Written by Bob Shannon
While many retirees choose to downsize their homes as they grow older, that move isn’t right for everyone — especially those who enjoy hosting their kids and grandkids for family holidays and long weekends. Additionally, some seniors choose to pursue hobbies like homesteading, farming, and gardening in their Golden Years — which may require more land and living space than they currently have. As such, upsizing could be the best choice for seniors who’d like to have more space at home for their loved ones and favorite post-retirement hobbies.
If you’re ready to upsize into a larger house that can be used to host all your loved ones and pursue a new homesteading hobby in retirement, the team at Coastal Premier Properties can help you to find what you’re looking for — while also walking you through the process of listing and selling your current home. For some tips on finding the perfect house for your Golden Years, read on!
Think About What You Need In a Home
As you get ready to buy a larger home in retirement, it’s important to think about the things you’ll need in order to pursue a homesteading hobby and host your kids and grandkids for extended holidays and weekends. To find the right property for homesteading, be sure to consider the following:
- Your land and square footage needs
- How many bedrooms and bathrooms you’ll need to host family and friends
- Whether the home should have accessibility features for aging in place
- The types of homesteading projects you’ll take on, such as growing your own food, raising chicks, building a barn, or generating your own power
- How far from town you’d like to live
During this time, you’ll also need to determine how much you can afford to spend on the purchase of your post-retirement home. NerdWallet’s home affordability calculator can help you to set a budget that you’re comfortable with, but keep in mind that you may be able to use the proceeds from the sale of your existing house to cover much of your new home’s purchase price.
By researching your local housing market, you’ll get an idea of what other homes are selling for in your area and how much you could make from selling your current property. For example, Redfin shows homes in San Diego typically sold for $677K last month in a very competitive market, with sales going pending in about 17 days.
Find the Perfect Home for Your Golden Years
Next, it’s important to determine whether financing will be needed to purchase your post-retirement home. If you’ll need a home loan in retirement, a mortgage lender can introduce you to your options, calculate the amount of your down payment, and help you to begin the preapproval process. Then, your real estate agent can start to search for homes that match your personal house hunting criteria.
Plan Your Move
Once you’ve sold your existing home, secured a mortgage, and found the perfect post-retirement property for homesteading and entertaining in your Golden Years, it’ll be time to plan the move into your new house.
To prevent injuries from occurring as you pack up your belongings and move them into your new home, it may be wise to hire professional movers on moving day or enlist the help of your friends and family members. Additionally, you’ll reduce your risk of injury on moving day if you wear a comfortable pair of closed-toed shoes, protect your hands with gloves, and avoid lifting more than you can handle.
Enjoy Your Beautiful New Home
After settling into your new home, you can finally enjoy the many perks of upsizing in retirement! With a larger home to grow old in, you can welcome your children and grandchildren whenever they’d like — and you can pursue new outdoor hobbies like homesteading, farming, gardening, and just about anything else that appeals to you in your Golden Years.
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