Questions To Ask Yourself Before Selling Your Home at Retirement

• Are you selling your home just because you have reached the age when you think you should? If this is the case, you may want to stay put.  This is especially true if you already have your home paid for.  Why take on something new when you already know the ins and outs of the home in which you have lived for a very long time?  On the other hand, if the maintenance and upkeep of the house is getting to be just a bit too much for you, you may want to go ahead and put it on the market.
• Are you selling your home because you can no longer afford it, or are you feeling pressure from friends and family to downsize? Don’t let anyone pressure you into selling your home and moving into something smaller once your children are grown and you are growing older.  Do what you want, when you want.  After all, you are an adult and you are finally able to make decisions for yourself that won’t affect others as greatly as they may have in the past.
• Is your house having a lot of issues, such as things like HVAC issues or old windows that need replacing? If this is the case, you may want to go ahead and sell so that you don’t have to spend your latter years fixing all that has gone wrong over the years.  Retirement is meant to be enjoyed not a time of working harder.
• Are your property taxes getting too expensive in your older age? If this is a problem for you, you can always ask your children to help you out with paying the property taxes so that you can keep living in the house you are accustomed to.  However, if you would rather not deal with paying or asking folks to help you pay your property taxes then perhaps you should sell after all.