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Buying out your share of the house

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  • 02-12-2007 8:09pm
    #1
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I may have to go to court to get an order of sale for a property owned with an ex-girlfriend. I was willing to let her buy my half of the house but she claims she cant afford it now and is offering 17k lower than the current value. Of course i declined but she refuses to sell up so i'll have to tackle this thru the courts.

    My question. Does a judge only order a sale of the property on the open maket or if one person can afford to buy the other out at market value would that be an option. i ask because i know if i have enough to buy her half out she'd never sign it over.

    Thanks


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    #2
    Jo King
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭Jo King


    The judge will order the property to be sold. it is open to one of the parties to match or exceed the highest bid and thus acquire the full ownership of the property. It means big legal bills for something which can be sorted out by agreement!


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    #3
    astrofool
    Registered Users Posts: 16,655 ✭✭✭✭astrofool


    In a couple of months (maybe weeks), you'll lose 17k of the value anyway (34k total).

    Might be worth to cut and run, you WILL get lower by the time it gets sorted.


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    #4
    gbh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 429 ✭✭gbh


    astrofool wrote: »
    In a couple of months (maybe weeks), you'll lose 17k of the value anyway (34k total).

    Might be worth to cut and run, you WILL get lower by the time it gets sorted.

    Agreed...plus how much will legal costs and all that be...and auctioneers costs...

    Probably better to split the difference and take the money.


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    #5
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,790 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    Did you offer to buy her out for the price she suggested plus 5k? It might make sense to offer this at some stage, maybe through a solicitor. Maybe you are not in a position to do this.

    I am really sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you can find a way to work it out without getting a bunch of lawyers involved.


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    #6
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭liger


    antoinolachtnai wrote: »
    Did you offer to buy her out for the price she suggested plus 5k? It might make sense to offer this at some stage, maybe through a solicitor. Maybe you are not in a position to do this.

    I am really sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you can find a way to work it out without getting a bunch of lawyers involved.

    Thanks. She made herself very clear, either she gets the house or she'll dig in and force it thru the courts. think i'll call her bluff, hey, even if i only come out with 10k at the end i break even on the house deal. we bought for 237k(currently 330k) values are not dropping back to that in a couple of weeks/months.

    So i wait till judge orders the sale and then just bid on the house myself? do the banks approve loans on a house that you already own in this situation? sounds messy.

    Thanks for the advice/info.


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    #7
    astrofool
    Registered Users Posts: 16,655 ✭✭✭✭astrofool


    So, is she 17k short of the original price, or the current 330k price? (i.e. she is offering 148k for your half, valuing it at 296k). How did you reach your valuation? House asking prices have dropped and no one is meeting the asking price either.

    On the other hand, if it goes to the open market, you may get it cheaper still for yourself, but, it will mean the two of you trying to outbid each other. Is it an apartment?


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    #8
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭liger


    astrofool wrote: »
    So, is she 17k short of the original price, or the current 330k price? (i.e. she is offering 148k for your half, valuing it at 296k). How did you reach your valuation? House asking prices have dropped and no one is meeting the asking price either.

    On the other hand, if it goes to the open market, you may get it cheaper still for yourself, but, it will mean the two of you trying to outbid each other. Is it an apartment?

    I had the property valued. The equity in the house stands at 110 at the moment. split that by two is 55k and she is offering 38k for my half.

    Its a 3bed terrace, good condition, walking distance to luas, shops, schools. quiet estate.


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    #9
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,790 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    She obviously isn't happy with your valuation. How much would you be prepared to pay to buy her out? That's what it comes down to really.


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    #10
    seamus
    Registered Users Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Have a look at daft.ie and myhome.ie for similar properties in the immediate area. Get the average asking price. Take off 10% for the actual value - any buyer will offer at least 5% less then asking now, if you're even lucky enough to get an offer.

    Then subtract the outstanding mortgage and you're left with the actual equity. Get your half of the equity, and then caculate the cost to you (in terms of lost time, mortgage payments and solicitor's fees) of going through the courts and take it away from your equity.

    For the small amount of equity you're talking about, allowing it to go to court seems like pure stubbornness. I'm aware that she's being stubborn about it too, but let her be bitter and twisted - think about yourself. Would you rather waste a year going in and out of court and walk away with your 10k, or get it over with now and walk away with 30k?

    The choice seems obvious to me.


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    #11
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭liger


    seamus wrote: »
    The choice seems obvious to me.

    So she gets to stay happy and keep the house no problem, but i have to go buy another place, how much is stamp duty going to cost me? 30k? so to me i dont really see the benifit of letting her keep it.


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    #12
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,400 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Did you have any arrangement / contract between you when you bought originally?

    Check with the Revenue Commissioners. The party that stays in the property and buys out the other has a reduced stamp duty liability. I wonder if it is the same for the leaving party. I know there is some allowance made for people who divorce.


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    #13
    seamus
    Registered Users Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    liger wrote: »
    So she gets to stay happy and keep the house no problem,
    Yep. Look beyond the one-upmanship. She's being a pain in the ass, so why are you trying to prolong that pain? Purely so she can't win?
    but i have to go buy another place, how much is stamp duty going to cost me? 30k?
    That's irrelevant really. Either way, you're going to have to pay stamp duty. At least with the easier choice, you have that money available if/when you have to pay your stamp duty.

    New homes have no stamp duty on them and you'll pick up a cracker with great extras in the current market.


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    #14
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭liger


    Victor wrote: »
    Did you have any arrangement / contract between you when you bought originally?

    No co-ownership agreement in place beforehand, i didnt get the best legal advice. the company i used has been in the news latley for the wrong reasons. i'll say no more.
    seamus wrote: »
    Yep. Look beyond the one-upmanship. She's being a pain in the ass, so why are you trying to prolong that pain? Purely so she can't win?

    New homes have no stamp duty on them and you'll pick up a cracker with great extras in the current market.

    So she can win sounds so childish. but in reality its true. i dont like the idea of being blackmailed by her. It annoys me and i have been known to be stubborn at the best of times. so am i willing to Risk throwing 30k down the drain? I'll have to think about it.


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    #15
    seamus
    Registered Users Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    liger wrote: »
    No co-ownership agreement in place beforehand, i didnt get the best legal advice. the company i used has been in the news latley for the wrong reasons. i'll say no more.
    D'oh! :( Are you sure either of you even own the house? (I'm joking, mostly).


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    #16
    liger
    Registered Users Posts: 756 ✭✭✭liger


    I wondered that myself. but yeah apart from the no greement thing everything else is fine. so people think i should cash in my chips. i'll let you know the outcome.


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    #17
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,790 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    No, don't just cash your chips. Try to find a rational basis on which to deal with the situation. Everyone has to move beyond the emotion. Whoever wants to pay more for the other person's half of the house should get to buy it. That just makes sense. Everybody needs to be sensible, if possible.

    I wouldn't value the house as recommended above. This is an interesting way to get a ready reckoner, but not much use for this purpose.


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    #18
    jimmycrackcorm
    Registered Users Posts: 14,339 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    OP, I think you should take into account paying stamp duty on any purchase you will have to make. She won't have to pay any so it is inherently unfair to pay you much less than half the equity. Any court fees will have to come out of the equity in any case so you'll only have to pay half. It would be well worth going to a solicitor to check the costs of pursuing this. It's not a bad debt after all. Even if it takes some time you are unlikely to get much less than what she is proposing plus it will push her to make a better offer.


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