Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Selling home with joint tenancy

The mechanic can be easy or difficult depending upon what was agreed. If there is no agreement to buy you out, then your partners are not obligated to do so. Assuming however, you have an agreement the mechanics are realitively simple, depending upon whether you want to be taken off the mortgage.

My own opinion is that the home, if held as an investment probably should not be owned as joint tenants but you are already there.

A good real estate lawyer can take you through what has to be done assuming you have all agreed on terms.

Valuing the home and equity is more or less simple. You can have a formal appraisal, use the last assessment value (this tends to be lower than market in a rising real estate market) or ask for a valuation from a local real estate agency.

Unless you have a formal buy and sell agreement between yourselves, your partners may not be obligated to purchase your half. In that event, you can petition a court to have the property partitioned or sold.

Again, a good real estate attorney can explian everything in detail once he knows all the facts.

I hope this has been helpful. Please feel free to contact me with questions.

Regards,

Jonathan Roth