55+ Living Guide Spring 2019 55 LG SPRING 2019 JOOM | Page 37
When is the Right Time to Sell?
By Jeffrey F. Chouinard, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker, Manager Division Street Office
fore you commit. Relocation also requires a
lot of energy: for sorting through decades of
treasures in a family home, and getting settled
somewhere new. Tackle it before you get to an
age when it will all seem like too much to take
on. Once completed you may feel liberated.
Hope to age in place?
They say that Real Estate is about location, loca-
tion, location, but there’s another element that’s
key when you’re moving towards retirement:
timing. Whether your dream is downsizing from
the suburban family home to a condo in a nearby
city, or buying a home in a distant golf communi-
ty, it really matters when you take the plunge.
Buy too many years before you leave work,
and you could saddle yourself with unnecessary
expenses—or just change your mind. Wait too
long, and you might not have the energy to go.
Jeffrey F. Chouinard
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Manager Division Street Office
Director New Home Sales
Howard Hanna
Real Estate Services
28 Division Street
Saratoga Springs NY 12866
518.583.7268 office
518.281.1603 cell
[email protected]
Your life could go in many directions over the
next few decades. Still, your thoughts about
how long you might stay in your new spot could
affect your timing and the specific choices you
make. If you are a couple and one of you dies,
would the survivor stay in the new home?
If so, there are big advantages to moving
sooner rather than later, some say. You can
enjoy your new community together and make
connections that could eventually support a
widow or widower.
People who hope to stay put in their next
home should make sure it will be practical in
later life, is the home free of stairs, with door-
ways wide enough to accommodate a walker?
Can the bathroom fit a sit-down shower? Is the
parking close to the unit? Such features can
be found in all types of communities, not just
age-restricted ones.
Do you aim to move again?
Some people buy a place in a vacation spot while
they’re still working, with the expectation that
they’ll spend their time off there and eventually
move in full-time. An early purchase can solidify
your interest and connections in an area and
reduce the stress when you are finally ready
to leave your current home behind. Alternatively, you might be thinking you will move
to a vacation spot for, say, the next decade and
then return to your home community or move
closer to an adult child, family or friends. In that
case, having lots of space to host family and
friends might be a bigger priority than later-life
practicality. Generally speaking, you are likely
to at least break even on moving, acquisition,
and selling costs if you stay in a home for five
years. Sometimes there’s no intention to sell.
Perhaps you purchase a vacation home while
still working, then upsize to a bigger place in
the same area after you retired and place the
home in a trust for your adult children, who
also love the area.
The sweet spot age-wise to move? The time is now... why do I say that?
The questions that follow may help you
decide on the best schedule for you.
Buying before retirement?
Some financial advisers say early retirement is
the best time to make your final decision and
relocate. Without work, you’ll have ample time
to test out a location—or multiple spots—be-
55PlusLivingGuide.com
As our generation has aged, the baby boom
bulge has remade society in its image, first as a
massive class of toddlers, later as rabble-rous-
ers in the 1960s, then as solidly middle-class
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