When Seniors Sell Their Home – What to Do Next to Maintain the Money That They Receive From the Sale

The problem is replacing the home will eat up all of the money that they have received from the sale of their home! Well it does not have to happen, there is a way to keep most of your profits and live in a home of your choice without having to pay cash.

First let’s look at the options

If you purchased your home 30 years ago you most likely paid a lot less then your neighbors in the area. So lets say you purchased your home for $100,000 which 20 years ago would have been a higher end home. Now we went through the years of tremendous appreciation and maybe you had the opportunity to sell your home in 2005 for $750,000 but, you decided that you would hold out for more. Then it hit; the devaluation period that started in late 2006 and in some areas of the country is still going on today. So now you are thinking you better sell before you lose any more money and not have any left to purchase a replacement home.

Determining today’s value

You paid $100,000 for your home 20 years ago; now take that 30k and calculate 4% per year compounded over 30 years this would be about what your home should be worth today. You have calculated the value you should be looking at a home worth around $220,000 in today’s real numbers based on 4% appreciation, or look at it this way 100% return on your home purchase. Remember forget about what you could have gotten back in the boom most if not all of the value at that time was false or inflated. Now you have a value that you can realistically rely on receiving today if you sell! So now what do you do to replace your home. Well what are the choices and what is the net that you will have to work with after all is said and done.

Time to Sell First you need to take a look at your home as if you were going to buy it today! Walk around your home inside and out as if you are seeing the home for the first time, one important thing take the emotions out of what you are looking at and think buyer not you. If you think you can’t do this they get your friend or bring in a Real Estate agent and tell him you want to hear the truth not just what they think you want to hear just to get the listing. Have them give you a honest evaluation of the condition and make suggestions that they think will improve your sell ability and appeal. Again take the emotions out of this it should not be taken personally this is a real business decision.

Now that you know what you someone else thinks about your home and what it may need to improve its market ability make a list with cost. Once you have the list with the cost associated with the changes determine what you are willing to do and what you are not. Remember there are a lot of things you can do to your home that does not require a lot of capital to fix, cosmetic surgery can go a long way. If you really want to go one step ahead of the rest of the homes on the market hire a reputable home inspector to come into your home and do a complete inspection. This is going to be done by the buyer so get a jump on it and have it done first. This way you can advertise the home as an inspected home or you will have a tool in your hand when it comes to negotiating the sale. Now with your repairs some will have to be down if they are important functionally or cosmetically to improve the value for sale. The important thing is realize what you are willing to spend and get these things done before you list your home. Also you want to think what you are not going to do and remember if they are big expensive items then determine if you are will to credit the buyer for these items.

Now that you have gone through the list and completed the items that you are willing to do and determined how much you have not done and if there will be a cost associated with those items, now is the time to list your home. If you have not yet found a Realtor or if you are going to try and sell it yourself, which is not really a good idea unless you are experience and are ready to be a marketing person. So lets say you do not want to do it yourself and you want to hire a professional. I use this word loosely I mean professional!

Top Ten Questions to Ask

If you are going to use a Realtor then you need to hold interviews with several agents and brokers to determine who can get the job done in today’s markets.

Here is list of things to ask!

1.    How many years have you been in the business?

2.    How many sales have you completed in the last year?

3.    What were your average days on the market?

4.    What was the percentage of list price verses sale price?

5.    What do you know about my home area?

6.    What is your marketing program, and do you have a detailed plan?

7.    Do you have any suggestions about my home that will make it sell faster?

8.    Do you promote my home online, real important the stats are 85% of all buyers are online looking for homes!

9.    Do you have detailed report of the value of my home?

10.    Do you negotiate your fee if my home does not sell for your suggested list price?

This is just the top ten things you should ask a Realtor when you are interviewing them for the job, and remember tell them you are interviewing them before they even come your home. At this point you have the tools you need to get not only get a good agent to sell your home, you also have the home cost for repairs and you know about how much your home should sell for today. Real important also think about financing options that you are willing to except from a buyer, do not limited the options, except almost everything that is available today. Your agent should have the knowledge of the different options, but what ever offers you want to entertain the buyer must have an approval in hand no exceptions. Do not except any offers where the buyer has a mortgage approval contingency it should only be contingent upon an appraisal, title, and a home inspection if you have not offered the one that you had completed. One more thing always and I mean always offer a Home Warranty from a good company on the home, piece of mind for a buyer is worth thousands to you.

Now you have your price and you have determined how much you will have in your pocket to purchase a replacement home. You know what you need and where you want to go. Now go out and look at homes, do not put any offers on homes unless you have the money you need in hand. Now here is where you can really make a great deal on a home, and keep most of your money in your pocket. When you find that home that you want to purchase and you have determined the price that you are willing to pay and your home is under agreement to close then make your move to buy. Never get yourself caught in position that you have to sell your home just to get out because you have to settle on your new home, this is to stressful and it gives you a bad position with buyers of your home.

Here is where you get to keep most of the money you receive from the sale of your home.

In the past most people who were purchasing a new home had basically two options they either paid cash for the home, or they put enough down and took out another mortgage with payments and as a senior neither of these options are viable for someone who is going or is in retirement. So what can you do! Think in Reverse today seniors are the only ones that have a third option that is really the only way to keep the money in their pocket. The US Government has a program that will allow you to purchase a home and never make another payment for the rest of your life and keep a larger portion of the proceeds that you receive from the sale of you home tax free. That’s right the proceed or the appreciation of the value of your home up to $500,000 for a couple is your to keep tax free. Now here is where you can really capitalize on your purchase and keep more of your money for you’re retirement! Think Reverse Mortgage purchase mortgage, you can use this program and make your offer to purchase as an approved buyer ready to buy. Under this program you just have to have a down payment on the average at age 62 of around 40% of the purchase price or the appraised value which ever is less and finance the balance with a Reverse Mortgage and never make a mortgage payment for the rest of your life.  The best part is you get to keep the balance of your money that you receive from the sale of your home tax free for your retirement. So when you decide to sell and buy a replacement home think in Reverse of what you did when you purchase your home 20 year ago and go and enjoy the rest of your life and truly make them the golden years. Oh one thing I forgot to mention this mortgage  has not income, credit to qualify all you have to have is the money for the down payment and be at least 62 years of age, how easy it that to buy your new home.

Tim Robbins,Sr I am a senior Reverse Mortgage Specialist with LoanWell Amercia. My main goal is to provide the best education resources available and to always place the seniors interest first and foremost. My website is designed to give you all the available information which you can review either in print or video by visiting http://bestmortgageplans.com for all your senior resources you may need for a good life. Also contact me Toll free at 800-610-3599 for a Free Report All About Reverse Mortgages you can call my 24/7 recorded HOT LINE at 1-877-463-6546 ext 215