since i have been back everything has been greet between fiancee and i - not so great with his ex and the situation with the house (among other things) that has been sitting on and off the market for 2 years now. as stated in a previous post, the house has been a problem for a while. it won't sell, the ex lives in it with her BF (who has no job btw) and the 2 kids.

the real estate agent shows the house several times a week and every response comes back negative. 'the house is over priced, the landscaping is not maintained (it really does look like sh*t), paint is worn down and the house is filthy.'

my fiancee has sizeable equity in the house($70K+) and is prepared to do anything to sell it. the only thing it seems he can do at this point is lower the price but the divorce decree says he cannot make any decisions on the house without ex's agreement. she absolutely will not agree to lower the price of the house, she demands he pay for a housecleaner, landscaper and a painter - she won't lift a finger.

now the interest rates have gone up on the house and the monthly payment are significantly higher.

well a few days ago she called my faincee and said she wants the house and she wants him to make her a proposal. i think she had this tactic all along to make it so the house won't sell so that my finacee will cut a deal with her out of desperation. so we gave her 3 different options to choose from and she came back calling him every name in the book. of course she threatened to take him back to court. my faincee did not respond to her typical verbal abuse. in fact he didn't reply at all. days later she comes back and makes her 'counter offer'. we both read it together - i was ROFLMAO!! is this woman friggin kidding me? she basically wants the house given to her. her offer was that he take a few hundred dollars off her $4800 monthly maintenance check - for the next 10-12 years, was after the youngets turns 18 (she also gets a $1500 a month CS check). i am like HELL NO! we are financially struggling right now and he is greatly depending on the equity in the house to keep us from going severely in debt.

we're now trying to figure out how to handle this situation. she clearly won't agree to lowering the price of the house now will she lift a finger to clean it up. my fiancee discussed (as a last resort) after 6 months if the situation doesn't change to have her move out of the house and we move in and clean it up. i am an interior designer by trade and staged homes in new york so he wants me to utilize my talent to stage the home to sell it. then as a result possibly deduct fees from her share of the equity. i suppose i could do this but i feel icky about it especailly because this is a house the kids grew up in.

any suggestions on how to handle this? or has anyone had any similar experiences?