For professionals
For family law attorneys and mediators
When the house has to be sold, you need a listing agent who won't become a third front in the case. Here's how I work, and how to send a client to me.
For professionals
How we work together.
The short answer
I list and sell the marital home for both spouses as neutral sellers' agent. Both clients get identical information at the same time, in writing, and both attorneys can be copied when the clients agree. I work within the ORS 107.093 restraint, written consent and any court order. I can prepare a CMA for settlement talks, but I'm not an appraiser and I don't give legal advice.
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Neutral by design
When I list a house in a divorce, my clients are the sellers, and that means both spouses. Under ORS 696.805 a seller's agent owes the seller care, loyalty, accounting and timely disclosure of conflicts, and I owe those duties to each of your clients equally, not to whichever one called first.
In practice that's a set of rules I don't bend. I don't carry messages between spouses. I don't negotiate one against the other, and I don't tell either one what the other said to me about the divorce. My job is the sale. Each spouse gets the Oregon initial agency disclosure pamphlet at first contact, as ORS 696.820 requires.
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Updates you can be copied on
Every update about the sale goes out as one email addressed to both clients. When they agree, both attorneys are copied on every one, and so is the mediator if there is one. Nothing reaches one side first.
That covers the comparative market analysis, showing feedback, price discussions, each written offer, inspection results and the estimated closing figures. Offers are presented promptly, as ORS 696.805 requires, and they go to both spouses at once with the same summary. I also keep a shared folder that both clients can open, holding every document in the sale, so when you need the signed listing agreement or the latest counteroffer your client can send it to you without going through me or the other spouse.
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Inside the orders and consent
Once the summons and petition are served, ORS 107.093 restrains both parties from transferring, encumbering, concealing or disposing of property the other has an interest in, without the other's written consent or a court order, until the judgment, a dismissal or a further order. I list on the written agreement of both owners or on a court order. Not on one spouse's word.
If there are temporary orders under ORS 107.095 on use and possession of the home or on who pays the liens, send them to me and I'll schedule showings and handle access within them, exactly as written. In Lane County, motions for exclusive use of the family home go through SLR 8.042, and I'll work around whatever that produces. Everyone on title signs the deed at closing, and the disbursement of proceeds follows the signed instructions or order that you and opposing counsel provide.
The restraint, as I explain it to clients.
What is the Oregon status quo order - 04
Numbers for settlement talks
Before anything is listed, I can prepare a comparative market analysis that both sides receive in identical form, with every comp and adjustment shown. It's a broker's opinion of where the market is. It isn't an appraisal, and I'm not an appraiser, so if the case needs an appraised value, the parties should hire a licensed appraiser.
I can also run estimated net proceeds at different prices, after the payoff, commission and other costs of sale, using the equity split tool or a written net sheet. When the court divides property it considers reasonable costs of sale and taxes under ORS 107.105(1)(f)(G), so those figures tend to be useful whether the house is sold or one spouse keeps it. Ask for one early.
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For mediators
The four counties I serve treat property mediation differently. Lane, Linn and Douglas county rules require mediation of custody and parenting time disputes but don't set up a program for property. Benton County is the exception: under SLR 12.015, parties can agree to mediate property, debt and support. In Linn and Benton, SLR 13.005 lets the court require arbitration when property and debt are the only issues left.
If you're mediating the house, I can join a session to walk both parties through the CMA, the net figures and a realistic listing timeline for their town. I'll answer market questions. I won't weigh in on who should get what.
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Where my role stops
I'm a real estate broker, not an attorney or a CPA. I don't give legal advice, I don't comment on how property should be divided, and when a client asks me a legal or tax question I send them back to you or to their CPA, which is also what ORS 696.805 expects of a seller's agent.
I'll tell clients what a statute or an IRS publication says, cite it, and stop there. I won't stretch a rule past what it says. Ask me anything.
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How to refer a client
Call me at 541.784.7745, or have your client fill in the consult form. It helps to know whether papers have been served, whether there's an agreement or order about the house, and how both spouses prefer to be contacted.
I'll reach out to both spouses, or to both attorneys if that's the channel, with the same introduction and the same agency pamphlet. Either spouse can start the conversation. Nothing gets listed until both owners have agreed in writing or the court has ordered it, and I'll confirm that with you before the house goes on the market.
I serve Lane, Linn, Benton and Douglas counties.
Book a consult
Sources · checked 23 Oct 2026
- ORS 696.805, duties of a seller’s agent
- Oregon Initial Agency Disclosure Pamphlet (ORS 696.820)
- ORS 107.093, restraints once a dissolution is served
- ORS 107.095, temporary orders while the case is pending
- ORS 107.105, division of property in a judgment
- Lane County Supplementary Local Rules 2026
- Linn County Supplementary Local Rules 2026
- Benton County Supplementary Local Rules 2026
- Douglas County Supplementary Local Rules 2026
Ask Larissa
Questions people ask
Can you give us a value for the judgment?
I can give both sides the same comparative market analysis, which is a broker's opinion of market value based on recent comparable sales. It isn't an appraisal, and I'm not an appraiser. If the judgment or a settlement needs an appraised value, the parties should engage a licensed appraiser, and I'm glad to share my comps with them.
What if only one spouse contacts you?
I'll talk with them about how I work, but I won't list the house on one spouse's say-so. I list on both owners' written agreement or a court order. When the other spouse is ready to talk, or when counsel arranges it, they get the same introduction, the same pamphlet and, from then on, every update the first spouse gets.
Will you share what one spouse tells you with the other side?
Anything that affects the sale goes to both spouses in writing, so neither has information the other lacks. Personal matters a client tells me about the divorce stay with me, and confidential information stays confidential even after the agency ends, under ORS 696.805. I don't pass anything to opposing counsel that both clients haven't agreed I should send.
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.