Retired and Selling Your Home
Meet Bob and Diane
Bob and Diane are widowed retirees, both original owners of their homes, Bob and his wife having lived in their home for 35 years and Diane and her husband for 50 years.
Bob had been widowed for 3 years, living in his rambler home alone until he fell and at 90 years old, he moved into assisted living near his daughter. A pre-inspection report revealed that there would be about $50,000 of deferred maintenance needed to be done in order to make the home marketable. Bob did not want to spend the money. While holding an estate sale, an investor expressed interest in purchasing the home “as is”. With my guidance, Bob and his family weighed their options and we negotiated a deal with the investor, and we sold the home quickly off market. Since Bob and his family were not living in the area, the ease of this transaction was worth more than the time it would take to make the needed improvements to the home before listing. Bob’s home sold for $150,000 less than it would have had he done the deferred maintenance needed.
Diane had a large home with multiple stairs, which were becoming challenging for her. She had decided to move to a 55+ community near her daughter. She was younger than our Bob and needed to get as much out of her home as possible to support her for the years to come. Diane knew her home needed a refresh and updating in order to get top dollar for her home. Diane chose to do a $120,000 renovation to prepare her home for sale. We used a contractor who would be paid out of escrow, which allowed Diane to not have to take out a loan. The renovation took three months to complete. In the end, we had multiple offers on her home and it sold for about $300,000 more than it would have without the renovation.
Two retirees, two different solutions to selling their home.
When is the right time to sell? Who is my best buyer? What solution would work best for my situation?
If these are questions that you ponder, let’s begin the conversation. Call me today to schedule a consultation. We’ll look at your options.
