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My son and his wife are getting a divorce and he is buying out her share in the house. The house is mortgage free. The house needs a lot of maintenance items and cosmetic issues, too…. Worn carpeting, other stuff. It has an in-ground swimming pool that is sinking into the soil and the retaining wall needs support. The home is built on a hillside. And, unusual to homes in the area, his house has a port a cache in the front of the house but no garage. Homes in the area sell for +/- $400K. Their house is kind of a California Tahoe style house; not typical of the style found in their DFW area neighborhood.
My DIL is resisting splitting the cost of getting the house appraised and wants to just have a realtor give them a market price estimate. My son is firm on his stand they need a professional appraisal. Since its such a unique property for the area, do you think a single appraisal is enough?
LOL. Yeah, and sometimes a person spends a dollar on a lottery ticket and it pays off several million dollars... but this doesn't happen often and is certainly not the norm.
But, I had family selling their home last fall (in another state), when the market was super hot. They met with a couple of realtors before listing.. One gave a listing price that was far too low, so they went with a different realtor. House went to contract the day after going on MLS and sold for over list. My two cents, not all realtors are knowledgeable.
I’d get one appraisal and if either of them doesn’t like the results, the unhappy party can pay for a second and then they’ll use the average of the two as the price.
Imagine finding the appraisal too low and then paying for another and it comes in lower....
If they can't reach a compromise it gets argued before a judge while the lawyers happily fatten their bank accounts.
People get awfully stupid during a divorce.
They are using a mediator. Their agreement is to bring the house value and his amount of payment to her to the mediator who will draw up the final divorce documents. They have been separated quite some time and have settled all other property and child custody (he has custody; she has taken all negotiated possessions and furnishings) issues. This is just the last detail as far as coming up with a value on their house so she can be paid her part and buy another house for herself (and her SO.). My son is eager to wrap things up and is not asking for child support. Its a long marriage with a long history of trying to rehab his wife; she’s an alcoholic and is a serious potential liability as far as driving and health issues.
Last edited by WorldKlas; 08-20-2021 at 10:06 AM..
That was foolish. He could have used that as a bargaining chip for how much he pays her on the house.
Maybe he still can.
Or if they want to avoid more grief they can take an average value from the real estate sites and adjust for the repairs.
One more thing. He should have, by now, had a contractor write up what all the repairs would cost.
Or, he can just roll over and do it her way.
It seems it was a pretty toxic relationship and often, the best way to get out is not worry about certain issues such as child support that will continue to drive contact between the two parties. Often, the best way is to take what you can get and be done with it. Not everything in life is worth maximizing a return. I gave up a lot during my divorce years ago and you know what? It was worth every.single.penny.
OP: good luck to your son. It sounds like it’s been as bad as it can get for your family.
An appraisal will give market value, but appraisers are not trained construction or engineers. They will be comparing your house to other recent sales with similar styles and square footage. They will not look carefully at any potential structural issues like retaining walls. I would recommend you get the pool and retaining wall issues settled separately, progr to determining value.
That was foolish. He could have used that as a bargaining chip for how much he pays her on the house.
Maybe he still can.
Or if they want to avoid more grief they can take an average value from the real estate sites and adjust for the repairs.
One more thing. He should have, by now, had a contractor write up what all the repairs would cost.
Or, he can just roll over and do it her way.
Thanks much for the idea to go ahead and get an estimate on the costs for the pool and retaining wall structural issues. I have texted him with your thoughts. Really appreciate it!
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