Why The House Keeps You Up

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome back to the Texas Family Lawyer podcast. My name is Alex Hunt. I am the managing attorney of Hunt Law Firm serving clients throughout the greater Houston area. Today we have a really exciting episode. We're going to be talking about something that a lot of clients will say keeps them up at night when they're thinking about the finances in their divorce. That's their house. Do they have to uh sell their house? Can they keep their house? What's it going to look like to buy out the other spouse? And can they afford to keep the house? I'm very excited to have a special guest with me today, Jennifer Francois, who is a certified divorce real estate expert. Welcome, Jennifer.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Um, so who is this video for? Uh by the end, my hope is that you'll understand the three options for uh your house. You'll understand a little bit more about community property and how that plays into deciding what to do with your house. And then I'd like to hear a little bit more about a regular realtor versus a certified divorce real estate expert and how that can really impact um, you know, how your divorce plays

Meet A Divorce Real Estate Expert

SPEAKER_00 1:08

out. So, Jennifer, tell us a little bit about yourself and and how you found this niche.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Yeah. So um born and raised in Katie, lived here my whole life. Um I'm one of the old school Houstonians, so I've I've been a little bit of everywhere. Um, went to school at the University of Houston, have a degree in business management. I've been in real estate my whole career from managing apartment communities to short-term furnished housing to um direct home sales for about the last eight years. Um, I have a real estate team here in the Katy area. I service the entire metropolitan area of Houston, so all sides, Katy, Fulshire, Cyprus, downtown, you name it, I'll go there. So um, yeah, so I a few years back, I was in a conference, um, a real estate conference, and they had a breakout session about divorce real estate. And I've had a number of at high at that point, I'd had a number of real estate transactions that were as um a part of a divorce. And they're just difficult and a lot of times really messy. And so I went to that breakout session and they um talked about it was it was given by a a CDRE, which is a certified divorce real estate expert. And I felt like it was a niche that was really underserved and one of the most difficult areas of real estate to do well, because it's it's it's not fun for anybody. Um, so I decided to learn more and um I found the certification program um that I now have the designation for, and it was um an intense, intense um certification, lots of classes. I think it was about a six-month-long um program. And now I feel so much better when I'm servicing my divorced clients because we do it with grace and everybody gets through it with as little drama as possible.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Yeah, well, I I mean, most of the time when you've got a real estate transaction, you've got two people that want to be part of that transaction. You're dealing with two parties that own have ownership of a piece of property that don't want to have ownership of that property anymore. And and, you know, there's other nuances and things that are going on outside of the real estate transaction. You know, there's custody issues, they might have a trial date coming up, and all of that is playing a role in their real estate uh transaction. And so I'm I'm glad to see that there's more folks that are getting these certifications. It's still not many of you.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, there's not.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Um, and and it's a really important thing to have somebody that we can turn to that can then um, you know, that has shown an interest and has the specialized skill set in order to work with our clients.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Exactly. We wouldn't have brain surgery with a general surgeon, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

No, absolutely not. So um, so let me get to the question that I probably, when it comes to financial settlements, uh, that I hear the most, and that's who gets the house in the divorce.

Community Property And The Home

SPEAKER_00 4:16

And I think to understand that question a little better, we need to understand community property. Uh, Texas is a community property state. Right. There are several states in the United States that are community property states. Most of the Northeast is not. A lot of the southern and western states are. And the way that I explain this to clients is it's essentially your property, your assets, your money all falls into three different buckets. So you've got a big bucket in the middle called your community property, but then each of the spouses has their own separate property bucket. And when you earn money during your marriage, the money, no matter who earns it, even if you've got a stay-at-home parent, all of that money goes into the community property bucket and it's owned by both of them. Um, when you acquire property during the marriage, it doesn't matter necessarily whose name it's in. All that money is going into the community property bucket. But in certain circumstances, each party will own separate property. Right. And uh that can be acquired by gift, even if it's a gift from the other spouse. It can be acquired by inheritance if you have a family member that leaves that money uh to you. There's some uh other kind of uh smaller areas, you know, personal injury settlements, things like that. The biggest reason that somebody has separate property usually is that they have owned something before the marriage. And the inception of title is before they got married and therefore it remains their separate property. So you've got these three different buckets. Um, and so the first question that needs to be answered is is this house community property or not? If it was owned before the marriage, then it's most likely just one spouse's property and the court's not going to be dividing it up. Now you still need to prove that by clear and convincing evidence in court that it's owned by one side or the other. Um, but let's, for the sake of argument, say that this property is acquired during the marriage and it's community property. Um, my question for you are what are all of the options for selling this house?

Sell Refinance Or Assume The Loan

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah, yeah. So um, no, you said that perfectly, obviously, great attorney in front of us today. Um, so we can sell the home, split the assets, right? Split the proceeds of the sale. We can um refinance it into one person's um one of the party's names, right? But a lot goes into that, right? Can that person financially be approved for the sale or or of the assumption of um the refinance? Or you can assume the loan, okay, which is I tend to shy away from an assumption um because that leaves the the departing party still shows as a lien holder. So it may be that you're assuming the terms of the original loan, but it does not remove the risk for the party that's uh that's essentially giving up their rights to the property.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

And in that same vein, I don't know if you've had this situation come up, but we do that quite often, especially if say there is a parent, uh stay-at-home parent, or there's an espouse that hasn't been working, doesn't have an income history. And the only way that they would be able to necessarily get a home is if they assume the mortgage. And so we do that quite often. We do something called a D to trust secure assumption, they keep the house. Um, one of the things that the other party doesn't realize is not only do they have the risk associated with that, but sometimes the mortgage companies will still include that mortgage payment in their debt-to-income ratio. And so when they go to get another house, even if they get remarried or they don't get remarried, but they're just trying to get another house, they'll say, Well, your debt-to-income ratio is too high. We can't give you another mortgage because you've got too much debt already. That's something that you've run into.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Absolutely. And those are the things that I don't think people understand. There's there's so many risks that come with loan assumptions, um, or or just not doing anything and one party moving out and leaving everything the status quo. Um, you know, if the if the the remaining party stops making the mortgage payment, that affects the other's credit still. Um your financial situation is is is really affected. Um, and it's so important that you understand all of the aspects of what the options are and how that how what what are the implications if you know something goes sideways, right? A lot of times people say, Oh, well, we're we're communicating well. We're, you know, it's it's amicable. Well, but that can change in a heartbeat. And you have to, we have to take the emotion out of the decision and and focus on the math, right? And so those that you choose to partner with are so important. So A, your attorney, B, there's also certified divorce financial planners, which I highly recommend becomes part of that beginning phase of the divorce because we have to focus on the financial piece and ensure that you're setting up your financial future correctly. Your home is your biggest asset most of the time. And we have to decide do we want the house or do we want what the house represents? Right. And what the house can do for you. Um, we don't necessarily just need those specific four walls, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Yeah. So no, absolutely. So um one question that I have for you is, you know, what are the other options? If if say one party wants to keep the house, they can't necessarily uh get their own mortgage. Are there other options to try to keep that house?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

No, well, I mean, if if a buyout's not an option, um, can can the the terms of the divorce pay off the loan? Are there other assets that could potentially, you know, that could just essentially be what they get out of the out of the out of the divorce? Um and as far as assuming the loan, that's really about it.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Um I've had some situations where clients have gone to the mortgage company and they've the mortgage company has allowed them to assume the loan and remove the other person from the mortgage, but typically that person has good enough income, good enough credit history.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

They have to qualify for it.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, they would they would be able to get a mortgage on their own. Um is that something that absolutely yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

I mean, if and so that's where your your financial planner comes in and then also your lender. Okay, so you can absolutely have discussions with the existing mortgage company. What are their options? Will they will they do all of the right pieces in order to allow the assumption of the terms? But there is, there's, there are qualifications required. If the um, if the remaining spouse is does not have any income, has never doesn't have work history, has poor credit, those are all things that are going to come into play. And so, so the existing mortgage company is is absolutely a resource, right? And that's that's where I would start, right? Understanding the terms and the options that that current mortgage company will allow. Then speaking with a a mortgage broker, a local mortgage broker very specifically, um, if you have access to a certified divorce lending professional, they're also extremely helpful. They can talk about what your options are. Can the loan be recast? Can it be assumed? Can you refinance just into the one party's name, what the qualifications are? How do we need to, what, what do we need to write in the divorce decree to ensure protection of both spouses? Um, so there's a lot of little nuances and details in that it's so important that all parties are involved, the attorney, the lending professionals, the current mortgage company, and then, you know, well, all attorneys that are involved and ensure that each party is protected. And that you're also looking at not just the cost of the monthly payment. Can you afford not only the monthly payment, but can you afford the taxes? Can you afford the maintenance on the home?

SPEAKER_00 12:36

So that gets to my next question is when somebody's deciding whether they can keep the house or not, what are all of the things that they need to consider?

The True Cost Of Keeping It

SPEAKER_01 12:44

So the monthly payment, depending on how it's structured with the with the mortgage, could be just principal and interest. Um, it could be principal interest, taxes, and insurance. Okay, so that you'll also hear it referred to as P I T I. Um, and so okay, can you afford that? But then it's can you afford the upkeep on the house? Can you afford the closing costs of the house of the refinance? Um, are there going to be new title fees? Are there going to be additional closing costs? Are there any real estate commissions that are required? Are there appraisals needed, surveys needed? All there's a lot of details that go into it. And depending on the financial situation and how the divorce is structured, um, you got to make sure that those things are are considered and um and can be afforded. And and then also if the asset appreciates that you make sure that it's written in the decree that the the the spouse that's uh being removed is not eligible to receive appreciation in the future, right? Because if it's not written correctly in the decree, that could come back.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

And and you mentioned, you know, certified divorce financial analysts, certified divorce lending professional. And it's so wonderful to have a a cadre of people that can help our clients. And if you're watching this, don't think that you need to go and find all these folks on your own or you need to retain all this information. We work with professionals like this all the time. And um, we know when you'll need them, we know how to find them, we know how to engage them, and we know how to work with them. So um this is really just supposed to be a a primer and and we have these conversations with our clients all the time.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Or the resource for sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And and the last thing that I would want a client to do is if they can get a house, because sometimes you maybe can't afford a house, but you can get it in the divorce. And then a month later, three months later, six months later, you realize what have I done? Because I can't afford this. And then you're in a situation where you're having to do a like a fire sale because you can't afford the monthly mortgage payment anymore.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I have a client who um he got the house in the in the sale and thought, oh, this is great. I got the house. Unfortunately, the home wasn't worth what he bought it for. Yeah. And he was upside down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

And I'd rather have to short sale it. I'd rather have clients have those difficult conversations about what they can afford and what they can't before they're stuck with this weight around their ankles of this house, and then they're having to struggle to sell it later on. Yeah, exactly.

What A Buyout Really Means

SPEAKER_00 15:26

So so let's shift gears. We talked about the three options. You can keep the house, you can uh sell the house, um, or you can buy out your spouse. So let's dig in a little bit more on buying out. When we say buying out the other spouse, what what do we mean?

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah, so at that point we that means that you essentially purchase the property from from your spouse. And so the most important piece there is understanding what's the property worth, right? Because it's not the asset, I mean, real estate appreciates four to six percent annually, usually. Um, and so if you've owned the home for 10 years and you bought it for 200,000, it's not worth 200,000 anymore, most likely it's it's appreciated. And so you whatever that value is uh and on the market. So what we would do is we have a couple of options, is um A, we do a comparative market analysis, also known as a CMA. Um, that's where a real estate professional like myself, we we run an analysis of what the most recent sold comparable properties are in then in the surrounding area. And we determine our opinion of what that marketable sales price would be should we sell the property, because that's what's essentially what you're doing is selling the property to the other party. Right. So um, and then we just divide it, right? And so if you have $200,000 in um in equity, then you you know buy out your portion of that from the spouse. But that also then takes on typically a mortgage, right? So again, we have to make sure that we can afford to do that. Um so you know, going back to you know what we were talking about before.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

So you mentioned the comparative market analysis. That's the way that, you know, whether it's a a divorce sale or not, that's how you always start out. And that's how you tell your clients what you think the list price should be, looking at comparables. Um for us, typically the gold standard is going to be having an independent appraiser come in. Um and you know, for our clients though, that often can cost upwards of used to be $400, now $500, $600, maybe $700, depending on the size of the house. And um, that can be expensive, especially if you're trying to do a divorce a little bit more on a shoestring or there's not a lot in the estate. And so I'll often come to you and I'll say, can you help us do a comparative market analysis? And and I found when we do a CMA and when we do an appraisal, usually it comes out to around the same, but the courts want to see the appraisal. Are there any other ways that you've seen clients appraise properties or try to get a value?

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Oh, it's a nightmare a little bit sometimes. Um, yeah, so the the comparative market analysis, essentially what a real what a realtor is going to do is try to mimic what an appraiser does. Because typically we have we when we're listing a home, we're using a CMA to start with, right? But we're trying to look at what an appraiser is going to look at as well. Because at the end of the day, that's what the the mortgage professional is going to require. Okay. So part of a typical mortgage process requires a professional appraisal in order for the banks to say, yes, we'll loan you this amount of money because the property is officially worth this amount of money. So that is typically something that you need to do during the lending process, anyways. But if we don't necessarily have to do it, and we can get really close because we are following a good realtor is following the process that an appraiser follows, um, we can get pretty close to what that number's going to be and not have the expense that that high of an expense, right? So what unfortunately what some people do and you should not do is trust the zestament on Zillow. I'm sorry, Zillow is a great resource, but it is a resource and it is a computer program, essentially, right? They can be 20,000, 50,000. I've seen them a hundred thousand over, under. You're just not doing yourself any justice when you're just trusting uh a software program, right? It is it is reading data, right? Just like all of our bots and AIs that are out there. It is it is a computer. Okay, you have to you can use it as a tool, but it is not your be all end-all, and it is not what you should trust 100% to come up with your numbers. You are doing yourself an injustice.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Okay, so that that one's at the bottom of the list of things. If if the gold standard is an appraisal, the bottom of the list is a zestimate.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yep, that's correct. And chat GPT does not know what they're talking about, okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Chat GPT is down with a zestimate. Correct. Um and uh this the comparative market analysis is maybe just a rung below an appraisal. Um where would you put uh you know, you know, a lot of our clients will will and we'll look at the county appraisal district.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

And and that's a that's a a tool that is giving you one additional piece of data, but the the property appraisal district amount is used for taxable value, not market value. So typically the appraisal district number is below what your property would sell for, typically. Now, I've seen a few recently just because of you know the craziness that we had in the market over the last few years where that where the property appraisal value is higher than the market value. Okay. So it's it's it's it's a a tool in the toolbox, but it is not the whole box.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

So you you will routinely sell houses for above what the county appraisal is.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

90 95% of the time.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Okay, yes. Okay. All right, great. Um, so if a client wants to keep the house, some options we talked about just buying out the other spouse. If you've got $200,000 worth of equity in that house and you've got $200,000 in separate property, well, then you're all set. You could just buy them out. Right. Um, another option would be if you've got community property, is that you can just shift, you know, maybe an extra $200,000 from a retirement account or something like that to offset that. Let's say, though, there's there aren't other assets in order to buy it out. Say you've got a $500,000 house and it's got $200,000 worth of equity. Do you have any resources or tools where you could try to get some money out of that house to pay the other person out?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

So you may uh, and this is where your your lenders come in and your financial planners to understand, you know, what your options are. Um you could do um a cash out refinance potentially. There's home equity lines of credit. Um, but again, those it depends on the scenarios. There's just so many um things that go into it. And I know we hate that answer. It depends, but that's that's every situation is so different. So but there there are potentially options.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Okay. And and you've worked with, I know that we've worked with extensively divorce lending professionals where um not only do they have the tools to work with parties that maybe don't necessarily want to be doing business with each other anymore, um, but they also have um buyout options where they can potentially get more equity than you might think out of the house.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Yeah, absolutely. There's um there's a lot of a lot of options out there. It's just important who you partner with is super important.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Yeah, no, I agree. So just to wrap up this topic, what are some of the biggest mistakes that you've seen people make when it comes to a buyout?

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Yeah, um, well, just in general, I think setting your emotions aside, focusing on the math, thinking about your financial future is number one. You have to try not to let your emotions get the best of you, right? Um not understanding the implications of how keeping the property are going to affect you as you move into the future. So understanding all of those things, um not taking into account all of the additional costs that can come with a buyout or a refinance or even a even a sale, right? Um, because it's ensuring that you're you're splitting all of the costs and not just the price of the property.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Right. So you're taking into into account every little dollar to ensure that you're not getting stuck with a whole bunch of extra expenses that you shouldn't be. That should be shared. Yeah, those are those are big pieces of it. And then understanding if you don't remove yourself from the loan and the other party defaults, how that can impact your future as well.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Yeah, no, certainly. So let me let me ask you this.

How A CDRE Reduces Conflict

SPEAKER_00 24:30

One of the reasons I was so excited to have you is you've you're a certified divorce real estate expert. What does a CDRE do differently?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Yeah, so well, aside from we've been we go through an extensive training program. Okay, so um to to ensure that we understand how a divorce affects real estate and and the important things that we can help to guide our our clients on that we've been talking about, right? Because a lot of realtors don't understand all of the tiny pieces and implications that um that go into things. But I think the biggest differential is the way we approach the process. Um, as you've mentioned, where you're the two parties no longer want to be in relationship with each other. They don't want to speak, and if they do speak, there's a lot of conflict and it just does not go well. So um the biggest differential is is just the way that we approach it. We have separate communication always. Okay. Each party gets the same level of of service. There's we remain neutral.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

So they're not meeting with you together in an initial visit or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

No, no, we don't have joint email communication. We don't have Zoom calls together, we don't meet at the property together. Um the typically I start with um I have separate introductory phone calls um and have what's um kind of a an educational uh meeting with each party separately to help them understand the process.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Okay. Um and that's extra work that a realtor that doesn't do this might not want to do.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Well, it's twice as much work. It's because you're doing the same conversations twice.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

But welcome for parties that are like, I don't want to, you know, I'm dreading having to do this part of the process. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Absolutely. So that's that's the like the probably what helps keep things with as little conflict as possible is ensuring that we have separate communication. And each party is getting the exact same thing from me. It's not um, and I I am extensively trained on remaining neutral um and keeping my emotions, right? Because I'm human also, right? But um, remaining neutral, separate communication, um helping the outspouse, so the person that has moved out, understand the condition of the property, right? Because they they're not there. They need to know what the condition is and if there's anything that is going to need addressed because of the condition. And um, so communicating that those things as well. Um, ensuring that if the outspouse does have a you know a need to access the property that the in-spouse has approved it and is not home, and then the outspouse is then being supervised. Right. And so there's just there's just lots of little nuances. Um, we've also been trained extensively on um being able to take the stand and um and testify um if if needed. So yeah, that's um, that's that was that was a fun training and role plays, but but it was really good and very, very useful. Um so yeah, there's just there's a lot of little details that go into it um that that make that make us a little more or a significantly more prepared to have a successful transaction.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

And that staying, keeping the party separate, that that starts from the beginning. Does that go all the way through closing? I mean, they're they're doing closing separately.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Separate, no, yes, absolutely two closing appointments. Yeah, absolutely. It's it's just not they there's no need to uh to put people in a position that A, they're uncomfortable in, and that is just gonna promote conflict. So no huge conflict conflict conflict resolution in real estate in general is uh challenging at times, but especially when when we're going through a divorce.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Well, I've been doing this long enough to know, you know, I've seen some unfortunate situations between parties, and you know, it's a different podcast, but some stories to tell.

Underwater Homes Short Sales Forced Sales

SPEAKER_00 28:40

And I know that you've been doing this for a while. What are some of the most disastrous or unfortunate situations that you've seen and how did you approach them?

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Yeah. So I mean, again, before I knew that I should be doing all of this separately, having listing appointments at the property with both parties together that end in them screaming at each other and me not knowing what to do.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Um, it's, I mean, just it's just setting everybody up for failure, right? Copying um all parties on one email. And then that person, we get a reply all, and you know, it turns into a fight by email. Um, I've had parties that, you know, lock each other out. And it's just one thing after another. And then the most unfortunate, and um, we're experiencing it now, is when the property is not worth anymore what they purchased it for, and they're upside down on the house. And that's extremely unfortunate.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

So that's a situation where we actually deal with it more frequently now than we have in years past, just given the economy and the fluctuations in the housing market. What do you do when there's negative equity? The house is underwater.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Yeah. So I mean, the I mean, best case scenario, there's enough assets to pay off the difference at closing. Okay. Right. And that's what you hope. If there's not, there's options to approach the mortgage company for what's called a short sale, where the mortgage company will approve to sell the property for less than is owed on the property.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

What are the consequences of that?

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Um it's a there's a credit implication. Um it's better than a foreclosure. Okay. Um, but it's kind of like that we were talking about, you know, appraisal CMA's estimate, right? It's like rate not much better, but a little bit better. Okay. Um, you will be able to purchase a home in a shorter period of time than a foreclosure would.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

And is that something that you would still be involved with, or does the mortgage company Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

So the mortgage company has to approve it. Okay. Um, so there's an application process. You have to prove um, you know, a financial need for it. Okay. Um, and then that has to go through approval. The mortgage company will then typically order the appraisal to confirm that, you know, what is the property worth. Um, and then they'll set a um a number as far as what they'll accept. And then we market the property as a short sale. Um, and then the short sale process, the short sale closing process does take a little bit longer. Um, so those are just gonna be really important that we all stay in communication. Something else that I I like, I I try to make sure that in communication, um, when I'm representing um divorcing uh parties is only including the attorney for updates and things that are absolutely necessary so that we are limiting billable hours. Right. I know that you want to collect as much as many dollars as you can, but we want to make sure that we limit the financial impact to that and only and also not bombard you with a million things that you don't need to be involved in.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

Yeah, and if we don't need to have an update, then we don't, you know, we don't want to bill our clients for something that is unnecessary. And we've hired you for a reason. Exactly. And it's to do that work. Exactly. Um what does a forced sale look like when one party is uncooperative, they don't want to sell the house, or maybe they're living in the house, but they've either reached an agreement or the court is ordered that the house needs to be how do you handle a forced sale?

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Oh, those are the funnest ones. Yeah. Um, um obviously it's having it in ordered by the court in the decree, ensuring that we have the paperwork in order is what makes my job the easiest because they don't necessarily have a choice, right? And all I can do is be empathetic to that party and you know, help them understand that I'm not here to be the bad guy. You know, I'm just here to help them reach the the outcome that's being required. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just communication, empathy, and helping provide resources if they need it.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

Okay. Yeah. So and and this is gonna be more timely information. We're recording this in 2026, but how long does a divorce sale take in the Houston area right now? I'm sure that there's a lot of, you know, it depends on this and that.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Yes, yeah. I mean, every every little um submarket has different data, right? Um, and in regards to divorce, I think it it depends on what phase we're in. Have you already been to court? Do we have um, you know, initial orders? Um and it's also important that this be one of the first parts that you start to work on because delaying the sale, the market can change in an instant. Interest rates change daily, sometimes multiple times a day. Um, so delaying the decision can have a massive financial impact. So I would it so it really again, it depends on where we are in the timeline of the divorce, um, how quickly we can make decisions is are we selling the property while one or both parties are still living there? Does the property have deferred maintenance that needs addressed? Because I mean, putting the market, the home on the market with without ensuring that it is marketable, right, in its best light possible to maximize the return on the investment. Um, so all of those, let's let's assume that we're we're at a point that we can sell the property where we're we've made decisions, we've been to court, we have things going or where we're amicable and agree that we're gonna sell the property. Um, days on the market right now are typically 60 to 90 days.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Um again, if the property is absolutely perfect in a pristine neighborhood that sells well, it could sell and it could sell in as little as a month. Um, but typically we're probably 60 to 90 days from start to finish.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Okay. Well, Jennifer, I

Houston Timelines Key Takeaways Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 35:00

really appreciate you coming in today. Um, my key takeaways are number one, know your options uh for the house. You can keep it, you can sell it, you can buy out the other spouse. Uh, the second thing is if you're going to buy out, know your options. And and what I've heard from you is utilize the professionals that do this day to day. Your uh certified divorce financial analysts, your certified lending professionals, and um, and of course your uh CDREs. And then I I mean, I think you've really shown us that having a certified divorce real estate expert can be the difference maker in getting this house sold and getting it sold with the least amount of stress when you're already going through a very difficult time.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

That's the goal. Absolutely. Who you partner with matters.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Yeah, absolutely. So tell me where folks can find you.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

Yeah. So um, well, you can always call me 281-638-4873. You can email me at jfrancois at kw.com. Um, you can find me online at Francois Property Group.kw.com, or you can find me on social media, Instagram, Facebook. I I love to post uh funny, silly stuff, but I am uh I am I am also professional, but you know what life is too uh too short, might as well laugh a little bit too.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

Yeah, I agree. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Jennifer. If you'd like to find Hunt Law Firm, you can find us at family lawyerkatie.com. Uh we have offices in Katie, Cyprus, League City, and Sugarland. Uh you can also call us at 832 315 5494. We'll see you next time.