House sale headache, divorce related.

[Papa Hotel]

There has been an ongoing saga with my divorce, lots of nasty things have happened in the past year and a bit and I just want it to end. There is one final thing holding up the divorce - the house sale.

My ex proposed an estate agent to sell the house, I agreed and last Tuesday signed a minute of agreement to that effect. This morning, I received an email from my solicitor stating that there had been an offer on the house. I opened up the offer letter and it was dated 12th July, only 2 days after I'd signed the minute of agreement. I thought that was unduly fast, so had a look at the estate agent and saw that the house has NOT yet been advertised for sale.

So if the house hasn't been advertised then am I getting the best value for money?? My concerns are that with no competition, the buyer has most definitely not made their best offer and part of me feels there's something going on behind my back and I'm not getting the best of this deal. There are a couple of positives; I'll save money on estate agent fees/commission and despite the lack of advertising and competition for the sale, the offer is actually a really good one, some £30k MORE than I had anticipated...

Not unreasonably, I want to know everything about the circumstances of this offer before I decide whether to accept or reject it, but also not unreasonably, my current partner wants me to accept it and get this bloody divorce finalised so we can move on with our lives. She has been put through a lot of crap in this sorry tale and for her I'd also like it to end.

Eurgh, I don't know whether this thread is supposed to be a getting-it-off-my-chest rant or an appeal for advice, but any thoughts are welcome.

[learningtofly]

It's not uncommon for houses to be sold off-market (before actually advertised by an agent) and whether that's acceptable to you will depend on whether you believe you can do better or not. Have you spoken to the agent to ascertain what they were going to market the house for, and why (and whether you will save on fees if you accept this offer)? More importantly, did you get any valuations from other agents before signing the agreement with this one?

If you didn't, you can do a fair bit of research on value yourself as the Internet is awash with data these days. However, I'd suggest that you need to make sure you're happy with the valuation one way or another before accepting it.

[dougair]

You need independent valuations from at least two other local estate agents IMO. This should be easy to arrange and won’t cost you anything. Also check Zoopla etc for recently sold prices on your street.

[Chris_in_the_UK]

At £30k more than you expected and (presumably) a quick sale, I would let it go, finalise things and move on.

[ViperStripes]

We bought our house pre market, coincidentally from a divorcing couple.

It went something like this. We put our current house up for sale and it rapidly sold and above asking price with competing buyers, one of whom was chain free. So the estate agent worked hard to find us a new property in the area we wanted to move to, to ensure the chain was a) short and b) the sale didn't fall through.

A house in the area we liked and the style we liked came up, so the agent took us round to see it and we offered just below asking. No chain because husband had already moved out and wife was moving in with mum round the corner. Banks valuation came in 5% lower which gave us some LTV mortgage issues but we liked the house and thought it was a fair price and were willing to pay more to ensure it didn't make it to market and end up in a bidding war. We had been looking for 12 months and only 1 or 2 suitable houses in the area had even made it to market.

So in your case it may be that it's £30k more than you were expecting because the agent has done a good job and matched a good buyer to your house who is willing to pay to ensure it doesn't go to market.

[Papa Hotel]

Cheers gentlemen. I have had a look at recent sales on Zoopla and the offer is largely in line with others. There are a couple of outliers, some £20k more and some £20k less but this offer would seem to be about right.

I had nothing to do with any valuation of the house, I left that all to her as she is still living there so I don't know what valuations she received.

I think I'll call my solicitor back this afternoon and accept the offer, I need this divorce done with!

Plus, with the extra cash I wasn't expecting I can treat myself to a couple of watches... I've always been torn as to whether I like the Aquanaut or Nautilus best, now they can both sit in the watch box alongside the Seikos! I wish.

[Steve27752]

I would sell and move along.

[ed335d]

I would sell and move along.

This - if it's more than you were expecting and broadly inline with similar properties, grasp the opportunity to move swiftly along and put it all behind you.

Good luck!

[walkerwek1958]

At £30k more than you expected and (presumably) a quick sale, I would let it go, finalise things and move on.

+1........If you’re getting more than expected, and a quick sale, the chance to move on quickly looks tempting to me.

Regarding the value, some houses ar far easier to value than others. It all depends how ‘individual’ it is and how easy it is to compare to similar ones.

Suggest you ask a few questions to put your mind at ease, but the chance to move on without delay makes sense to me.

Paul

[wildheart]

Take the money and move on!

[CardShark]

As has been said, accept the offer as it's more £ than you were expecting and it moves the divorce along.

It may well be the stress of the divorce itself that has caused you to question the situation, if you look at it as a win-win (more money for you and a divorce for you both) it starts to look a little different.

[Wolfie]

Cheers gentlemen. I have had a look at recent sales on Zoopla and the offer is largely in line with others. There are a couple of outliers, some £20k more and some £20k less but this offer would seem to be about right.

I had nothing to do with any valuation of the house, I left that all to her as she is still living there so I don't know what valuations she received.

I think I'll call my solicitor back this afternoon and accept the offer, I need this divorce done with!

Plus, with the extra cash I wasn't expecting I can treat myself to a couple of watches... I've always been torn as to whether I like the Aquanaut or Nautilus best, now they can both sit in the watch box alongside the Seikos! I wish.

You’ve already said it on your post.... I did everything to get things moving quickly when I was in a similar situation... I took a hit, but, I was free

You’ll feel like a whole new man in a few short weeks time... you can put a price on that... all the best to you!

[JohnnyE]

At £30k more than you expected and (presumably) a quick sale, I would let it go, finalise things and move on.

This. Get rid.. move on.. and put it all behind you. Life's too short.

[LRB255]

Whatever you decided good luck for the future, had similar experience last year. Started amicable then unfortunately turned ugly

[Papa Hotel]

Aaaaaaaand... offer accepted.

The buyer wants to be in by the third week of August so all going well this will be done and dusted very quickly indeed.

[GOAT]

Good outcome I’d say!

[awright101]

Great news. You’ll be free to start a new chapter in life

[hogthrob]

You’ll feel like a whole new man in a few short weeks time...

...or whole new woman, equal opportunities and all that 

Sounds like you have a good result with the quick sale

[thieuster]

Despite the nasty circumstances: Congrats! If this is the final chapter, you can move on. Buy a watch to commemorate the moment/the situation and live happily ever after (in the meen time showing your watches, off course!

[deepreddave]

Congrats and there's a lot to be said for getting on with moving on. I'd have wanted to know more about the offer though, and probably have given it a couple of weeks on the market just to test the water, however no guarantee you wouldn't have lost your buyer so what's right for you is what you've done. Some good times ahead I'm sure 😉

[Tifa]

Sell...move on....you could be balls deep in a bit of young totty this time next week....
Life's too short...