Selling the marital home without adding to the divorce
What we have learned from divorce sales is that the process matters as much as the price. Anything that requires the two of you to cooperate repeatedly turns into one more argument.
So we make it single step. One visit, one written offer, one closing date, and everything through the attorneys if that is preferable. We will also say honestly whether listing the Massapequa house would put more into the pot to divide, because you should hear that before the settlement is drafted rather than after.
Getting a firm figure on the Massapequa marital home
Ranges cause arguments. If the house is worth somewhere between two numbers, one spouse anchors on the top and the other on the bottom, and the divorce spends three months there.
A firm offer ends that particular conversation. You may decide the number is not enough and go to market instead, which is a perfectly good outcome and one plenty of divorcing couples choose. What you will not do is keep arguing about a range, because there will be an actual figure on the table.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A house on Roosevelt Avenue. In Massapequa, bought and paid for by us.
Massapequa is roughly 21,355 people in Nassau County, ZIP 11758, and the housing stock is mostly cape cod, hi-ranch, colonial. Around Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Massapequa stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have been buying across Nassau County for 15+ years. We know what the Massapequa Union Free School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
Nobody has to stage the house through a divorce
The median house in Massapequa sold for $765,000 and took about 27 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 72 to 87 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. All of that assumes somebody keeps the house show ready for months, which is a great deal to ask of a household in the middle of a divorce.
We look at the house once, in whatever condition it is in. Nothing gets painted, nothing gets decluttered, and nobody has to be out by ten on a Saturday morning. A divorce is hard enough without a lockbox on the door.
Closing the divorce sale on a date that suits both sides
If one person needs to stay until the end of a school year, or until a new lease starts, we can set the closing for then. The date is one of the terms we agree, not something a buyer's mortgage timetable dictates to you.
In a divorce that flexibility is worth real money, because the alternative is usually one party paying for two households while everybody waits on an underwriter. Divorce settlements get signed on the assumption the house closes when it is supposed to.
What the two paths cost in Massapequa
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Massapequa houses actually sell for.
Work it against Massapequa's own numbers. The median sale here is $765,000. A 5% commission on that is $38,250, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $15,300. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $53,550 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Massapequa the median house takes about 27 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 72 to 87 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $765,000 (Massapequa median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$38,250 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$15,300 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 27 days (Massapequa median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 72 to 87 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $711,450 | The number we put in writing |
For the listing side we have used a 5% commission and about 2% in seller closing costs; your real figures may differ. Repairs and carrying costs are left out because they depend on the house. If yours is in good shape, a good agent may well get you more than we would, and we will tell you if so.
When only one of you wants to sell the Massapequa house
If one spouse wants to sell and the other does not, the answer is usually not found in real estate. It is found in the divorce itself, and your attorney is the person who can tell you what a court can order.
Our part is simpler and we do it well. We provide a written offer that both sides and both attorneys can see at once, which at minimum removes any argument about what the Massapequa house is worth today.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a house in a divorce, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $38,250 at 5% of the Massapequa median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $15,300 on a $765,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever it takes to make it listable, paid in advance none
- Cleanout and removal
- Per truckload, before anyone views it none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities through the 72 to 87 days a listing takes to sell and close none
Buyouts, and when they work better than selling
There is also a tax question, and it is a real one. How proceeds from a marital home are treated can depend on filing status and timing, which is a CPA's territory rather than ours.
Ask one before the divorce settlement is finalized, not after. We will happily give you the sale figure to bring to that conversation, and we will wait while you have it. Nothing about our offer expires because you took two weeks to get proper advice.
Common questions
Do both of us have to agree to sell the Massapequa house?
Everyone on the deed has to sign the contract. We can put the same written offer in front of both parties and both attorneys at once, so nobody in the divorce is working from different information about what the house is worth.
Can the offer go to our attorneys directly?
Yes. Send us their details and we will deal with them rather than with either of you, if that is what the divorce needs.
Can we sell before the divorce is finalized?
Frequently yes, and plenty of couples do, with the proceeds held or split according to the agreement. How that gets structured is a question for your divorce attorney, and we will work to whatever they set up.
What if my spouse is still living in the Massapequa house?
That is workable. We can view the house at a time that suits whoever is there, and we can set a closing date that gives them a reasonable window to move. Occupancy does not stop us buying.
Will you tell my ex what I said to you?
We do not carry messages between two sides of a divorce. The offer goes to both parties identically, and anything you tell us about your circumstances stays with us.