Peter S. LeeThe Saward Team · eXp Realty
Selling During Divorce
Selling a Home During Divorce · Metro Detroit

One house. Two futures. A process built to be fair to both.

Neutral, documented, and discreet — so the home sale doesn’t become another dispute.

Confidential. Either party may reach out. Both are treated identically.

  • Neutral to both parties, by design
  • Every decision documented in writing
  • Same information, same time, always

The house is usually the largest shared asset. It’s also the easiest thing to fight over.

Most of what makes a home sale contentious during divorce isn’t the market. It’s information: one party hears something first, one conversation happens off the record, one decision gets made without the other in the room.

Handled that way, the sale stops being a transaction and becomes evidence — and it drags everything else out with it.

Neutrality isn’t a courtesy. It’s a protocol.

Our process is built so that neither party ever has to wonder what the other one knows. Same information, same time, in writing, every step.

Four rules, kept in writing.

  1. A neutral valuation, prepared for each party.

    Identical valuation analyses, built on comparable sales we select and review personally — one prepared for each party, delivered to each side and their counsel at the same time.

  2. A communication protocol, agreed up front.

    Who gets told what, and when, is decided once — at the start, with everyone’s agreement. Then it’s followed. Every update goes to both parties simultaneously, in writing.

  3. Every decision, documented.

    Offers, counters, responses, deadlines, and approvals are logged as they happen. Nothing rests on memory, and nothing gets re-argued later.

  4. Options presented without advocacy.

    We lay out the choices and what each one requires. We don’t recommend one party’s preference over the other’s. That’s not our role, and both parties knowing it isn’t is the point.

Three paths. Presented evenly, on purpose.

The three ways a shared home is typically handled. Each presented with the same weight — the pros, the cons, and what it requires. What’s right depends on your situation and your counsel’s advice, not on our preference.

Sell now

Pros

A clean break. The asset becomes divisible proceeds, on a documented record. No shared obligation continues past closing.

Cons

Both parties absorb the market as it is today, and a move happens during an already difficult season.

Requires

Agreement to list, an agreed decision protocol for offers, and cooperation on preparation and access.

One party buys out the other

Pros

Continuity — one household keeps the home. No listing, no showings, no shared sale process.

Cons

The buyout must be financed and the valuation agreed, which is where disputes concentrate. One party carries the home alone afterward.

Requires

A valuation both sides accept, lender approval for the remaining party, and counsel to paper the transfer.

Hold temporarily

Pros

Defers the decision when timing is wrong — for the market, or for either party’s next step.

Cons

Shared ownership continues after the divorce, which means shared costs, shared decisions, and a future negotiation everyone has agreed to have later.

Requires

A written agreement covering who pays what, who lives where, and what triggers the eventual sale.

Whichever path fits, it goes better documented. That part, we can help with today.

Professional Partners

For divorce attorneys.

When a matter includes the marital home, you need a documented valuation analysis to support the file, a neutral third party both clients can accept, and communication that’s predictable enough to plan around. That’s the service.

  • Written valuation analysis for the file — a documented comparative analysis, expressly pre-CMA and not a licensed appraisal, and we say so plainly
  • Strict neutrality: identical information to both parties and both counsel, simultaneously
  • Predictable communication cadence; every decision and exchange documented
Introduce yourself — peter@askpeterlee.com

Make the house the easy part.

A neutral valuation, an agreed protocol, and a documented process — so the sale moves forward while everything else gets worked out.

Confidential. Either party may reach out. Both are treated identically.

Request a Confidential Consultation

Confidential. Either party may reach out. Both are treated identically.