possession.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
You ever think hubby just wants to get a bidding war started by undervaluing the house and have more than one bid? Happens all the time on HGTV. Maybe that is his thought process for right or wrong. There are various reasons possible why hubby is doing this.
 

gillbott

Member
No. the 399 list price is low, actually -- all the other comps start with a "4". the bidding is what's going to flip him out even more. I just hope that when my attorney (he's been in court since last Thursday) gets him this order, he signs and just decides to be reasonable. I'm worried because of the amount of signatures needed, and like I stated initially he just "does what he does and that's what he'll do". His sister said something like this. I'm feeling good not talking to him for awhile. The marriage itself, lol, belongs on a different support site entirely...He's probably just sad and wants to hold onto what represents what we had.

Thanks everyone, even those who thought of me as a custody yielding manipulator from hell.
 

Silverplum

Senior Member
I'm feeling good not talking to him for awhile. The marriage itself, lol, belongs on a different support site entirely...He's probably just sad and wants to hold onto what represents what we had.

Thanks everyone, even those who thought of me as a custody yielding manipulator from hell.
It's been a pleasure.
 

Bali Hai

Senior Member
No. the 399 list price is low, actually -- all the other comps start with a "4". the bidding is what's going to flip him out even more. I just hope that when my attorney (he's been in court since last Thursday) gets him this order, he signs and just decides to be reasonable. I'm worried because of the amount of signatures needed, and like I stated initially he just "does what he does and that's what he'll do". His sister said something like this. I'm feeling good not talking to him for awhile. The marriage itself, lol, belongs on a different support site entirely...He's probably just sad and wants to hold onto what represents what we had.
Thanks everyone, even those who thought of me as a custody yielding manipulator from hell.
If that's the case, I'm sure it won't last too awful long.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
if the agreement requires the house to be sold and assets divided, I suspect a court will simply reinforce that agreement. If that is not the specific action in the agreement, I do not see the court ordering the house to be sold until they enter the final decree. It would be part of the post divorce actions to separate the assets.

Until it reaches a point the OP seeks the courts to partition the estate, I do not see the court demanding the ex do much of anything concerning the sale of the house. If he wants to stick with the under valued price, what the judge would likely do is move other assets to the wife's distribution column to offset the loss of proceeds based on a qualified appraisal.

If there are truly no other assets available, then the court will likely order the house be sold, post decree, and the proceeds divided. If he will not sell it for the true value and the OP refuses to sell for less, then the wife can head back to court and ask the property be partitioned. In the end, he might actually end up closer to the net proceeds with his current position than the OP with her position.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Can the courts order a POA for just the selling of the house - his attorney? his sister? Someone on DAD's side so it's not her messing. For instance, when we sold the house with the kids, we all agreed on the price. It was my son's wife who signed all the paperwork since my son was overseas.

In this case, dad gets X amount of time to comply with the signatures. Past that, you an invoke a POA.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Can the courts order a POA for just the selling of the house - his attorney? his sister? Someone on DAD's side so it's not her messing. For instance, when we sold the house with the kids, we all agreed on the price. It was my son's wife who signed all the paperwork since my son was overseas.

In this case, dad gets X amount of time to comply with the signatures. Past that, you an invoke a POA.
order? nope.


the guy can name a POA if he so chooses. In a divorce, that is usually effected by hiring an actual attorney.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top