55+ Living Guide Spring 2019 55 LG SPRING 2019 JOOM | Página 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 37