Buying Tips For Seniors

The American Dream is to own your home. Over 80% of mature Americans over 75 still live in and own their properties. However, many of us, as we age, are not able to maintain our homes.

Some will choose to downsize to a condominium or other maintenance-free dwelling. Others will decide to move to an active adult community with recreational and social amenities. Still others will need to look at assisted-care living facilities.

Whether maturing sellers should rent or buy their next home is not only an emotional decision, but also largely a question of economics.

The most important financial factor that comes into play is determining the highest and best use of the cash you receive from selling your home.

Many times, tying up a lot of cash as equity in a home does not provide the best cash flow.

The question to ask yourself is: Do I have sufficient cash flow from other sources such that using the equity from my current home to buy my next home will be an acceptable financial decision?

If the equity in your current home represents a substantial portion of your assets, how you use these funds is very important in determining your quality of life.

To understand how this works, consider what may be called the “Cheap Living Myth." One of the most commonly uttered phrases by senior homeowners is, "Our mortgage is paid off, so it's really cheaper for us to keep living in our home than it would be for us to rent a home."

Most seniors honestly don't know that they might be able to rent an equally nice home in the same neighborhood and pocket thousands of dollars in extra cash every year.

What are you planning to do with your equity? Where you live for the rest of your life is a major part of your retirement plan.

Believe it or not, many seniors could be better off renting and using their equity to develop better and more effective retirement income.

Ask yourself or discuss it with your spouse: What is the highest and best use of my current Equity?

The security of homeownership is not to be denied but it must make economic sense. Your Seniors Real Estate Specialist® will help you to find the best housing for your specific needs.