Divorce and the House: What You Want vs. What You Can Afford with Divorce Mortgage Specialist, Tami Wollensak

The marital home is usually the biggest asset in a divorce, and it can also be the biggest blind spot. In this episode, Karen McMahon sits down with divorce mortgage specialist Tami Wollensak, who brings 30 years in lending and has helped more than 1,000 divorcing homeowners answer one pressing question: can I afford to keep the house after divorce?

Together they explore how to close the gap between wanting to keep the marital home and being able to afford it. Tami explains why agreeing on how to value the home matters more than agreeing on a number, why an appraisal gives you neutral data that a realtor's market analysis or Zillow can't, and how home equity becomes part of the marital balance sheet when one spouse buys out the other. She walks through the ways a buyout can be funded, from a refinance to family help to trading other marital assets like retirement accounts, and why the decision rarely has to be all or nothing.

Karen and Tami also dig into the costs many divorcing homeowners overlook, including property taxes, homeowner's insurance, association dues, utilities, and the 2 to 3 percent of the home's value you should budget each year for maintenance. Tami breaks down how lenders treat alimony and child support as qualifying income for a mortgage, including the six months of court-ordered payments and 36-month continuance underwriters look for, why voluntary payments into a joint account won't count, and how vague settlement language can cut your qualifying income in half. She also shares the housing budget ratios that keep you from ending up house rich and cash poor.

Both Karen and Tami open up about their own decisions around the marital home, and why renting after divorce turned out to be one of the best choices either of them made.

Tami closes with three steps to take before you sign a divorce settlement involving the house: agree on how the home will be valued, gather your mortgage statement so you know exactly what you owe, and track the monthly costs of running your household so you can build a post-divorce budget that holds.

Connect with Tami:

Take the Free Quiz: The Divorce Housing Clarity Quiz - https://empowereduncoupling.com/assessment/

Website: https://www.empowereduncoupling.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tami_wollensak

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamiwollensak

Substack: https://tamiwollensak.substack.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@empowereduncoupling

Connect with Karen:

Book a FREE Coaching Call: https://www.jbddivorcesupport.com/rapid-relief-call Join Divorce Support Network: https://bit.ly/jbdpod