ACT Force sale of shared property

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maintaining_compassion

Active Member
16 December 2019
11
0
31
My ex defacto partner and I have an investment property together. Her lawyer has requested it be sold, which I didn't want to do (because it's a great investment at our original purchase price and I had hoped we could maintain a mutually respectful friendship, which clearly now is not the case) but I have agreed to sell.
Her lawyer is trying to force the property to be listed this week for sale otherwise they will seek interim orders from the court for the sale. I have suggested that it be listed next year in February for numerous reasons:
  1. Listing it now will likely mean there are not many buyers actively looking due to Christmas / school holidays and the property will sit for a long time.
  2. There will likely be more buyers on the market in February when school has gone back.
  3. The fixed lease will have less than a year to expire next year. More than one year of tenants (that can't be kicked out) would seem to be a mental barrier for many buyers.
  4. She has moved interstate and I'm left to organise everything, eg. repairs, agents etc.
  5. The property is leased by a company that provides 24/7 health care to clients with mental illness. So I suggested it would be beneficial to give them more notice and figure out a way that the agents can have appropriate access to show the property without affecting the tenants.
There's also a couple more reasons that i haven't told the solicitor about yet:
  1. I'll be away until second week of next year .
  2. The listing agent will be overseas.
I have already agreed to the sale of the property without forcing any interim orders but I am suggesting the listing be delayed by about seven weeks until February next year. Given her lawyer always takes weeks to respond to my emails, I feel they waste a lot of time, therefore an additional seven weeks is minimal additional delay for what will likely be a faster sale.