Are you over 55 and own a house on the outskirts of a town, or even in a village in the countryside? Here are several reasons that could encourage you to sell your house and buy a new apartment in the city.
Selling your house can be a complicated decision to consider: Emotional attachment, feelings of security, and affect can sometimes overshadow more rational considerations.
However, there are many arguments for selling your house and buying an apartment.
Why Sell Your House As You Approach Retirement?
You have lived in a house for several decades. But as time passes, several problems begin to arise.
Too Large A Surface Area That Is No Longer Suitable
Having a large house was of great interest as a young couple, especially with children: Everyone has their room, and privacy, easily shares the bathrooms, the games room, and the office, and everyone can entertain his guests.
However, with the departure of the children and retirement, the large house loses this usefulness. The need for several bedrooms, several bathrooms, offices, and a large garden is no longer felt. On the contrary, all this large surface area quickly becomes a burden.
Maintaining And Furnishing Your Home As You Age: Cost And Difficulty
Because a house requires a lot of maintenance. To live there decently, already.
But also if you want your children to get a good price on sale. It must be well maintained: pipes, roof, windows, floors, electricity, garden, lawn mowing. And that can be expensive. The maintenance costs of a house are estimated at around 1% (compared to its overall price), or even 2% or 3% for large or old houses.
It is often even necessary to carry out renovation work as we age: Installation of chairs on the stairs, shower, and bedroom on the ground floor, etc.
And often, physical condition no longer allows this complete maintenance: cleaning all the rooms, gardening, work, etc. These daily actions become more and more difficult to carry out over time.
It is expensive to call professionals to take care of it and if it is not done, this has repercussions both on your living condition, but also on the sale price of the house and the difficulty that will be had by your children to sell it.
The City Rather Than The Countryside
Houses in the countryside are not suitable for retirees, who now prefer to live in the city or the outskirts, rather than in small villages.
Living in the countryside means making long journeys by car to reach the nearest amenities: shops, pharmacies, and doctors (who are leaving the countryside). It also means being far from your family, your children, or your grandchildren going to town. Travel is more expensive, more energy-intensive, and more time-consuming.
Whereas in the city, amenities are nearby or easily accessible by public transport. This is all the more true for reaching health centers, which are only found in the city.
Have A More Comfortable Retirement
Retirement generally represents a drop in purchasing power. Six out of ten retirees see their standard of living drop as they move from working life to retirement.
Adding to this the increase in medical costs, supplementary health contributions, the cost of dependency, and medical expenses – which (at a minimum) double between the ages of 35 and 75… All these factors strongly contribute to tightening the budget of a retiree.
Selling your house to buy smaller and cheaper is a good way to generate real estate capital gains but always do it with specialists of Minnesota Home Guys. It frees up cash to preserve your lifestyle while enjoying retirement: with leisure activities, travel, and making your children and grandchildren happy.
Help Your Children
With advances in medicine and hygiene, we are living longer and longer. This is a blessing but it has an effect that was not necessarily anticipated: It delays the inheritance for our children.
However, it is difficult to help our children when most of our assets are held in the house we live in, and we suffer from a lack of liquidity.
Selling your house to downsize allows you to free up cash directly, to help your children and grandchildren if you wish. French law allows you to make a donation of 100,000 euros to them without having to pay gift tax.
Buy An Apartment In The City
Once the house is sold, it is very advantageous for a senior to buy a new apartment in the city. Amenities are nearby (shops, pharmacies, health centers, etc.) as well as children and grandchildren, who will have settled in the town.
Living in a new home is also a huge advantage compared to your old house. A recent residence promises you all the necessary comfort, as well as accommodation that meets standards for people with reduced mobility adjustments that would require major work in your home.
Maintenance costs are also greatly reduced: Less surface area means less maintenance and work. Especially if the apartment is new: no work is required and your possible requests (installation of a personnel lift) can be resolved in advance, during construction.
