Should we keep the house for the kids?

The three-question test

1. Can one income carry it? Not "can I make the payment" but payment, taxes, insurance, HOA and a repair budget under a third of take-home pay, with child support and maintenance counted only until their end dates. A lender confirms it in writing before the decree, or the deadline is a trap.
2. Does keeping it keep both parents close? If the buyout leaves the other parent renting across the metro, the parenting plan starts failing on Wednesdays. Kids feel that more than square footage.
3. Is it the house, or the routine? Ask them, gently. They usually say their friends, their room, the dog, the other parent, soccer. All of that survives a move inside the same area.

The Denver math

What the kids need, according to the research

• Low conflict between parents matters more than any housing choice. A house that keeps the money fight alive for years is the wrong house.
• Both parents present. Children with real time at both homes do better on almost every measure than children who effectively lose one parent to distance.
• Predictability: the same bed, the same rules about homework and screens at both homes, the same pick-up routine.
• Their own stuff at both homes. Not a suitcase. A toothbrush, clothes, a charger, a place to put things.

The alternatives that keep them close

What we do

One written valuation to both parents, a lender’s honest answer on what one income carries, and, if the answer is two homes, a search inside the parenting-plan distance with a bedroom count that matches the schedule. Damon L. Chavez, Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist, runs the numbers; the team finds the homes.