Ready to Downsize?
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch house with a sprawling yard makes sense for families with kids and a dog and bikes and extra cars.
For empty-nesters, though, that big, beautiful house often just becomes a list of Saturday morning chores — mowing the yard, cleaning more bathrooms than you use on a regular basis and vacuuming bedrooms that no one is sleeping in but are filled up with old belongings you think about getting rid of but haven’t.
Retirement offers a good opportunity to downsize the house into something more manageable and less expensive. Kiplinger talked to experts about the questions to ask yourself and priorities to consider as you’re looking for a new place.
Consider What You Want
Do you just want a smaller space? Or is locating closer to amenities or in a certain area your top priority? You may want to consider a townhouse or condominium or other property with a homeowners’ association to lessen the amount of upkeep you’re responsible for. If you want to spend less on a mortgage, you may have to compromise on location or amenities. Knowing what’s most important will make shopping easier.
Consider Your Timeline
If you’ve been in the same house for 30 years, you’ve likely accumulated 30 years of stuff. Give yourself a reasonable timeline to pack, purge and clean your house to get it ready for sale. You should also look at the real estate market in your area and the area to which you’re relocating. If you’ve hit a market slump, it could be worth waiting to see if the value of your home will increase. Talk to a realtor about what you can reasonably expect to get for your home and how much it will cost you to sell and then buy a new home.
Look into Adult Communities
Active-adult or continuing-care retirement communities may be the right step. These offer lots of amenities and more of a community feel. CCRCs provide assisted living and skilled-nursing facilities. These offer different payment methods, such as simply paying for rent and then paying out-of-pocket for other care as needed or contracts with an upfront fee for lifetime care.
All That Stuff
What to do with it can be overwhelming
Many seniors call us because they are ready to transition to a smaller space, either a senior living community or a smaller condo. They are often overwhelmed with the reality of moving as well as selling or disposing of their items so that they can then sell their home.
Lynn was indeed overwhelmed, her move complicated by 30 to 40 years of possessions. We were able to help her with her move, do an estate sale, then finally take care of the final clean out. She was so happy to have our assistance as she did not have family or friends to help her through this stressful time. She is now settled in her new home a few doors down from her brother. She and her dog are enjoying their new community.
We also help many children of parents who have passed away liquidate their parents’ estates.