HDB Divorce Sale – How To Plan For Selling
Having to sell your HDB flat due to divorce may seem daunting and complicated if you happen to be in this situation.
It is actually not..
.. if you are fully aware and prepared on the procedures on what to expect beforehand.
Let us share them with you, to help you achieve a smooth selling experience, so that you can move on with your plans in life:
Communication With Your Ex-Spouse
Upon deciding to sell the HDB flat, you and your ex-spouse should both have already agreed to the sale.
This is important to avoid conflicts during the sale as both parties will be required to sign and endorse the flat sale in order for the resale transaction to be completed.
It is also good that both of you agree on how should the flat be marketed..
And decide on whether both of you should each engage a property agent, or perhaps it could be better to just engage an exclusive agent that is neutral to assist both of you in the smooth selling of the flat.
It is also very important to plan for the appropriate timeline whereby both of you will be able to move out to your next place to stay.
Divorce Final Judgement
A Final Judgement for the divorce needs to be completed and out before HDB will allow you to sell your HDB flat.
So unfortunately, if your divorce proceedings are still not completed, HDB system will not allow you to register your Intent To Sell under ‘Divorced’ marital status.
Hence, do plan out your timeline properly, taken into consideration of when your Divorce Final Judgement can be out, before kickstarting the sale of your HDB flat.
The HDB resale application will be rejected by HDB if the Final Judgement is not yet completed.
Interim Judgement will not be accepted by HDB for the sale of the flat.
Deciding On Conveyancing Lawyer
This simply means whether to engage HDB Lawyer or a Private Lawyer for your flat sale.
If your HDB flat is fully paid, or if it is still under a HDB Loan (HLE Loan), then you have an option to appoint HDB to act for the conveyancing.
But if your HDB flat is still under a Bank Loan, then you can only engage a private law firm to handle the flat sale conveyancing for you.
However, there is a downside of using HDB lawyer if your HDB sale is a positive sale, and there is cash proceeds for both you and your ex-spouse.
HDB lawyers usually do not help sellers to split the cash proceeds amount into 2 cashiers order, even if there is a court order on how the amount should be allocated.
So, you should always check with HDB officer and request them to help separate the cash proceeds, as HDB reviews such request on case by case basis.
Otherwise, you may have to engage a private lawyer to split the cash proceeds accordingly so that you and your ex-spouse can receive each of your separate amounts without any hassle.
Engaging HDB lawyer to do the conveyancing will mean a much cheaper legal fees for you.
You can find out the estimated legal fees payable here if you engage HDB lawyer to act for your sale.
HDB Legal Fees typically ranges around a few hundred dollars, whereas Private Lawyer Legal Fees will easily cost around $1500.
HDB lawyer usually only issue one Cashiers Order for the cash proceeds – made out to both Seller’s name. This means both sellers must have a Joint Bank Account in order to bank in the Cashiers Order.
Conclusion
With proper planning and good advice from a property agent who is experienced in handling divorce HDB sale transactions, you will be able to ensure a smooth resale journey.
Whenever we handle flat sale due to divorce, we take extra effort to ensure that transparent communication is being done between both sellers.
And till date, we have successfully completed every divorce case sale for our clients without any major hiccups.