[USER]

Hi! My best friend is 45 and recently separated from her husband of over 15 years. They have 3kids together, the oldest starting college in fall of 2026.

She was a stay-at-home mom for a few years but has a degree and relevant work experience and is now starting her job search.

Limited 401k on her side.

They own: A rental property that will be paid off in three years. Aprimary residence with two mortgages.

A piece of land where they had planned to build a small rental house.

The divorce isn’t finalized yet, and no papers have been filed. She’s debating whether it would be better to sell some or all of these properties now or hold on to them as long as possible to gain potential property value while keeping them rented.

What advice could you offer her?

She wants to start making smart decisions and eventually investments and her life changes drastically. I mentioned I would ask for advice here.

Thanks

[Stacey]

If they keep – one of them will need to be bought out. And most lenders a change in deed (removing the other spouse) will trigger the need for a refinance so the remaining spouse would have to qualify for a new mortgage

[Kerri]

Either they need to be sold or her husband will have to buy her out if he wants to keep them.

Sounds like she needs cash so if it were me, that’s what I would lean towards as it doesn’t sound like she’s in a position to buy him out. Definitely do not want to continue with shared ownership.

If she hasn’t, she should speak to an attorney in her area for advice on custody, child support, alimony, etc.

[Heath]

I would start by asking her this question: “are you willing to be a business partner with a former spouse?”

If yes, then keeping them might be an option.

If not (and this would be my recommendation), then they need to look into either one ex-spouse buying the other out of the properties or selling them.

[Carrie]

I would sell with this caveat – I would want to make sure the kids are OK with where they are going to school as sometimes this is tied to your neighborhood.

This varies greatly though by where they live.

[Jenny]

Selling would be a clean break especially the primary home. The rental property may not cash flow when one spouse buys the other one out.

[Author]

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