For many young couples, marriage is no longer essential before making big decisions like purchasing a home. However, purchasing a home with a significant other before you are legally married can present problems, especially after a breakup. On average, relationships between a millennial couple lasts for four years.
Unfortunately, four years isn’t exactly enough time to pay off a mortgage.
If you’re going through a breakup after buying a house with your significant other, you’ll probably want to sell your house fast. A quick Google search for “sell house for cash” might help a little, but there are some things you need to learn from the pros. We’ve gathered a list of things you need to consider when breaking off a relationship with a significant other when a home mortgage is involved.
Selling Your House for Cash After a Breakup
Depending on how you signed the paperwork for the home, one or both of you might be signed as responsible for paying down the home loan. In either event, the best option is usually to sell the home fast and to sell your house for cash. Here’s why.
It’s likely you were sharing expenses before. Utilities, internet, and the home mortgage are all going to add up. Unless you were counting on a breakup, you likely haven’t planned financially to be able to handle that extra burden. Additionally, if both of you are signed as owners on the home, you’ll both have partial equity in the home. This can become further complicated if one of you leaves and the other decides to take over the entire mortgage. While home equity can be negotiated, and you can buy out your ex from their equity, this is often a long process that ends up in bickering and more fighting.
When you sell your house for cash, it is easy to pay off the rest of the mortgage and then split the cash value of the home’s equity. Homes for cash is a great program for this as you don’t have to worry about closing fees and real estate agent costs. Fortunately, we buy houses for cash all the time and can help you out of sticky situations.
Let’s say you actually loved the home you had been living in. The good news is, if you were the sole signer or a co-signer on the home, you have probably been building good credit. With a good credit score, after your ex has been removed from the picture, you can often find another home that is just as nice (or nicer) for your new needs as a single person. In some cases, you might look for a home that has a few spare rooms that you can rent out to offset the mortgage cost.
What To Think About When You Sell
Here are a few other things you should keep in mind when selling your home for cash.
1. Take Care of all Utility Bills Beforehand
Often there is only one person listed on the utility bills, and utility companies require some sort of prior notice before discontinuing service. If you forget to handle utility bills in a timely manner, you may end up with several hundred dollars of extra charges, even after you sell the home.
2. Close-out Internet Contracts
Internet contracts are typically pretty easy to terminate, even if you to believe otherwise. Make sure you discontinue or pause your internet contract, telling the company you are in the process of a move. Moving is a legitimate reason to cancel an internet contract, and most internet companies will allow you to resume service at your new location at the same rate.
3. Take Care of Home Repairs
Taking care of all the little home repairs you have been putting off is important for getting the best home for cash valuation available. Do everything you can to fix leaky faucets, holes in walls, and other small issues.
Selling a house fast after a breakup is definitely a priority. At Five Boro Home Buyers, we understand that a quick, easy sale can make your life easier. So if you need to sell a house fast for cash, give us a call today.
