The Emotional Divorce
Updated: Jun 3, 2019
Regardless of why you’re divorcing, your marriage probably had some good times and
memories. Your house wasn’t just a house, it was a home. A home to the good
memories.
It’s natural to want to hold on to the memories.
And whether or not people do it knowingly, it’s pretty common to do things and make
choices that get in the way of selling their house because of the memories and emotion
tied to the house.
It’s as simple as that.
Real estate agents aren’t (usually) licensed therapists. However, they certainly do their
fair share of listening and helping people deal with complicated emotions—and not just
during a divorce. Emotions affect many people who are buying and selling houses; it’s
an emotional process for many reasons.
Like motivation and revenge, emotion is often one of the root causes for most of the
problems divorcees face during the sale of their house.
The relationship between a real estate agent and his/her client is a “fiduciary
relationship.” In simplest terms, it’s a “trusting relationship.” That’s important to have,
but it’s not always the case—even when two clients aren’t divorcing.
But when the two clients are divorcing, it becomes even more difficult to achieve.
It’s not like each of you hiring your own divorce attorney…
You can’t each hire your own real estate agent to sell the house and represent your
personal feelings and interests. You hire one who represents both of you.
Beyond that...
Ideally, you should hire an agent who isn’t just neutral, but one who also has a solid
understanding of the unique problems and issues that often occur during the sale of a
house due to divorce.
The real estate agent you hire needs to have a firm grasp on these subtle problems and
issues and not get caught up in the fray.
Your agent needs to be fair, but firm, and make sure the process is as smooth as
possible. And that includes being able to identify any underlying reasons why things are
happening and being able to help you resolve them.
Selling a house can be an emotional and stressful process for even the happiest couple
in the world to go through. Finding the right price can be the first frustrating step.
As you move forward, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. I’ll take
great pride in bringing a neutral voice to your situation, and rest assured I have a
thorough understanding of what you’re going through right now.
