New Jersey movie fans may have heard that an Academy Award-winning actress and her former husband recently sold a home they had purchased during their seven-year marriage that ended in 2007. The divorce between Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe has long been final, but the Los Angeles duplex property they bought as an investment in 2005 remained on the market until January 2014, when it sold for $1.44 million. The two realized a profit of $266,500.
The duplex has four bedrooms and four bathrooms in its 2,664 square feet. It had been remodeled, but the stars held on to it as they tried to weather the economic crisis and real estate crash. It worked, with the property selling in just 18 days for $45,000 more than the $1.39 million they had been seeking.
The successful and profitable sale was probably a relief for both Witherspoon and Phillippe, both of whom have lost a bundle on property sales in the years following their split. She had no takers at the $10 million price she was seeking for her and her new husband’s ranch in Ojai, California. Ultimately they lowered the price until the property sold for just under $5 million, meaning that Witherspoon had to take an $800,000 loss on the $5.8 million paid for the ranch in 2008. Her ex-husband also lost big on resale of his home in Hollywood, incurring a loss of roughly $1.18 million.
As in this case, property division or sale following a divorce may take years to complete. The real estate market seems to be making a comeback, so proper asset evaluation could be key to ensuring an equitable division of marital assets.
Source: Forbes, “7 Years After Divorcing, Reese Witherspoon And Ryan Phillippe Sell Shared Los Angeles Investment Property“, February 07, 2014
