We all grow up on similar myths: find the love of your life, ride home to your castle, and live happily ever after. However, like all myths, this rarely translates perfectly to real life. In Silicon Valley, work has become many people’s primary marriage, so after awhile, your proverbial castle could be in a state of disrepair.
Before you move on to your post-divorce life, you’ll need to do everything you can to make your home more attractive to buyers. The benefit: you’ll get better offers and you’ll be able to start your new chapter in a better financial position.
Before you start the process of selling your home, you’ll need to prepare the property by performing any necessary cosmetic touch-ups inside and out. Spring cleaning, fresh paint, and minor repairs can go a long way toward generating strong offers.
A great real estate agent will help you determine exactly what your home needs, and help you establish a timeline for completing repairs so your home will be ready to appeal to the widest selection of buyers.
Once you’ve done the cosmetic work and officially put your home on the market, potential buyers may point out additional areas they’d like you to improve as a condition of their purchase. These requests are most commonly seen post-inspection, and typically involve repair items like roofing, plumbing, or structural damage.
Post-inspection repairs can get quite expensive which, during a divorce, may put you and your spouse in a snag. You could get stuck in a Catch-22 position where you can’t afford to make repairs without selling the house, but you can’t sell the house without making repairs.
This is where escrow credits can make or break your deal.
Escrow credits allow you to allocate a portion of your home’s sale proceeds to pay for repairs after escrow closes. In essence, you’re paying for the repairs your buyer requested, but you’re not paying out-of-pocket before the sale is complete.
This can be tremendously helpful if you and your spouse are on a tight budget, or if you can’t make the home accessible to a contractor before you move out. It’s also helpful if you just don’t want to deal with the headache of managing repairs during a divorce in Silicon Valley.
Seller credits don’t affect the recorded value of the home, and they can either be paid to the buyer or directly to the contractor who performs the repairs. Your real estate agent can advise you on the best course of action for your situation.
So if you’ve received an acceptable offer but you’re struggling with the cost of contingent repairs, relying on escrow credits may be your ticket to a fast and effective sale. Escrow credits can help you get your home sold, your proceeds disbursed, and allow you and your family to move on to the next phase of your lives.
If you have any questions or need help navigating your next real estate divorce transaction, contact Shannon Rose, Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert.
Shannon Rose
DRE# 01422955
Los Gatos, CA
1-650-550-8646
DivorceRealtor@RoseGroupRE.com
SHANNON ROSE/ROSE GROUP
DRE #01422955
KW BAY AREA ESTATE
DRE #01526679
16780 LARK AVE.
LOS GATOS, CA 95032
