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Is keeping the house really worth it or just emotional? I stayed in mine for 2 years after my divorce in Phoenix | Divorce Support - Vivisector

jason_stone59•2mo ago

Is keeping the house really worth it or just emotional? I stayed in mine for 2 years after my divorce in Phoenix

So I made the choice to keep our 3-bedroom house in the settlement. Thought it would give my kids stability. But the mortgage, property taxes, and maintenance costs hit me hard - I was spending around $600 more a month than when we split it. Then my water heater died and that was another $1,200 I didn't have. Now I'm wondering if I should have just sold and rented something smaller. The stability was nice but so is having money for stuff like vacations. What did you all do - keep the house or walk away?

3 comments

3 Comments

val_shah2mo ago

lol yeah the "stability for the kids" tax is real, I feel you. I kept my place after my split and it was like bleeding money for no reason while my ex was off living her best life in a rental. The water heater thing is brutal, that happened to me too and I just sat there staring at the leak like "really universe, now?" In the end I sold after 18 months and honestly I wish I just ripped the bandaid off sooner. The emotional attachment to a house is overrated when you're eating ramen to pay the mortgage. Plus moving to a smaller place in a cheaper area actually gave me more freedom to do stuff with the kids, not less.

nancy_king292mo ago

Right when you said "ripping the bandaid off" that hit me hard. I did the same thing, held onto the house for almost two years after my split, just trying to keep things normal for my kid. But honestly it was just me drowning in repairs and a yard I didn't have time for. Once I finally sold and moved to a smaller apartment in a better school district, I actually had money left over to take my son to the movies and stuff. The house was just a anchor, not a home. Letting go of that "has to be a house" idea was the best thing for both of us.

adam_baker1mo ago

Right? Totally. I held onto my place for way too long after my divorce thinking the kids needed the stability. Joke was on me when the AC died in July and I had to put the whole thing on a credit card. Sold six months later and got a duplex where my ex actually lives in the other unit now. Not gonna lie it's weird but the kids walk between both sides and I don't have to fix anything anymore.