Same numbers
Every market analysis, offer and net sheet goes to both of you at the same moment. Nobody hears it second.
Larissa Mayfield, CRES · Oregon divorce home sales
Sell the house together.
One broker for both of you. The same numbers, the same updates and the same access for each of you, from the first price to the last signature. I work for the sale, not for one side.
- Same numbers
- Both of you
- One plan
LarissaIf one of you would want to know it, both of you hear it.
Where are you right now?
Start from where you are.
Pick the stage closest to yours. I’ll show you what the sale looks like from there, and what to ask your attorney first.
Nothing is filed yet. This is the cheapest moment to get the house right, because nothing has been promised and nobody is in a hurry.
- 01
Talk to an attorney before you talk about the house
What you agree to now can end up in your settlement. Get advice on your own situation first.
- 02
Get one set of numbers you both can see
I can prepare a market analysis that goes to both of you at the same time, so nobody is arguing from a different Zillow screen.
- 03
Leave the house as it is
Keep paying the mortgage, the insurance and the utilities. A missed payment hurts both of your credit, whoever moved out.
- 04
Run the arithmetic privately
The equity split calculator shows what a sale nets and what different splits look like, with your own numbers.
You have decided the house goes. The work now is putting the decisions in writing before the listing, so the sale never becomes the next thing to fight about.
- 01
Choose one broker together
One broker, working for the sale, sending the same information to both of you.
- 02
Agree the price plan in writing
The list price, and the dates and amounts of any reductions, decided before the sign goes up.
- 03
Agree who pays what until closing
The mortgage, the repairs and the utilities, written down. Your attorneys can fold it into your agreement.
- 04
Agree how the money will be held
Closing pays off the loan and the costs first. Where the rest goes is something to settle with your attorneys before you list.
Once the summons and petition are served, Oregon law restrains both of you from selling or borrowing against property the other has an interest in, unless you have the other’s written consent or a court order (ORS 107.093).
- 01
Ask your attorney about the restraint
It lasts until the judgment, a dismissal or a court order. Find out exactly what it means for your house before anyone signs a listing.
- 02
Get the written consent, or the order
If you both want to sell, the consent goes in writing. If you don’t agree, that’s a question for the court.
- 03
Keep both attorneys in the loop
With your permission I can copy both attorneys on the same written updates, so nobody hears about an offer second-hand.
- 04
Know what the court can decide meanwhile
Under ORS 107.095 a court can make temporary orders on who lives in the house and who pays the liens while the case goes on.
The judgment is the map. If it says sell, the sale follows its terms: who chooses the broker, the price, the timing and how the proceeds are paid.
- 01
Read the house section with your attorney
Note every date, every percentage and every decision it gives to one of you or to both.
- 02
Bring me the judgment’s terms, not your feelings about them
I build the listing plan around what it actually says. If it leaves something open, your attorneys close it before I list.
- 03
Line up the closing instructions early
Title and escrow pay out exactly what the signed instructions say. Get those agreed while there is time.
- 04
Ask your CPA about the exclusion
IRS Publication 523 has specific rules for divorced owners. How they apply to you is a question for your CPA.
A buyout can work well, but only if the spouse who stays can carry the home alone. A quitclaim deed changes the title, not the loan.
- 01
Find out if a refinance is realistic
The keep-or-sell calculator shows the new loan a buyout needs and a rough payment, before anyone talks to a lender.
- 02
Agree how the buyout price is set
An appraisal, a broker’s market analysis, or both. Agree the method in writing first and the number stops being personal.
- 03
Talk to a lender early
Fannie Mae has a specific path for buying out a co-owner. A lender tells you whether you qualify; that answer decides everything else.
- 04
Have a plan B written down
If the refinance doesn’t come through by a set date, the house goes on the market. Write that date in now.
Why divorce sales
A house in a divorce isn’t a harder house. It’s a harder room: two owners who may not be speaking, two attorneys, sometimes a court order, and a lot riding on one number. What helps most is someone steady who sends both of you the same thing at the same time, and writes the decisions down. That’s the job I do.
Larissa Mayfield
How the neutral sale worksThe promise to both of you
I work for the sale.
Not for one side. Three things you can hold me to.
Decisions in writing
The price plan, the bills and the prep budget agreed before the listing, so the sale runs on a plan instead of a mood.
Inside your case
I work within your written agreement or the court’s orders, and copy both attorneys on updates when you want me to.
Twenty years on the lending sideWhy me
When one of you wants to keep it, the plan turns on a lender.
Before I sold real estate I spent more than twenty years in commercial banking, much of it in agricultural and rural lending: evaluating properties, assessing risk and working with appraisers. That matters most in a divorce when one of you wants to keep the house, because everything depends on whether a lender will say yes.
- Selling before the judgment, with written consent in place
- One spouse buying the other out, checked against a lender first
- Acreage, wells, septic and outbuildings
- Divorces that come with a move on military orders
Every divorce sale has a wrinkle
Which one is yours?
Before it’s final
Papers served, and you still want to sell
A buyout
One of you wants to keep the house
Not cooperating
When one of you won’t agree or won’t sign
Still living there
Showings and privacy with one of you at home
Underwater
When the loan is bigger than the price
Acreage
Wells, septic, outbuildings and more time
Court-ordered
When the judge decides the house sells
Military
When a divorce comes with a move on orders
Run the numbers, privately
Curious? Play with it.
Nothing you move here is sent anywhere. When you want real figures, I’ll send the same ones to both of you.
Equity split
What does the sale leave for each of you?
Net proceeds$0
- Spouse A
- Spouse B
- Payoffs and costs
The payoffs and costs are more than the price. Read what happens when you owe more than the house is worth.
An estimate for discussion. The split is decided in your case, by agreement or by the court (ORS 107.105); the starting values are examples, not your costs. Nothing you move here is sent anywhere. Use your own numbers.
Keep or sell
What would a buyout ask of the one who stays?
Rough monthly payment$0
- Current loan
- Buyout payment
- Equity left over
- New loan, and % of value ·
Principal and interest only; taxes, insurance and closing costs come on top. Whether you qualify is the lender’s call. Nothing you move here is sent anywhere. Use your own numbers.
Ask Larissa
Questions couples ask first
Who do you work for when both of us are selling?
Both of you, together, as the sellers. I owe you both the same duties under Oregon law (ORS 696.805), and I send you both the same information at the same time. I don’t take sides, carry messages between you, or negotiate one of you against the other.
Can we sell the house before the divorce is final?
Often, yes. Once papers are served, ORS 107.093 restrains either of you from selling or borrowing against the house without the other’s written consent or a court order. With written consent, a sale can go ahead. Ask your attorney how it applies to your case before anyone signs a listing.
Do you give legal or tax advice?
No. I’m a real estate broker, not an attorney or a CPA. I’ll tell you what the law and the IRS publications say, with the source, and send you to your attorney and CPA for how it applies to you.
Can I talk to you without my spouse knowing?
Yes. Reaching out on your own is private, and I won’t contact your spouse about it. If you both decide to sell with me, from then on you both hear everything about the sale at the same time.
Confidential consult
One conversation, no pressure.
Tell me where things stand. I’ll tell you what the sale could look like for your situation, and what to ask your attorney first.