Divorce or separation. Want to keep the family home? Nine mistakes to avoid.
If you are going through a divorce or separation and want to keep your family, it normally requires a loan refinance and possible payout of equity to your ex partner. If this is you, here are nine common mistakes to avoid.
MISTAKE # 1: TAKING THE DIY OPTION
Professional advice can de-stress this critical step and get you a faster result with less stress and fuss on your part.
MISTAKE # 2: BEING IGNORANT OF THE RISKS
Choosing the wrong lender may unknowingly increase the risk of losing your family home if your application is declined.
MISTAKE # 3: UNEVEN MATCH OF FINANCIAL SKILLS
In most relationships one person tends to be the “money person”. If this applied to your relationship and you’re the one with lesser financial skills, change this and change it quickly
MISTAKE # 4: UNAWARE OF CURRENT FAMILY FINANCIAL POSITION
Seek access to all accounts and check that the balances and limits are what you expect. Most importantly make sure that all accounts are up to date.
MISTAKE # 5: IGNORING THE BEFORE AND AFTER
If you want to keep your family home it is critical to think forward to determine whether you can afford to do so.
MISTAKE # 6: DEALING WITH EMOTION NOT FACTS
In the cold hard world of divorce home loan refinance emotion counts for little. I’ve never seen a bank or lender approve a loan on emotional grounds.
MISTAKE # 7: THINKING YOUR BANK IS YOUR FRIEND
An obvious emotional decision would be to approach your bank, tell them what about your divorce and say you want to take over the loan. Fine they say, but you will have to prove to us that you qualify for a loan based on your future income and expenses after your divorce. Oh and by the way they let you know there have been a few late or missed payments on your home loan over the past several months.
MISTAKE # 8: THINKING ALL BANK’S AND LENDERS ARE THE SAME
They’re not. Sure they may seem the same from the outside.
They appear to have similar products and interest rates, but scratch beneath the surface a little and many differences will appear. We call these differences credit policy niches.
MISTAKE # 9: BEING UNPREPARED FOR YOUR FAMILY LAW SOLICITOR
A key question your Family Law Solicitor will ask when you state you want to retain the family home ie “do you know whether you can afford to do so?” or simply will you qualify for a loan.
To help your Family Law Solicitor help speed up the process and reduce stress on your part having the answer to this critical question will save you time and money.
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