Divorce is never easy. And when real estate is involved, it can get downright exhausting.

Sometimes neither of the spouses wants to keep the house -- too many bad memories, perhaps. So the simple answer is to sell and move on.

When kids are involved, though, the breakup becomes much more complicated. Often, one spouse wants to remain in the house so the children aren’t uprooted, so the other has to move out.

But how do they split the value of the family residence? If one spouse just wants to bail, they can sign over their share of the property and walk away. Problem solved -- or at least alleviated. Or, if one spouse has the ability to buy out the other’s interest, a major stumbling block can be avoided.

Those two scenarios are rare, however. More often than not, the parties go to war over the issue.

If they can’t come to some kind of understanding, a judge will do it for them. But it need not get to that point if the parties consider a cash-out refinancing.

For simplicity purposes, say the house is worth $100,000 and the balance on the mortgage is $50,000. By refinancing to the full $100,000, there is $50,000 on the table that the remaining spouse can use to buy out the spouse who is leaving.

Simple enough, except that there often isn’t enough equity in the place to do a normal cash-out refi. For example, Fannie Mae, perhaps the largest source of money for home loans, requires an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) to be retained in the property. And the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the government agency that insures loans against default, expects an 85 percent LTV.

Consequently, in the example above, the parties would only be able to pull $30,000 out of the house if Fannie Mae was purchasing the loan from the primary lender, as is often the case. If the FHA was underwriting the new mortgage, they could pull out $35,000.

In neither case, then, would there be enough money to buy out the departing spouse’s half-share. But both Fannie and the FHA are aware of the housing and mortgage issues divorce can cause. And each one has a special refinance option, neither particularly well-known, to help solve the problem.

Under the FHA “divorce” option, one spouse co-borrower can refinance the property up to 97.5 percent loan-to-value ratio instead of the 85 percent ceiling required of other borrowers.

“This has a huge advantage, especially when a property has declined in value or has not gained enough equity for a normal FHA cash-out refinance,” says George Souto, a loan agent with McCue Mortgage in Middletown, Connecticut, who blogged about the program on the Active Rain real estate website.

There are rules, though. As Souto points out, the remaining co-borrower has to use the proceeds of that loan to pay off his or her former co-borrower. Also, the spouse who retains the property must obtain a divorce decree, settlement agreement or other legally binding and enforceable equity agreement that documents the amount of equity awarded to the other spouse.

Of course, the spouse who remains on the new mortgage must qualify for the loan with just his or her own income and meet all the other FHA guidelines. And in no case can he or she receive any of the proceeds from the new loan.

Under Fannie Mae’s divorce-refi option, the property can be refinanced up to 95 percent of its current value, as long as the property was jointly owned for at least 12 months prior to the day of the application for the new loan. And the parties must document that fact.

Again, the spouse who remains must not receive any of the proceeds, and must be able to qualify for the new loan on his or her own. And both parties must execute a written agreement stating the terms of how the property is to be transferred, the purpose of the transfer and how the funds from the refi will be used.

Freddie Mac, another major investor in mortgages, also has a refi option for divorcing couples. Under its program, the property must have been owned by the warring factions for at least 12 months. Also, the loan file must state that the property was occupied as a principal residence, and there must be a written agreement stating the terms of the transfer and the disposition of the refi proceeds.

The new mortgage amount is limited to the amount of equity used to buy out the other co-owner, plus the amount needed to pay off the old mortgage, any junior liens and closing costs, financing costs and any escrows and prepaid items such as property taxes.

Move over, real estate companies. There’s a new game in town.

Nonprofits that work with mostly low- and moderate-income families to widen their homeownership opportunities are expanding their missions into helping clients actually buy and sell houses.

Take NeighborWorks America, for example: It’s a Washington-based, Congressionally chartered nonprofit network, and a leading trainer of professionals in community development and affordable housing. Typically, local nonprofits in the NeighborWorks network educate would-be buyers about the ins and outs of ownership and, if necessary, help them straighten out their finances and boost their credit scores. Then, when people are ready to take the next step, they are turned over to an outside realty professional.

Now, though, 30 or so NeighborWorks member organizations are keeping their clients in-house, offering not only realty services but also, in some cases, financing and insurance. Some are even building houses.

Over the next few years, Marietta Rodriguez, NeighborWorks’ vice president of national homeownership programs, expects the number of nonprofits that build, sell, finance and insure houses to grow as they look to become less dependent on shrinking federal and state dollars.

“The housing industry and the funding options for the nonprofit community business are changing,” Rodriguez says. “To adapt, more and more NeighborWorks organizations are building complementary businesses that generate revenue that they funnel back into their mission-based operations. The result is a more complete social enterprise that offers double bottom-line benefits for them and the community.”

The move toward self-sufficiency makes sense. Nonprofits see thousands of families who yearn to be homeowners. After these people go through an extensive education program, many are mortgage-ready. But then they go off to buy a house through an often unknown real estate agent and mortgage company.

In many cases, then, the nonprofit is helping agents and lenders, but getting nothing in return. So it’s “only natural,” says the NeighborWorks executive, for local groups that have the capacity to add realty services to do so.

“Vertical integration in this instance makes a lot of business sense,” she says.

For NeighborWorks of West Vermont in Rutland, the move into realty services “fills a gap” for its clients, says Ludy Biddle, the group’s executive director. ”They’ve gone through our classes and built their credit scores, and they are excited about homeownership, and then we didn’t have anyone to help them. So we decided to fill that piece.”

The Vermont chapter has only one agent on staff just now, but he’ll do 28 sales this year, says Biddle. “He got tired of selling ski condos, and wanted to do something to help people.”

To which, Riddle adds: “All of us in the nonprofit world are working to become self-sufficient and still support the people who need our help. If we can make a little bit of profit, we can be less dependent on state and federal grants.”

To help the trend along, NeighborWorks has embarked on a three-year program to educate more of its 250 member organizations about how to build revenue streams that they can pour back into their core functions.

The goal is to be something like Homewise, the 31-year-old New Mexico nonprofit that began adding realty services to its menu about a half-dozen years ago. Today, it has seven agents on staff in Santa Fe and two in Albuquerque. It also finances the houses its clients buy, and has just started insuring those properties, as well.

“Anything we get in terms of grants or funding is used for growth,” says Communications Director Laura Altomare. “Our day-to-day operations are funded by our real estate services.”

In Homewise’s most recent fiscal year, 372 families who went through its education programs went on to buy houses. Of those, 271 used one of the group’s agents. Clients don’t have to use a Homewise agent, say Altomare, but most people choose to.

With the increased competition for business, you’d expect some pushback from the local real estate community. But the opposite has been the case so far.

For one thing, real estate agents tend not to like working with low- and moderate-income customers, who require too much work for smaller commissions. Beyond that, real estate agents often refer clients to the nonprofits.

“We have a great relationship with our local Realtors,” says Altomare. “We get quite a few referrals from them about people who are not quite ready to buy.”

Another vertically integrated nonprofit, NPHS in Rancho Cucamonga, California, also has a good relationship with the local real estate community.

“You never want to ruffle any feathers,” says Communications Director Victor Ramirez, “but we’ve been well received. They’d rather be doing easier deals, so they’d rather have us do the more complex ones.”

NPHS has two agents on staff: one to handle residential clients and the other to work on commercial deals, which is a new line of business the organization has just launched.

So low-income buyers can take heart: More homebuying options and help are available every day.

There’s nothing more offensive than a seller hovering over a would-be buyer when he or she is looking at the house.

Well, maybe there is. Here are four overlooked ways sellers sabotage the sales of their homes:

-- Access. If a prospect can’t tour the place, they probably won’t buy it. Sellers must be as flexible as possible when it comes to showings. Yes, life often gets in the way: kids, ballgames, family is here from out of town, blah, blah, blah. But if you want to sell it, people need to see it -- on their terms, not yours.

“Access is huge,” says agent Kathleen Daniels of K.D. Realty in San Jose, California. “It won’t sell if people cannot see it.”

Access also refers to a buyer’s ability to actually get into the house. So fix the front door if it sticks, and make sure the screen door or storm door works properly. While you’re at it, make sure the keys work easily. People don’t want to hear something about having to jiggle it, or turn it just this way or that to make it work. If it doesn’t work smoothly, change the lock.

“I don’t have time to figure out the idiosyncrasies of your lock,” says Travis Parker of Team Linda Simmons in Enterprise, Alabama.

-- Smells. You love your two dogs and three cats, and you also love to cook. That’s great, but remember that animals and dinners give off odors -- sometimes pungent ones that can send would-be buyers running for the exits. You live with these smells every day, so you probably don’t notice them. But prospects will.

Smoking also offends the olfactory nerves of many people, so if you can’t quit altogether, light up outside until the house is sold. And be sure you clean up your butts. Would-be buyers don’t want to see your leftovers any more than they want to smell them.

“Smoking drives me crazy,” comments Elyse Berman of Realty Associates Florida Properties in Boca Raton. “Maybe I am oversensitive to it, but most buyers ... will agree.”

Speaking of stink, don’t burn scented candles every time the house is being shown, or fill every room with a plate full of potpourri. Your intentions are good, but many people find the smells unpleasant. And they can easily prompt buyers to wonder what you are trying to cover up.

Want to kill your sale? “Put lots of plug-in air fresheners in your house,” says Holly Weatherwax of Momentum Realty in Reston, Virginia. “A lot of them.”

-- Pets. Not everyone loves your dog or cat -- or pet snake, for that matter. Some folks fear them; other folks are allergic. So get them out of the house when showing the place. This even goes for your friendly little pooch who never, ever bites. You don’t want a would-be buyer to be the first to prove that untrue. And most people don’t like the idea of cat dander on their pant legs from your friendly feline rubbing against them.

It’s not enough to stick your pets in the garage or the backyard. After all, buyers will want to see the garage and backyard. Plus, a yapping mutt outside is a big distraction.

Instead, take them to a friend’s house if you can, and try to remove any reminders that you have a pet at all. Get rid of the litter box, the dog beds, the food and water dishes and the piles of dog, er, residue in the yard.

“One of my worst showings ever had everything, including a barking dog, a live chicken on the kitchen countertop, cat poop on the floor, boxes everywhere and who knows how many people upstairs,” says Barbara Bartell-Kamp of Keller Williams in White Plains, who didn’t bother going upstairs to find out.

-- Stuff. Most longtime homeowners have too much stuff. Their places literally overflow with it: furniture, knickknacks, family photos, collections, books, etc. So pare it down. You live with your stuff every day, so you may not notice it. But visitors do.

“Having to blaze your own trail through a showing is not helpful,” says Carol Lynn Johnson of RE/MAX Elite Realty in Franklin, North Carolina, whose pet peeve is too much furniture.

Remember, when your house is for sale, it is on stage. You want buyers to notice the big picture window, for example, but they may not if it’s covered by a massive set of drapes or blocked by a pile of best-sellers. And they may not realize just how large your secondary bedrooms are if they’re filled with boxes of stuff.

Pay particular attention to the kitchen counter. People can’t see how much counter space you have if it’s covered by coffeemakers, breadboxes and the like. Also, pay attention to other spots where stuff tends to accumulate, including the pantry, fireplace mantel and bookshelves.

The bottom line: “It takes a lot of work to sell your house,” says Weatherwax. “It is very difficult to pay attention to the house when there are so many nonessential things vying for a buyer’s attention.”