How can I sell my 50% stake in a 10 acre property in Bucks County, Penns
September 29, 2014 11:32 AM Subscribe
A friend (no, really!) will officially be divorced next Monday, and will then own 50% of a residential property in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
The property has one house (that's basically a teardown), currently occupied by their ex (with no intention of selling), and one barn. The rest is undeveloped property. The property is in a great school district (Central Bucks).
Is there ANY way they can sell my 50% stake in the property. They're wiling to sell at a discount and talk to developers, banks, private investors, whatever.
Can you explain why you have a 50% stake in the property? The whole context of the question is about your friend owning 50% after his divorce, and the ex owning another part of the property including the house, with no intention to sell. That adds up to more than 100%.
More pertinent, this is what divorce lawyers do. If the spouses somehow did their divorce on the cheap without lawyers, then they didn't do it right. Now it will be harder. Whoever the owners are (and again it's not clear from your question), they need to see at least one lawyer familiar with divorce and real estate transactions.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:41 AM on September 29, 2014 [5 favorites]
More pertinent, this is what divorce lawyers do. If the spouses somehow did their divorce on the cheap without lawyers, then they didn't do it right. Now it will be harder. Whoever the owners are (and again it's not clear from your question), they need to see at least one lawyer familiar with divorce and real estate transactions.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:41 AM on September 29, 2014 [5 favorites]
If there is a typo in this question ("my") you can contact the mods to have them edit and clarify.
posted by anastasiav at 11:53 AM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by anastasiav at 11:53 AM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]
This is what divorce lawyers screw up. Is there a mortgage involved? Your friend may end up with responsibility for payments and no actual ownership. 'nthing real estate lawyer. It may be possible to divide the land so that 5 acres becomes a separate registered lot, and thus no need to involve the ex.
posted by Sophont at 12:08 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Sophont at 12:08 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
Regardless of who owns the other 50%, if the ex owns his half, he is the best potential buyer. Anyone else will be a legal quagmire if he is not willing to sell or divide.
posted by 724A at 12:09 PM on September 29, 2014
posted by 724A at 12:09 PM on September 29, 2014
In the US it may be possible to force a sale of the entire property even if the other owners don't want to, but it depends on how the property is held and obviously can involve legal complications not to mention what dangers the other owner might pose when they find out the property is being sold out from under them, so not the ideal way to go. You need a real estate lawyer.
posted by Wretch729 at 12:46 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Wretch729 at 12:46 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah now it's time to get a real estate lawyer; there is no way that you are DIYing this because even in the simplest, least acrimonious situation there is going to be a lot of paperwork and legal processes that have to be worked through.
Selling the interest to the other party via a quitclaim deed is the most common path that I have seen in divorce/separation situations. Sometimes the other person needs to refinance in order to free up enough cash to do it (provided there is equity in the property), but it's a pretty common transaction. (In friendly separations I've heard of payment plans, but that seems like it involves some substantial risk if not done right; I'd be wary of it anyway.) But if they can't/won't do that, there are typically ways to force a sale. It requires, in most states, a "petition to partition" and is a legal process distinct from the divorce itself, and then there can also be an eviction process if the other person refuses to leave. It can get spectacularly ugly. (Basically the sum of the ugliness of a divorce plus what amounts to a weird landlord/tenant dispute. Worst of both worlds really.)
I've watched this process from afar and it is not fun. Don't expect to get your money (or for your friend to get their money) out of the property quickly, and expect there to be a bunch of legal bills to pay first.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:14 PM on September 29, 2014
Selling the interest to the other party via a quitclaim deed is the most common path that I have seen in divorce/separation situations. Sometimes the other person needs to refinance in order to free up enough cash to do it (provided there is equity in the property), but it's a pretty common transaction. (In friendly separations I've heard of payment plans, but that seems like it involves some substantial risk if not done right; I'd be wary of it anyway.) But if they can't/won't do that, there are typically ways to force a sale. It requires, in most states, a "petition to partition" and is a legal process distinct from the divorce itself, and then there can also be an eviction process if the other person refuses to leave. It can get spectacularly ugly. (Basically the sum of the ugliness of a divorce plus what amounts to a weird landlord/tenant dispute. Worst of both worlds really.)
I've watched this process from afar and it is not fun. Don't expect to get your money (or for your friend to get their money) out of the property quickly, and expect there to be a bunch of legal bills to pay first.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:14 PM on September 29, 2014
IANAL...but then my dad is one and I did work for him... :-)
Dunno how the law is structured in Pennsylvania, but your friend could bring a partition lawsuit to basically force the issue of either (a) one person buying out the other or (b) sell the entire property.
posted by PeteyStock at 2:37 PM on September 29, 2014
Dunno how the law is structured in Pennsylvania, but your friend could bring a partition lawsuit to basically force the issue of either (a) one person buying out the other or (b) sell the entire property.
posted by PeteyStock at 2:37 PM on September 29, 2014
Is there ANY way they can sell [their] 50% stake in the property.
Legally, sure. They just need a willing buyer, someone who is interested in owning that 50 percent.
But the question I think you are asking is whether any such buyer could be found. You mention developers, banks, private investors as possibilities. The problem is that none of those people would be interested, unless the spouse who is keeping the other half is supposed to pay rent to compensate your friend for their occupancy of the 50% they don't own, which would give the buyer a return on investment. Absent a rental obligation, your friend's 50% has no market value at all.
So, unless one party is interested in buying out the other, I second others that mutually agreeing on, or forcing, a sale of both halves would be the best way out.
posted by beagle at 2:48 PM on September 29, 2014
Legally, sure. They just need a willing buyer, someone who is interested in owning that 50 percent.
But the question I think you are asking is whether any such buyer could be found. You mention developers, banks, private investors as possibilities. The problem is that none of those people would be interested, unless the spouse who is keeping the other half is supposed to pay rent to compensate your friend for their occupancy of the 50% they don't own, which would give the buyer a return on investment. Absent a rental obligation, your friend's 50% has no market value at all.
So, unless one party is interested in buying out the other, I second others that mutually agreeing on, or forcing, a sale of both halves would be the best way out.
posted by beagle at 2:48 PM on September 29, 2014
If I had a choice about it, I would not accept a divorce settlement that would create this entangled situation, but would negotiate for one party to own the house/property, and the other party to get other assets.
posted by mvd at 3:36 PM on September 29, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by mvd at 3:36 PM on September 29, 2014 [6 favorites]
This question does not make much sense as posed, as others have indicated, and I would encourage the mods to get clarification on it, as the details are pertinent.
That said, whatever the actual details turn out to be, the answer is going to be: retain the services of a competent attorney in the relevant jurisdiction.
posted by dfriedman at 3:50 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
That said, whatever the actual details turn out to be, the answer is going to be: retain the services of a competent attorney in the relevant jurisdiction.
posted by dfriedman at 3:50 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hmm, not sure I understand the question, but why is the property not being split as a marital asset, as part of the divorce settlement? Is that the only asset there is? Could the one who wants it get a refi and buy the other person out?
posted by carter at 4:47 PM on September 29, 2014
posted by carter at 4:47 PM on September 29, 2014
And when the refi goes through, you (or your friend) get cash (for example, this could be the difference between a mutually accepted appraisal value, and what if anything is left on the mortgage, assuming the property is not underwater), and you get your (or your friend's) name off the title AND the mortgage (if there is one).
posted by carter at 4:54 PM on September 29, 2014
posted by carter at 4:54 PM on September 29, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
There are things called Quit Deeds which will allow this to happen. But this is so lawyer wrapped it's not even funny.
So friend, ask the lawyer handling your divorce, and then ask your divorce lawyer if she knows a good real estate lawyer.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:40 AM on September 29, 2014 [4 favorites]