How to sell a house fairly for the lowest possible price

Hi folks,

I want to sell my house in a way that minimizes the financial burden on the purchaser. However, matters are complicated by the fact that this person will not accept a solution that is not 100% equitable to me.

We can afford the mortgage comfortably between us. I can afford the mortgage reasonably comfortably alone on my current salary. Unfortunately, she can’t and would have to get somebody to rent a room to make up the mortgage payment each month.

I own the house outright. Her name is not on the deeds. My original idea was to sell her the house at below market value but I since have come to understand that there’s some kind of fairness test around this, legally. From a previous post, I can see that some kind of Gift Tax is liable if you sell at below market value.

So my next thought was to help her pay the mortgage until next year, when the house will almost certainly have dropped in value by around 5% to 10%, and she has built up some more savings. And sell it to her then.

However, she doesn’t feel it’s fair that I pay a mortgage for somewhere I’m not living. Which is a difficult argument to counter, from a fairness perspective. So, kind of running out of ideas around how we structure this.

I understand that some of you are thinking relationship guilt is coming into this in a huge way. But, actually, not really. Neither of us wants this to be anything other than as fair as possible. Though, I’m happy to accept a slightly heavier share of the burden given my own income situation. The problem is, she wouldn't be happy with that.

So, any advice for someone in this unusual predicament?

Thanks

If she won't accept the gift, sell it to her at market value. If she gets into difficulties later, you can offer to help her out. If she doesn't accept, that's her business.

Don't see what else you can do. You've tried.

You could agree that if the house drops in value in the next year or two, you'll refund some of the money. But that's a bit weird, maybe.

How have you calculated the market value, maybe the property is worth less than you think.

The fairest way to get around this might be to ask for three valuers to decide on a price and take the average.... and perhaps you could explain to the valuers that you are looking at the lowest possible market value.

I'm sure the purchaser/ex should be happy with this "independent" valuation...

Just a thought and not aware if this approach would be even legal.

magoko101 said:

The fairest way to get around this might be to ask for three valuers to decide on a price and take the average.... and perhaps you could explain to the valuers that you are looking at the lowest possible market value.

Click to expand...

I would really hope the valuers wouldn't be swayed by this type of request - because with a different sob story they could be asked to maximise the valuations to basically defraud someone else. Is it even legal?

Plus when engaging 3 valuers, it is usually done on the basis that one party selects one each and they agree a third jointly. There are all sorts of ethical issues if one party tries to influence all 3 in these circumstances.

Thanks for the replies folks and sorry for the delay in conveying my gratitude. Have since found out that there's no easy answer to this so the only sensible option is to keep the house myself.

How much of a reduction were you thinking of selling for?