What we bring to a difficult sale
What we have learned from divorce sales is that the process matters as much as the price. Anything that requires the two of you to cooperate repeatedly turns into one more argument.
So we make it single step. One visit, one written offer, one closing date, and everything through the attorneys if that is preferable. We will also say honestly whether listing the Northport house would put more into the pot to divide, because you should hear that before the settlement is drafted rather than after.
Getting a firm figure on the Northport marital home
The largest asset in most divorces is the house, and it is the one nobody can price until it sells. So the divorce stalls on a guess, and each side's guess tends to favor the person making it.
What we provide is one written number on a Northport house in its current condition, the same number to both parties on the same day. It converts the biggest open question in the divorce from an argument into a figure everybody is working from.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A house on Orchard Drive. A house on Gail Court. A house on Ashwood Court. All of them in Northport, all bought by us.
Northport is roughly 7,347 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11768, and the housing stock is mostly victorian, colonial, cape cod. Around Main Street and Northport Harbor, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Northport 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 Northport-East Northport Union Free School District does to a resale price.
No showings, no staging, no strangers
Condition is not a problem here, and in a divorce that matters more than usual, because repairs mean deciding together who pays for them.
We buy as is. Deferred maintenance, a half finished project somebody stopped caring about, contents still in the house. None of it needs resolving before we make an offer on the Northport property, and none of it becomes another line item in the divorce settlement.
Setting the closing date yourselves
Divorce timelines and real estate timelines rarely line up on their own. A settlement gets negotiated around a closing date, and then the buyer's lender moves that date twice.
We close with our own funds, so the date we agree is the date. If you need sixty days, take sixty. If you need next month because the divorce is being finalized and nobody wants the house hanging over it, we can usually do that as well.
What the two paths cost in Northport
These are the two routes open to you with a house in a divorce, priced against what Northport houses actually sell for.
Work it against Northport's own numbers. The median sale here is $950,000. A 5% commission on that is $47,500, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $19,000. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $66,500 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 Northport the median house takes about 34 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 79 to 94 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 | $950,000 (Northport median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$47,500 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$19,000 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 34 days (Northport 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 | 79 to 94 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 | $883,500 | The number we put in writing |
The listing column assumes a 5% commission and seller closing costs of about 2%. Both vary. We have not subtracted repairs or the cost of carrying the house while it sits, because those depend on the property. A house in good condition listed with a good agent can absolutely beat a cash offer, and we will say so if that is your situation.
What happens when one spouse will not sell
A surprising number of divorce sales unstick the moment there is a firm number on the table, because most of the disagreement was never really about the house. It was about not knowing.
We will give you that number with no obligation, and we will give it to both sides identically. If it turns out the divorce needs a court ordered sale, your attorney handles that part and we will work to whatever timetable the court sets.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in a divorce
These are the costs of putting a house in a divorce on the market through an agent. None of them apply when you sell to us.
- Agent commission
- $47,500 at 5% of the Northport median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $19,000 on a $950,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Whatever it takes to make it listable, paid in advance none
- Cleanout and removal
- Per truckload, before anyone views it none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities through the 79 to 94 days a listing takes to sell and close none
If one of you wants to keep the Northport house
Not every divorce should end in a sale. If one spouse wants to keep the house and can refinance into a mortgage in their own name at a payment they can carry alone, that is often the better outcome, particularly where children are involved.
That is a lending question and a legal one, so ask a mortgage broker and your divorce attorney before committing to it. If a buyout does not work, a sale is the usual fallback and we are here for that.
Common questions
Do both of us have to agree to sell the Northport 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 Northport house?
Common in a divorce, and not an obstacle. One visit is all we need, arranged around the person living there, and the closing date on the Northport house can be set far enough out to make the move manageable.
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.