A question regarding an order of sale on my property

[Robinson]

Hi, I have a mortgage on a property jointly with an ex partner and they moved out after the split. We could not reach an agreement on a settlement price between us so I agreed to have the property placed on the market at their request and with their suggested valuation and Estate Agent. We have not had an offer after a couple of months now. My ex wants the house gone asap and so is threatening an order of sale through the courts as a way of getting me to slash the price by over £25K. I have had numerous valuations which hold the value at just under the current price, we're talking a difference of 5k so i have agreed to reduce it accordingly by that much which i deem reasonable. My question here is am I legally putting obstacles in the way of a sale if I refuse to reduce at her convenience and can the courts order the sale of the property at such a low rate regardless of the agents valuations??

[themas]

The Court should take all the factors into account, including the valuations & the lack of any interest from potential purchasers. In other words, no-one can tell you what a judge would decide.

What occurs to me is that, if you are not careful, you & your ex between you could end up wasting just as much on legal costs as the difference you are talking about. Can't you come to a reasonable compromise?

[Alibeth]

I have a feeling that if you allowed your ex to start the ball rolling if they want to for an Order of Sale, but keep the price at the amount you want to until they get the Order of Sale, you may well have sold the house before the legal wheels get themselves in motion. My experience with the courts when I got a Charging Order against someone who owed me money and was refusing to pay it back, is that these things take such a long time to do that your problem will probably solve itself while the legal process is unfolding.

[themas]

As your mortgage is in joint names I suspect the property is also in joint names. If that is the case, you cannot sell it without your ex signing the papers as well as you (unless you get a Court order to sell), so Alibeth's idea wouldn't work.