Seniors selling off homes: what overall impact on RE? (physically, community, years)
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Well this brings up another excellent point. For those living in hot areas like Seattle, Boston, Atlanta (where the young jobs are), holding onto the house is an investment, contrary to what is commonly said ("your home is not an investment any longer"). Seniors who want to have their home as the ace in their hands to help finance advanced age may do better to hang onto their house in the hot area and either continue to live there or rent it out, rather than dispose of it for something else (unless moving into another hot area). Moving from a hot area to a non-hot though lovely area may not provide that final return.
For some the matter is complicated, as prop tax in the hot area spirals out of hand—holding onto the "hot" house over the next 10 to 20 years (along with the inevitable costly upgrades) may mean some sacrifice.
Moving from hot to warm works especially if the new warm area is lower cost and less volatile. Twenty years of higher property taxes can eat up that final return and playing home equity end of game can be risky as things change. The last ones out usually are the ones who get stuck as those willing and able to pay more have already bought. It is market timing which always comes with risk. I can sell a mutual fund today at the end of day market price. How long to sell a house? Six months? Year or more? Days? We have seen all of the above in the last six years even in today's hot markets. Having to sell and finding the current market price in housing isn't always fun.
U.S. single-family home prices fell in June and disappointed expectations, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.2 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a flat reading. Non-seasonally adjusted prices rose 1.0 percent in the 20 cities, in line with expectations.
"Home price gains continue to ease as they have since last fall,'' David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.
I see homes online in areas I know are quite nice even upscale (up here) that have been on the market longer than 60 or 90 days. I get automatic email listings that often show reduced price. Now how reduced price plays off against rate of actual sales could give a fuller picture. The question is, generally how are boomer house sales going across the board (across the country in general, folding into the equation the "hotter" market areas).
Many boomers seem to be selling, and how many dallying when they know or suspect they will want to sell? When will the largest brunt of the for-sale wave hit, will there even be one?
We are boomers and sold our house after retiring, so we could downsize and move to Florida. We lived in a great school district, in a desirable location, had a 3 car garage, our landscaping was gorgeous, and we cleaned, painted, dejunked, organized, and staged every room before putting our house on the market. The housing market was bad at that time and nothing much was selling, so we priced our home aggressively, and it sold in five days, so it can be done. A lot of my friends intend to do the same, but some want to age in place.
I know in our old neighborhood as the boomers move out young families are moving in, which is a nice circle of life kind of pattern. Never underestimate the power of a good school district and location.
Older, established neighborhoods with good school systems will never create a glut in the market where I live. Folks have had to turn to new homes in what some describe as "cookie cutter" neighborhoods in the adjoining county, as property has essentially been built out (no more property to build on) within the city limits of my particular part of the city.
It may depend on any given location (but then, doesn't real estate always depend on location?) but my thought is (based on what I have researched and what I have observed) . . . a nice well kept home in a good school district and in a low crime area will always be attractive in an area with a decent unemployment rate.
The young person who bought our home made the "cookie cutter" comparison. Of course our home had also been modernized with updated kitchen etc.
I see homes online in areas I know are quite nice even upscale (up here) that have been on the market longer than 60 or 90 days. I get automatic email listings that often show reduced price. Now how reduced price plays off against rate of actual sales could give a fuller picture. The question is, generally how are boomer house sales going across the board (across the country in general, folding into the equation the "hotter" market areas).
Many boomers seem to be selling, and how many dallying when they know or suspect they will want to sell? When will the largest brunt of the for-sale wave hit, will there even be one?
We current current retiring Boomers have a big advantage over many late Boomers and those who follow. We rode the historic rise in home prices up most if not all of the way. That leaves many of us equity rich with a wide margin of error when we sell. Future retiree's may not be as lucky.
We are boomers and sold our house after retiring, so we could downsize and move to Florida. We lived in a great school district, in a desirable location, had a 3 car garage, our landscaping was gorgeous, and we cleaned, painted, dejunked, organized, and staged every room before putting our house on the market. The housing market was bad at that time and nothing much was selling, so we priced our home aggressively, and it sold in five days, so it can be done. A lot of my friends intend to do the same, but some want to age in place.
I know in our old neighborhood as the boomers move out young families are moving in, which is a nice circle of life kind of pattern. Never underestimate the power of a good school district and location.
Yup yup and Bada Bing and that's why residents of high performing districts are usually willing to pay teachers more to keep their schools that way.
We current current retiring Boomers have a big advantage over many late Boomers and those who follow. We rode the historic rise in home prices up most if not all of the way. That leaves many of us equity rich with a wide margin of error when we sell. Future retiree's may not be as lucky.
Exactly...we just sold at a huge loss in TX this year after buying in 2006. We, at 50, are the youngest Boomers (not sure why we are even considered Boomers). We are scared to buy again, even after moving back home to Missouri. Homes are much more expensive here than TX, so we are thinking of a condo. Never thought I would say it, but we are.
Since we had no equity when we sold, we don't have the big down payment that older Boomers might have, so we want to buy wisely and buy something we can pay off by 65.
Mind you, I'm not complaining...we bought unknowingly at the top, sucked it up and sold it at a loss. It's all a gamble and you take that risk. I just want to be sure this next purchase is our forever spot.
Yup yup and Bada Bing and that's why residents of high performing districts are usually willing to pay teachers more to keep their schools that way.
Better teachers do not always = better school districts. Amherst, Mass., in the middle of the famed "Five College" area and home to UMass, is a case in point. The property taxes in that town are the highest (with Boston area) in this state. It is a "liberal, wealthy, politically correct" town. In the past few years the town has seen a teacher suspended for porn and a terrible racist series of incidents that can't seem to go away (resulting in the departure of a wonderful teacher who is not white, the predominant demographic). The school reputation is decidedly going downhill. I lived in a much better school district (academically and otherwise) in the Midwest, where housing values are not nearly as high as in Amherst. Lesson is that there are fables that abound about the supposed quality of certain places and schools.
High property taxes in the "hotter" areas can become a real burden in retirement. Ours rose to be higher than our house payment ever was!
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