Sell House and Rent in Retirement

Now that you’ve retired, what should you do with your house… Should you rent? Should you
buy? Or should you just stay where you are?  You may watch this video ▶

You’ve got this big old house with all of these rooms and you’re retired! You’ve raised your children, they’ve moved out, they have children of their own, your grandchildren come back and stay occasionally. Your children rarely return home. You’ve got so much time on your hands. You wonder what to do with your house: should you move or stay. Well, you have 3 options in this situation. These options are: sell your house and rent, sell your house and buy a smaller house, or remain in your house. Let’s explore all 3 of these options!
One of these options: is to stay in your house, even though your monthly household expenses may be expensive, it may be cheaper to stay in your house because of the high rental prices in your area or the surrounding areas depending more than your household monthly expenses. This option allows you to remain in your home and the area that you’re familiar with, your neighbors, your friends who live in the area. Moreover, this may be something that you would want to do.

The second option is to sell your house and rent. This is a good option if you have a large amount of equity in your house. This may be financially wise to sell your home especially if the housing sales market is strong for sellers(we are currently in this market here on Long Island,NY). This is where there is less inventory than the demand for these houses. Thus, causing sellers to get their asking or more than their asking price. Should this option be one that you’re considering, I would suggest to go around and check out what the rental costs are. The pro with renting is; you won’t have to maintain the property, anything that breaks in the rental property is not your responsibility anymore, it’s the responsibility of your landlord. This is great because repairs are included in your monthly rent. So, check and see what the monthly rents are where you would like to move depending on what’s aligned with your lifestyle.

Option 3 is to sell your house and buy a smaller house or a condo. You’ve looked at your finances and the costs to maintain your lifestyle. You’ve noticed that your property taxes are too high, the home
sale prices in the area are high also. You’ve always wanted to move out of state and move to a
warmer or colder climate. Here’s the perfect opportunity to do this and enjoy the next chapter of
your life. Houses out of state or where you might be looking, may be a whole lot less money
than your monthly household expenses. The proceeds that you receive from the sale of your
home may allow you to purchase your next house with cash in that state. Now, with all of the
three options that I’ve given, please make sure to consult with a financial advisor to see what’s
best for your financial situation, your financial goals and your retirement. Happy retirement.