Tool
Keep or sell?
Before anyone talks to a lender: the new loan a buyout needs, and roughly what it costs each month.
The short answer
In a buyout the spouse who stays usually refinances: the new loan pays off the old one and pays the other spouse their share. This shows that loan and a rough principal-and-interest payment at the rate you enter. Whether you qualify is the lender’s call, so get their answer in writing early.
Keep or sell
What would a buyout ask of the one who stays?
- 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.
How to read the numbers
The agreed value is the number the two of you settle on for the house, from an appraisal, a market analysis, or both. Agree the method in writing before anyone sees a figure; then the number stops being personal. How a buyout price gets set explains the options.
The buyout payment is the departing spouse’s share of the equity. Added to the current payoff, it is roughly the new loan the spouse who stays has to qualify for on their own income. The bar shows how much of the house that loan would cover; the higher it climbs, the harder the loan usually is to get.
Use the rate a lender actually quotes you, or the weekly national average on Freddie Mac’s survey as a starting point. Then take the loan amount to a lender and ask for a written pre-approval before anything is signed. If the answer is no, read what if I can’t qualify to refinance alone, and can I keep the house and buy out my spouse?
Sources · checked 23 Oct 2026
Ask Larissa
About this tool
Does a quitclaim deed take my spouse off the loan?
No. A quitclaim changes who owns the house. The mortgage is a contract with the lender, and only the lender’s release, a refinance or a sale ends someone’s obligation on it.
Is there a special refinance for divorce buyouts?
Fannie Mae can treat buying out a co-owner as a limited cash-out refinance if the home was jointly owned for at least 12 months, there’s a written agreement, and the borrower keeping the home receives no cash from it. A lender decides whether you qualify.
Can I just take over our FHA loan?
FHA loans can be assumed with the lender’s approval, but the original borrower stays liable unless the lender releases them. Ask the servicer about assumption and release together.
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.