Why Selling Your Home Could Be the Key to a Happy Retirement
Retirement is a critical moment when you can set aside most work routines and settle peacefully in your sunset days. During retirement, you’ll also have more free time traveling to different places and interacting with your kin.
Although many retirees envision a quiet, fun-filled life, the reality presents a different experience for some. Financial constraints, for instance, pose a significant hindrance to living comfortably in retirement.
However, if you’re a homeowner, selling your home can help fund your retirement in numerous ways; liquidizing cash to allocate towards your savings, buy a new property in full, pay off remaining debts, reinvest into other areas of your portfolio, or use as spending money.
Discover five sure ways selling your home to
Kansas City home buyers can guarantee happiness in your retirement.
Cut Down Maintenance Costs
Homeownership has a fair share of maintenance obligations, including regular cleaning, outdoor upkeep, emergency repairs, and routine refurbishment.
While it’s easy to manage such expenses with a regular income, setting aside enough cash for home maintenance may be challenging when you’re out of employment. In such cases, you may sell to home buyers Kansas City and switch to another one that requires little maintenance.
For instance, pool maintenance costs $3,000-$5,000 annually. You can save up to $25,000 in pool maintenance after five years by downsizing to a smaller property that doesn't have a pool.
Boost Your Retirement Account
According to the National Council on Aging, many seniors are unsure about living a comfortable retirement due to insufficient savings. Moreover, about 75% of seniors enter their retirement while carrying a huge debt. As a result, they accumulate debts by borrowing extra funds to cater to their daily needs.
However, if you own property, selling to cash home buyers in Kansas City can yield the extra funds you need for your retirement, even if you have little savings.
You can use the proceeds from cash home buyers Kansas City to buy a cheaper house while redirecting a portion of the sales to boost your retirement account.
Let’s say you sell your home for $500,000; you can acquire an affordable condo for $400,000 and pump the remaining $100,000 into the retirement savings account.
Offset Hefty Mortgage Payments
A mortgage payment is one of the biggest financial obligations for most homeowners. The downside of carrying a mortgage into your retirement is that it consumes your retirement income, mainly due to fluctuating interest rates.
An easy way to get off the big mortgage trap in your retirement is to sell to a
cash home buyer Kansas City. Although a considerable portion of the proceeds will settle the outstanding mortgage when
we buy houses Kansas City, it eliminates the long-term mortgage obligation that drains the monthly savings.
Reduce Your Property Taxes
Property taxes are essential revenue sources for local governments across different states. Although they are payable annually, they still contribute to massive cash outlays on your property.
Property taxes depend on many factors, including the type of property and its assessed value. An excellent way to reduce your annual property taxes is to sell the current home and downsize to a cheaper property with less stringent tax rates.
Leave a Heritage For Your Children
When buying a retirement home, you want to be sure the home will be a heritage for your heirs when you pass on. However, if the home has an outstanding mortgage, it may translate to a hefty mortgage debt if you pass away before clearing the mortgage.
Instead of carrying a mortgage into retirement, you can sell the property, settle the mortgage, and buy another house. In the end, you’ll leave a solid asset for your heirs without worrying about loan defaults.
Ways To Live a Happy Retirement After Selling Your House
Selling your current home is an excellent way to raise extra income for your retirement. However, after selling the property, you need to identify a suitable strategy to help you cut living expenses and free up more money to sustain your retirement.
Rent a Small House
Although moving from homeownership to renting looks like a step backward, it pays off in the long run. First, it relieves you of the costly repairs you would incur if you owned a property. In addition, you can adopt a reasonably predictable budget knowing all home repair expenses automatically revert to the landlord when you rent a house.
Downsize To a Smaller Property
Downsizing from a multi-unit home to a single-unit condo can reduce your mortgage burden and property taxes, giving you extra cash for other needs. If you’ve built substantial equity on your current home, you can downsize to a smaller unit property and leverage the equity to cater to your daily expenses. Downsizing also helps you pay a smaller monthly mortgage that may be outstanding on your current home.
Relocate To a Cheaper Location
If you lived in a high-end location during your former job cycle, retirement could be the perfect time to relocate to an area with a relatively lower cost of living.
For instance, in New Mexico, the annual tax rate for a home worth $600,000 is 0.55%, translating to an annual property tax of $3,300. Similarly, the average tax rate for a property in Missouri is 0.93%, equivalent to $5,580 for the same home price.
A comparison of the two tax rates ranks Missouri higher than Illinois. Therefore, Illinois would be the best choice if you were looking for an ideal retirement destination among the two states.
Join a Gated Community
A 55+ gated community is a designated residential area for seniors aged 55 or more. The gated community may consist of tiny townhouses, apartments, or condos, usually targeting seniors wishing to downsize their living standards after retirement.
A 55+ community features all-inclusive amenities, including fitness centers, swimming pools, playgrounds, and 24-hour security.
Among the benefits you’ll enjoy from a gated community include;
- Staying in a serene environment.
- Low maintenance amenities.
- Lower property tax rates.
- Guaranteed security and surveillance.
- Affordable living cost.
Relocate To a Home That Matches Your Aging Needs
As your age advances, your home needs may also change drastically. For instance, if you could comfortably climb the stairs in your youthful years, you may suddenly find climbing the stairs an uphill task. You may, therefore, opt for a property that doesn’t require you to use the stairs to other rooms.
About the author
Benjamin Allgeyer
Benjamin Allgeyer is a real estate investor and the owner of Crown City Home Buyers, a cash home buying company based in Kansas City, MO. Benjamin has a passion for helping homeowners who are facing difficult situations, such as foreclosure or financial distress, by providing them with a quick and hassle-free solution to sell their homes. He is committed to providing his clients with exceptional service and helping them achieve their real estate goals.
We here at Crown City Home Buyers are dedicated to getting the most cash possible into your pockets for your home as-is, so that you can get the most out of this situation and prepare to move on. We will buy houses in any condition without you needing to fix your home before sale.