Selling the marital home without adding to the divorce
Selling houses is what we do, and in a divorce we do it in a very particular way. Everything goes to both sides at the same time. Nothing gets negotiated with one spouse behind the other. The number is written down so nobody has to remember what was said in a phone call.
We also know who to call. Divorce attorneys, appraisers who do formal valuations for court, and CPAs who handle the tax question on a marital home. Those are separate professions and we will point you toward people we trust.
Why a divorce sale needs a number, not a range
An agent gives you an opinion of value and a listing price. What actually arrives, months later, may be higher or lower. That uncertainty is very hard to divide, and in a divorce everything eventually has to be divided.
A written cash offer is a fixed figure. It goes straight into the negotiation, into the attorneys' file, into the spreadsheet where the rest of the divorce settlement lives. Some couples accept it. Some use it as a floor and list anyway. Both are sensible outcomes.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A house on Edward Avenue. A house on Sipp Avenue. Both in Medford, bought and paid for by us.
Medford is roughly 24,247 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11763, and the housing stock is mostly ranch, hi-ranch, cape cod. Around Route 112 and Horse Block Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Medford 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 Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the Patchogue-Medford 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.
Selling a Medford house without showings
Keeping a house presentable for strangers is a shared job, and in a divorce the shared jobs are exactly the ones that stop getting done. Then the showings go badly, the price drifts down, and it becomes one more thing to blame each other for. That is the ordinary course of a listed divorce sale, not a worst case.
There is no sign with us, no listing, no photographs online, and no open house in Medford. One visit, one number, one closing date.
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 Medford
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Medford houses actually sell for.
Work it against Medford's own numbers. The median sale here is $585,554. A 5% commission on that is $29,278, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $11,711. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $40,989 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 Medford the median house takes about 25 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 70 to 85 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 | $585,554 (Medford median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$29,278 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$11,711 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 25 days (Medford 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 | 70 to 85 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 | $544,565 | The number we put in writing |
The agent column uses a 5% commission and about 2% of seller closing costs, which are typical rather than fixed. It leaves out repairs and holding costs because no two houses are alike there. Where a house is in good condition, listing with a capable agent can beat our number, and we will be upfront if that is the case.
Both names on the deed
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 Medford house is worth today.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
Listing a house in a divorce the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $29,278 at 5% of the Medford median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $11,711 on a $585,554 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Paid per load, before a single buyer walks through none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities for the 70 to 85 days of finding a buyer and waiting on their mortgage none
When a divorce buyout beats a sale
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 Medford 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 Medford 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.