How we help with a divorce house sale in Ronkonkoma
A divorce sale has two clients and no agreement, which is a situation most buyers handle badly. We have been through plenty of them, and the approach that works is the same every time. One written number, delivered to both parties and both attorneys at once, with nothing said to one side that is not said to the other.
We will deal with your attorneys directly if that is easier, and we will hold a closing date to suit a school year or a lease. If the house would net more listed, we will tell you that too.
A number, not a range
Ranges cause arguments. If the house is worth somewhere between two numbers, one spouse anchors on the top and the other on the bottom, and the divorce spends three months there.
A firm offer ends that particular conversation. You may decide the number is not enough and go to market instead, which is a perfectly good outcome and one plenty of divorcing couples choose. What you will not do is keep arguing about a range, because there will be an actual figure on the table.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom on Pleasure Avenue. A three-bedroom on West 5th Street. A two-bedroom on Terry Road. All of them in Ronkonkoma, all bought by us.
Ronkonkoma is roughly 18,955 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11779, and the housing stock is mostly ranch, cape cod, hi-ranch. Around Lake Ronkonkoma and Long Island MacArthur Airport, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Ronkonkoma stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We know which of these streets take water, where the older systems fail first, and what the Connetquot Central School District does to a resale price.
Nobody has to stage the house through a divorce
The median house in Ronkonkoma sold for $641,000 and took about 22 days to go under contract, then another 45 to 60 days waiting on the buyer's mortgage. That is 67 to 82 days in total, for a house that was ready to show on day one. All of that assumes somebody keeps the house show ready for months, which is a great deal to ask of a household in the middle of a divorce.
We look at the house once, in whatever condition it is in. Nothing gets painted, nothing gets decluttered, and nobody has to be out by ten on a Saturday morning. A divorce is hard enough without a lockbox on the door.
Choosing your own closing date in a divorce sale
Sometimes the useful thing is to close quickly and end the joint ownership. Sometimes it is to close slowly, so a child finishes the school year in Ronkonkoma. Both are fine, and it is your choice rather than ours.
We set the date around what the divorce needs. There is no lender behind us whose schedule has to be accommodated, which is why the date is genuinely negotiable here rather than only nominally so.
What the two paths cost in Ronkonkoma
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Ronkonkoma houses actually sell for.
Work it against Ronkonkoma's own numbers. The median sale here is $641,000. A 5% commission on that is $32,050, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $12,820. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $44,870 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Ronkonkoma the median house takes about 22 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 67 to 82 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $641,000 (Ronkonkoma median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$32,050 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$12,820 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 22 days (Ronkonkoma median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 67 to 82 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $596,130 | The number we put in writing |
For the listing side we have used a 5% commission and about 2% in seller closing costs; your real figures may differ. Repairs and carrying costs are left out because they depend on the house. If yours is in good shape, a good agent may well get you more than we would, and we will tell you if so.
When only one of you wants to sell the Ronkonkoma house
Everyone on the deed has to sign the contract. That is the practical limit on what any buyer can do in a divorce, and it is worth saying plainly rather than letting anyone hope otherwise. Divorce settlements often turn on this exact point.
What we can do is put the same written offer in front of both parties and both attorneys on the same day, so nobody is working from different information. Frequently that is enough, because a real figure changes the conversation in a way an argument about value never does.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
Each of the following comes with a retail listing of a house in a divorce, and none of it comes with ours.
- Agent commission
- $32,050 at 5% of the Ronkonkoma median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $12,820 on a $641,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- The work it needs to show well, out of your pocket first none
- Cleanout and removal
- Paid per load, before a single buyer walks through none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities for the 67 to 82 days of finding a buyer and waiting on their mortgage none
Buyouts, and when they work better than selling
The buyout math is worth running before you list anything. One spouse refinances, pays the other their share of the equity, and keeps the Ronkonkoma house. It fails more often on the monthly payment than on the equity, because one income has to carry what two were carrying.
A written offer from us gives the divorce a value to run that math against. Whether the answer is a buyout or a sale, you will have decided with a real number rather than a guess.
Common questions
Do both of us have to agree to sell the Ronkonkoma house?
Yes, everyone on the deed signs. What we can do is make sure both sides see the identical number on the same day, which removes one of the things divorcing couples most often argue about.
Can the offer go to our attorneys directly?
Yes, and often that is the simplest way to handle it. We have worked divorce sales entirely through counsel before and it usually lowers the temperature for everyone.
Can we sell before the divorce is finalized?
It depends on your agreement and on what your attorneys have arranged. Selling during a divorce rather than after it is common. Ask counsel first, then tell us the closing date you need.
What if my spouse is still living in the Ronkonkoma house?
That is workable. We can view the house at a time that suits whoever is there, and we can set a closing date that gives them a reasonable window to move. Occupancy does not stop us buying.
Will you tell my ex what I said to you?
No. We say the same thing to both of you and we do not relay anything else. That even-handedness is the only way a buyer can be useful in a divorce.