When Selling Your Home In Divorce

This post was created in collaboration with Hello Divorce,  "... a service that empowers you to manage the process with easy to follow, steph-by-step guidance and affordable access to our top-notch lawyers. We break down the extremely complicated California divorce process into discrete, manageable steps." 

Selling Your Home in Divorce? Here are 6 Things to Think About.

One of the biggest tasks you face when divorcing is splitting up your assets. Chances are your home is the largest asset you share with your partner, and it may seem overwhelming to determine how to split up this asset. As a realtor who has gone through a divorce myself – considering these very same questions – here are a few things to think about to help make the process as smooth and painless as possible:

Reach an agreement on what will happen to the home

The first thing you need to agree on is what are you going to do with the home you both lived in.

You can either sell your home and split the proceeds, or one partner can buy the other partner out. If one partner buys the other out, they will need to qualify to refinance the home on their own. If one partner gives or sells the home to the other partner, they must make arrangements with the title company to remove the other person from the title.

Decide when to sell the home

Selling a home can take several months, depending on how much time is needed to make repairs and whether or not you can afford to wait for the best season to put your home up for sale. Ideally, if you have decided to sell the home, you will sell it together, split the proceeds fairly, and then proceed with your divorce. If you delay, the unknown of what profit, if any, you are getting out of the house, could stall your divorce proceedings as you are not sure what amount you are dealing with.

You’ll also need to decide where you are going to live once the house is on the market. Ideally your home will be vacant when it’s for sale, as that makes it much easier to show and sell to prospective buyers. Will you need time to find a replacement home? Do you want to ask for a rent-back from the buyers? These are decisions you have to discuss with your partner and share with your realtor.

Choose a realtor you both like

Selling your home is probably going to be last big project you are doing together as a married couple. Selling a home can be stressful for anyone, let alone a couple that is already facing divorce. There are many decisions you need to make together. It’s important that you are on the same page.  Remember that ultimately you have the same goal in mind; get the best price for your house. Keep your eye on the prize!

Choosing a realtor is the first decision you have to make together. Find someone you both like and both get along with. It’s important that your realtor truly is neutral and does not seem to prefer one side over the other. Your realtor should treat you like your marriage counselor or your mediator: neutral and fair to both of you.

Agree on a list price

This often is point of disagreement between realtor and seller. But now you two, as a couple, alsohave to agree on the list price. Depending on the market you are in, there will be a strategy for deciding on the list price of your home. In some areas, realtors will encourage you to list at a low price, to encourage bidding. In other areas, your realtor will advise you to list the price as close as possible to the actual sale price you want to obtain. To avoid any arguments between you and your ex about list price, default to your realtor’s suggestion. Remember: your realtor is an expert!

Agree on how much to invest in the sale

Almost every single house that goes on the market can use some sprucing up and some repairs. You and your ex will need to decide how much you are willing to spend or invest in preparing your house for sale. Costs you need to consider are: staging, any inspections (home, pest, etc.), home repairs, paint, landscaping, etc. Keep receipts and records of everything you spend as it will be needed later.

Negotiate the sale of your house

Putting your house up for sale and finding a buyer is only the beginning. Next come negotiations you might have to do to get into contract and then to close escrow. The buyers might haggle you on price, they may want you to credit them for repairs, they might want an extension on the closing date, and many other things. You and your partner will have to agree on these negotiations and come together on your decisions, then let your realtor do her work. You may not feel like a team, but you have to act like a team and have a united front to make the sale of your home as successful as possible.

If you can successfully sell your house together, it will provide you with big emotional relief and possibly even a financial relief. You can do it!

For the original article on Hello Divorce:
https://hellodivorce.com/6-things-selling-home-in-divorce/

How to Write a Love Letter

In this competitive Bay Area, California real estate market, often times it's recommended that buyers submit a "love letter" along with their offer.  When I mention this to my clients, they have usually never heard of this before.  What is the purpose of a real estate love letter?

Sometimes, when a home seller is looking at multiple offers, and has to make a decision on which buyer to go with, the seller will look at every aspect of the offer.  Obviously the price is important, as well as the terms (Any contingencies? How long is escrow?), and how qualified are the buyers? (Here is where proof of funds and approval letter are needed).
And lastly, who are these buyers?

You may think that a seller doesn't care who buys their house and really just wants the highest and best price.  But that's not always the case. Homeowners may have a special connection to their home, may have lived there for decades and are friends with their neighbors. They may want to select buyers who they feel will fit into the community they are leaving behind.

Also, if buyers are looking at two very similar offers, it could be that the love letter puts one buyer a notch above the other. Any little advantage helps in this hot real estate market.

I always ask the listing agent if they think a Love Letter from my clients may be useful. If the answer is "no way" then I don't bother, but often times you'd be surprised by the answer.  It can't hurt to ask. Be sure your Realtor is asking for you.

5 Tips On How to Write Your Love Letter

1. Keep it short. As with anything these days, people don't want to read anything long.  One page max, half page is even better.
2. Use the homeowners actual names.  Your Realtor can get that for you.  Much more powerful than writing "Dear Home Owners," 
3. You can include where you work, where you are originally from, where you went to school and any hobbies/interest. All things that could make a connection between you and the sellers. ("Wow, they play the ukulele too, AND they went to the University of Hawaii?")
4. Write about why you like the house/neighborhood. 
5. Do not include pictures of yourself.  Tempting, but it's not recommended due to discrimination concerns. 

Some clients find it overwhelming to have to write a letter like this.  I have samples I provide to my clients and I also tell them that when they write a letter once, they can re-use the same letter with slight edits.

In this market, be sure your Realtor takes every step possible to give you the winning edge when making an offer on the house you want.

How Much Is This House Worth?

"How much do you think this house will go for?", is the million dollar (quite literally!) question we often get as a Realtor.  In this wild Bay Area housing market, no one can predict what a house will go for.  We are all making guesses.

It's also important to know, that in our area, the list price of the house is not necessarily the price that the house will go for.  Sometimes, the list price is far off from the sale price, which makes the question of What Will This House Go For, even harder to answer.

I get this question often and I always have the same, sort of long, answer.  So I decided to write about it.

When deciding on the price of a house, the buyer should think of two things; 1) What could this house be worth, and 2) what is this house worth to ME, the buyer. How much am I willing to spend to make this house mine.

The first part is important because you don't want to feel like you overpaid for a house. Buyers remorse is real. Also, if you are depending on your lenders appraisal, you want to know that it will appraise at least to the price that you bought it at.  If it appraises at a lesser value, you may have to make up the cost difference with your own money, or loose out on the deal.  Your realtor can help with this part.  We do comps for you; look up what similar homes have sold in that area in recent months. It will give you an idea of what others have paid for similar homes.  Appraisers use comps, amongst many other criteria, so this information is valuable to look at as a buyer.

The second part is important in that it has nothing to do with the appraisal or the current real estate market. Instead, ask yourself, how badly do you want the house.  Is it your dream house? Does it fit everything you wanted? Have you been looking for ever and losing out on bids? Are you comfortable taking on that big of a mortgage?  Your dream house is going to be worth a lot more to you than to someone else.  In a sellers market you are competing with other buyers.
Or the reverse may be true as well.  It's not necessarily your dream house, but you would be happy if you got it for x amount.  Then that is the amount you should offer.

In this sellers market you are competing with other buyers and it's impossible to guess how badly other buyers will want a particular house.  I often describe to my clients that perhaps they are competing with a buyer for the same house, who has been looking forever, has flown into town for 4 days, absolutely has to buy a house right now, and has a lot of money to do it with. That's a tough buyer to compete against.  Or maybe the opposite is true, and for whatever serendipitous reason, there are no other buyers for this house, you are the only one, so you could get the house for a good price. These random situations could effect the price of the house.  It's not just the location, the cost per square foot, the finishes, etc.

To answer the question of How Much Is This House Worth, narrow it down to two factors; what could it appraise for (if you are dependent on a loan), and how much do you want to spend on it.
Now go out there and find your house!

Leslie Whitney - Helping you find your dream home.

Pros & Cons of Moving "Through The Tunnel".

"Through the tunnel" is how people living around here define the two areas separated by the Caldecott tunnel.  The Caldecott is a four bore tunnel via highway 24, which goes through the Berkeley hills.
One one side of the tunnel is Oakland/Berkeley and on the other side is Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga (also known as "Lamorinda") and Walnut Creek.

Oakland is urban, more traffic, more diversity, more restaurants, more things to do, higher in crime... just more urban.

Lamorinda is more suburban, more green, less traffic, more rancher style homes... less restaurants, some would say less diverse.

That's it in a nutshell.  They are both very different places in some regards, but also very similar because they are less than a quarter mile apart. (Actually, the tunnel is 3,610 feet, long, to be exact.)

The Lafayette Reservoir - popular hiking area.

And yet, people who live on either side will have lots to say about what it's like on the other side of the tunnel.  It can seem like they are two different worlds, these two sides.  But the truth is there are lot of people who have lived on either side and move back and forth. And let's not forget how short the distance between the two really is, so it's hard to imagine that it's all that different.

I have known people who have said, they will never ever want to live in Oakland, and then some who say they would never ever live in Lamorinda. But most people, I think, would be open to either.  And so the decision of on which side of the tunnel to live can be difficult.

American Kitchen - popular outdoor dining in downtown Lafayette

The public schools in Oakland are struggling.  Lamorinda has better public schools.  But some of the public schools in Oakland are good also, and there are some incredible private and charter schools there too.  Both places are beautiful.  Oakland has impressive bay views with all 3 bridges, or Lake Merritt views. Lamorinda has trees, rolling hills, nature, beautiful canyon views, the Lafayette Reservoir and warmer weather.

If you will be living in Lamorinda and working in Oakland or San Francisco - as many do - there's the commute to consider.  The tunnel itself can have some heavy bottle neck traffic.  But there is also BART (train) stations in Orinda and Lafayette, so that makes it convenient.

I have lived on both sides of the tunnel. I like them both and it's hard for me to chose which one is better.  As a Realtor, I get many clients who are relocating here and work in either Oakland or San Francisco and are debating on whether to live on the Oakland side or through the tunnel in Lamorinda.  I try to paint a picture of what either side is like, and try to guide them as to what will suite their lifestyle the best. (Are public schools the most important to them? Do they want a shorter commute to work? Is nightlife important?)

Lake Merritt - they have gondolier rides.

One fact is for sure; the Lamorinda side is hotter.  The weather is.  Sometimes 10+ degrees warmer. And I personally like that, but not everyone does.  Otherwise, you can't lose and we are lucky to live in the beautiful Bay Area at all!

How to Rent In the Bay Area.

One of the most common requests I get as a Bay Area realtor is help with finding rentals. The rental market is tight now, with prices high and competition steep.

There used to be a much bigger demand for realtors or property managers to help with finding rentals. Now, with Craigslist and other websites, it's more of a do-it-yourself endeavour and a realtor can't always help you as much as you might expect. Most rentals end up on Craigslist, and only some rentals end up on the MLS (multiple listing service), a database only available to brokers and realtors.

Times have changed... When I tried to rent a place in San Francisco in the late 90's, this was during the previous bubble and the rental market was crazy, I was up against applicants who had made VHS interview tapes of themselves to present to the landlords. 

A realtor can be of help to renters, however, especially if you are out of town. Your realtor can tell you about the neighborhoods, schools and commuting. And even more valuable, realtors have access to their own network who will often let their co-workers know of an off market rental, or a rental that is about to come on the market. Being ahead of the game is a plus in this market.  In addition, your realtor can ask her network for rental leads on your behalf.

Viewing places and gaining access to them with a realtor is also a benefit. You don't have to coordinate with the landlord or deal with general open houses for rentals.

Just as during buying or selling, your realtor can be your advocate and help you navigate your way through the competitive rental market.  Your realtor will also help you with the application process and makes sure you have everything ready ahead of time, to help you stand out.

Things You Will Need to Apply for Rentals:

• Print out your credit history, using one of many free services such as CreditKarma.com. Be ready to explain any blemishes on your report.
• Have your list of references ready.  
• Write a good cover letter.  Sell yourself. Mention your rental history, your family, your work or income source.

Be patient. Just as with buying a home, chances are you'll will lose out on a few before you get the rental you want.