Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

My ex-wife and my divorce is final, with the only thing left pending is the sale of our home. The divorce states we will agree on the price and realtor. Fast forward a year and the house has still not sold, I no longer live there as we couldn't get along, and now it is not for sale because the old real estate contract ended, and now we cannot agree on a realtor or price. Meanwhile, I am paying half the mortgage (and she is paying the other half and living there) and I'm paying for renting an apartment. Since the divorce we lowered the price of the house to a price I can now afford, and am considering buying the property. What is the best way to go about purchasing? Get a real estate attorney to write up an offer to purchase? I would rather purchase the property than wait another 1, 2 maybe 10 years before the home sells.


Asked on 7/22/09, 10:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Erik Nowacki Business Law Inc.

Provided you and your ex-wife can agree on a price, it would be much cheaper to use the services of a real estate attorney than a broker to complete the transaction. The value in a broker is in his/her ability to find a buyer, once you have located the buyer, using an attorney to complete the transaction is much cheaper. An attorney can also act as escrow for his/her clients to handle the complete transaction. I have acted as escrow for several client transactions.

Since this is a residential property and a fairly straightforward transaction, I would use the CAR (California Association of Realtors) form agreements. Once the agreement has been signed, you can use the attorney as escrow or open escrow with any escrow company, depending on how you are getting along with your ex-wife...

The key here will be your negotiations with your ex-wife. Sitting down and working out a preliminary term sheet may be productive before presenting a formal offer to her. It should contain the purchase price and how those funds are distributed at the close of escrow.

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Answered on 7/22/09, 11:11 am


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