my first bit of realestate property has been sold

[yesthattom]

My ex has sold the condo that we owned. In the divorce settlement, she bought out my share of the equity (50%, which was stupid to agree to since I was the ONLY one paying the mortgage before and after we were married, but I was being a nice guy) for $10,000. She is selling it for (according to her father) "about $100,000". I shouldn't have taken 50% of the equity, but 50% of the appraised value, which would have netted me an additional $10,000. (She claimed to have had it appraised but the value was very low. I should have paid for my own appraisal.) Yesterday and today I drove to her lawyer's office to sign and re-sign things. My lawyer screwed up the original deed transfer. Since he's out of the country, it's been a real pain in the ass to fix things on my own. However, it's absolutely worth it because once she sells this place I'm no longer entangled with it. In 60 days I'm going to order my credit report and smile as I see myself no longer being listed on a mortgage that I'm no longer responsible for. (Why am I still on the mortgage? Because the bank won't let me take my name off of it until she pays off the mortgage 100% and she's a financial disaster without the ability to do that right now.) I hope she spends her $100,000 on something useful: Two things come to mind: • Put it in a short-term investment. Wait 6-12 months for the real-estate market to completely crash (which it will). Use the $100,000 to purchase 2 condos in that same complex. Live in one rent-free, use the income from the other to pay her living expenses. Be careful not to laugh too hard when she runs into the people that bought the place for 2x the value of what its worth. • Invest the $100,000 in a income-producing portfolio (pay a bank to set it up as a trust fund that gives her a set amount each month to live on). Move in with a relative that will let her live rent-free or almost rent-free. Live off the income for many years. What? You don't think the real-estate market is going to crash soon? The bubble is about to burst. Sell NOW.

Comments

[cloacabutt.livejournal.com]

Um, aren't spouses entitled to half of everything each other owns by law? They are in Pennsylvania at least.

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

$10,000 was half the equity in the house. She'll have to pay off the mortgage with the profits from her sale.

I should have negotiated harder, but I was being a nice guy. I gave up 50% of everything I wned, and she gave up 0% of everything she owned. Total amount is something like $150,000 that I gave to her. I've never totalled it up because I don't want to know the final amount.

I haven't talked about this much for reasons I'll only discuss in private.