Silver and Gold Magazine Summer 2016 | Page 24

silvergoldmagazine.ca HOUSE + HOME JUST STAY HOME In the Spring 2015 issue, Silver and Gold readers were introduced to the Sell ‘n STAY™ program. Since then, Sell ‘n STAY™ has been growing throughout the GTA and more and more seniors want to be part of it. It gives them a sense of security knowing that they can live the rest of their lives in the comfort of their homes, while enjoying the benefits of converting their homes’ equity into cash. Different from a reverse mortgage, this program involves the complete sale of the home in order to access 100% of the equity. The homeowner then securely leases it back with a long term legal agreement in place. and when the refrigerator starts leaking, you call the Landlord. Taxes, maintenance and repairs are no longer paid by the homeowner. In addition, because the transaction is private no one in the neighbourhood needs to know – pride of ownership continues without the liability of ownership. Jack is happy with the offer he accepted, and is still living in his home with his dog and three cats. “As someone who advocates for seniors, when I started this program I wanted it to be beneficial and stress-free – not only for the investors, but especially for our clients,” says Realtor® Saskia Wijngaard. The moving process is stressful and entails a lot of work – weeks of packing and living out of boxes followed by weeks of unpacking and living out of boxes. Not to mention, what if you need to move out of your home before you get to move into your new place? Where will you stay? Where will you store all your belongings? Just the thought can give you a headache. Through the Sell ‘n STAY™ program, seniors sell their home to a qualified investor, then they enter into a long-term lease agreement with the investor at a mutually agreed upon purchase price and lease rate. How is the home’s price determined? As with other real estate sales, the market value of the property is determined by comparing prices of similar homes that have sold recently in the neighbourhood. The lease rate in this program is generally calculated at 5% of the sale price of the home. One benefit is that both parties must come to a mutual agreement prior to moving forward with the sale of the home. The Sell ‘n STAY™ lease agreement takes into account all of the Landlord and Tenant legal requirements and adds certain protection clauses for both the Tenant and the Investor/Landlord. The agreement may be set up for a 3, 5, or 10-year lease term, which for the senior alleviates the concern of being ‘kicked out’, and for the landlord acts as a hedge against market fluctuations. Once the home is sold, the homeowner can continue living in it as if it were still their own with the only difference being that when the furnace needs repairing, you call the Landlord, 24 Like us on Facebook: /silverandgoldmagazine Sometimes it’s not only about cashing out at the top of the market. It can simply be a matter of finding a rental property that accepts pets. In Jack’s case, he could not find a retirement community that would accept his dog and three cats. Through the Sell ‘n STAY™ program, he didn’t need to move, he could ‘Age in Place’ and still unlock the value of his home to finance his retirement. His home was listed privately at $400,000. An offer came in on the same day for $380,000 with a lease-back of $1500 per month. A total of 6 offers were presented to Jack with the highest being $419,000 with a lease-back rate of 6% at $1900, and the lowest being $380,000 with a lease-back rate of 5%. Jack ended up accepting the offer for $380,000 because the lease-back rate was lower and that just worked better for him. Created with seniors in mind, Sell ‘n STAY™ is a valuable option for a variety of circumstances, for homeowners of all ages. It just makes sense.• For more information please contact Saskia Wijngaard and Theresa Baird. Saskia Wijngaard is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Realty Solutions (905-278-8866). Theresa Baird, Broker, is an Accredited Senior Specialist and Senior Real Estate Specialist with Keller Williams Realty Solutions (647-298-0997). www.sellnstay.com