A Collaborative Divorce Real Estate Professional isn’t just any Broker!
Many people don’t understand how divorce listings can be the most complex listings a REALTOR® will experience as Real Estate Professional. Typically, a normal Real Estate sale is a mutual decision by both spouses to sell the home due to similar motivations. Whereas, divorcing couples will likely have different motivations, personal agendas, possibly high conflict and not of the same mind when making decisions. Some decisions being made by both parties may not be by choice, due to the legal process and the fact the family home could be under the jurisdiction of the courts.
According to National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than 99% of Realtors do not have any divorce experience or training. When you consider the fact, the family home is typically the largest and most emotionally driven asset, it is high stakes for both spouses. Since the family home can be the largest asset, every penny counts for the future of both spouses. Most homeowners do not understand how hiring an untrained Real Estate Broker or REALTOR® can cost the divorcing couple thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars.
An experienced Collaborative Real Estate Divorce Professional has the training, knowledge, skills and tools to ensure divorcing couples will experience a Real Estate sale or purchase with low conflict and minimal challenges. Whereas, an untrained REALTOR® or Real Estate Professional who does not understand the nuances with divorce and Real Estate, may escalate conflict by not being cognizant of certain sensitivities and dynamics. In fact, these Real Estate Professionals usually cause more emotional pain by being unaware of the necessity for neutral communication and representation.
If a divorce is eminent, the divorcing couple may not know their options when it comes to dealing with the marital home. As with all marital homes, it is a place where many good memories were formed, however with divorce, there could also be many bad memories. Those bad memories typically bring a lot of baggage to the marital home with one or both spouses. As a result, one spouse may want to stay in the marital home and the other may want to stay or leave. Depending on the finances of both parties, there are different options regarding how to deal with the marital home. For instance, sell the marital home and purchase or rent two separate homes or apartments; one spouse stays in marital home for a period of time and then they both sell; nesting with both spouses while alternating from the marital home and a shared apartment, or one spouse stays in the marital home and buys out the other spouse. These options and a few others can be discussed in detail with your Collaborative Real Estate Divorce Professional.
As part of the Collaborative Divorce Process, your Real Estate Divorce Professional will typically recommend other neutral Collaborative Divorce Professionals that include a Collaborative Divorce (Family Law) Attorney(s), Collaborative Divorce Facilitator, Divorce Financial Planner (Financial Neutral), Divorce Mortgage Advisor, Estate or Probate Attorneys, Appraisers, Accountants, Therapist, and Insurance Professionals. In other instances, the Collaborative Divorce (Family Law) Attorney(s), Collaborative Divorce Facilitator, Divorce Financial Planner (Financial Neutral), Divorce Mortgage Advisor, and Therapist may recommend a Collaborative Real Estate Divorce Professional be brought in to advise on the market price of the marital home or referral to help the divorcing couple sell the marital home and purchase replacement homes.