Divorce and the house

TBagpuss

If your partner and her ex can't come to an agreement on steps to take (such as reducing the price, taking it off the market an decorating and then remarketing, or whatever, then the only way to force a sale would be through a court order.

If a court accepts that one person is not taking reasonable steps to progress things, they can make orders to facilitate a sale - ultimately this could include evicting the poerson whp was obstructing a slae to allow the other to effectively market the proeprty, but that would be alst resort.

As a frst step, it would be sensible for your partner to speak to the estate agetns. Ask them about what feedback they have had from viewers and what their recommendations are.

If they didn't get fedback from viewers, then she can instruct them specifcally to do so, and be proactive about following up. She needs to make sure that the agents know she and ex are not together, and ask them to lt her now about all enquiries, and to tell her immediately if there are any issues (for instance, if ex is slow in responsible to them to agree viewings, or if he cancels or changes viewings.

If they are saying that there are issues then she would have to get them to confirm that in writing - a court is much more likely to be willing to take steps to enforce a sale if they have evidence - e.g. letters from the agents saving "The feedback we got was similar from all viewers - the place as a tip, the seller was off-putting and we felt the place was overpriced" together with a letter saying ' based on the condition of the property, how it compares with others and the feedback provided, we recommend reducing the asking price to £xxxxxx.

How exactly she goes about it depends on other things -is there already a court order in place? if not, why not? If there is, what does it say about having conduct o the sale, and about the asking price? It may be that she can apply back to the court which made the order to ask them to enforce it, or to direct that the price is dropped or the agents changed, of those things can't be agreed.

Local conditions matter , too. How quickly do similar properties normally sell, in the area (the agents should be able to give you information about this)

Caz3121

has she considered offering to buy him out and move back in. Then she is in control of the tidying up and the eventual sale price but that will not necessarily mean a quick sale
Is the house in a popular area? do other properties sell quickly?

unholyangel

klongson wrote: »

My partner has been divorced for 2 years and her ex lives in the family home, the house is up for sale but only 3 people have been to view and he showed them round !!!

What happens if the house does not sell, all our money is tied up in the house , we are renting until it gets sold.

Was a financial settlement not made as part of the divorce proceedings (or rather, after the divorce proceedings)?

Fosterdog

We viewed a house a few years ago that was part of a divorce with the husband still living there. We actually really liked the house, we could look past the clutter where he had made no effort to tidy before we viewed (the place wasn't dirty but was a lived in) we decided to not even bother to put in an offer because it was obvious that the guy didn't want to leave, it was the home he had bought and done up for his growing family and was clearly still devastated that his wife had left him and taken his children, he was clinging on to the little bit of his old life he had left and wanted to keep it as it was for when his children stayed with him. We didn't offer partly because we felt bad for the guy and partly because we could see there being an issue if it came to completion day and he refused to move out.

The house was on the market for around five years until it finally sold, I don't know if he was forced out or if he finally chose to move on with his life but I saw an Sold STC sign go up a few months back and new people moved in a few weeks ago. We viewed it around three years ago when it had already been on the market for two years with very few viewings and only one offer which was rejected.

Diary

klongson wrote: »

You have no idea how long we have been together so do not put 4+4 and make 9 please

You're correct - I shouldn't have assumed you weren't together while your girlfriend was married. I'm old fashioned I guess.

pinkshoes

Does the ex have a tenancy agreement?

Could the two of you move in? That would hurry the sale along...

3 viewings in how long?

They both have to agree to the sale.