Q: My husband and I have been discussing selling our home of 42 years. We live in a 2,300-square-foot colonial with the laundry in the basement. Being in our early 70’s some days those stairs are like climbing a mountain. I want to move to a ranch condo with a first-floor laundry and no yard work. My husband likes our home and does not want to move at this time. He says that when it gets to be too much then we’ll move. What are your thoughts and can you please convince my husband to move?
A: I receive questions like this one often. When is the right time to move is a question that confronts a lot of senior homeowners. Too often seniors delay the decision to make a move for many different reasons (or excuses). This procrastination can lead to major turmoil in one’s life when something unexpected happens. Your husband says that when it gets to be too much then he will move. The truth is that when it gets to be too much it’s usually already too late to make a leisurely, stress-free, well planned, un-rushed, financially sound move. It’s a fact that we all go through the aging process. Those stairs are not going to magically disappear one day. They will only become more difficult. The big house is not going to get smaller to clean. You cannot easily move the full bath from the second floor down to the first floor in place of the half-bath. Why wait for a broken hip, knee replacement, surgery, arthritis, etc… to happen and then have to scramble to make a change? Why not plan ahead? Often, I receive calls after something major happens and then the homeowner(s) is/are in a position that they have to rush. Two things normally happen in this situation: They sell their home at a lower price because they need to sell it fast, or they buy something fast because they don’t have the time to shop so sometimes what they buy isn’t always what they really wanted. Remember, with age comes wisdom; plan ahead and don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Q: My husband and I are selling our house. He may be out of town on a business trip for the closing. We asked if he could sign the closing documents before he leaves and I could sign at closing but we were told that the closing documents would not be ready before he leaves. Any ideas?
A: The title company or an attorney can draw up a power of attorney so that you can sign on behalf of your husband at closing. If you both are not comfortable with a full power of attorney then have it written so that it is limited only to that real estate transaction.
Market Update: Did you know that a balanced market between Buyers and Sellers is when there is a 6-month supply of inventory? Inventory has been going up the last few months but has stalled out at a 2-month supply. August’s market update for Macomb County and Oakland County’s housing market is as follows. In Macomb County prices were up by more than 2% and Oakland County prices were up by more than 3% for the month. Macomb County’s on market inventory was up by more than 7% and Oakland County’s on market inventory was down by more than 11%. Macomb County average days on market was 20 days and Oakland County average days on market was 19 days. Closed sales in Macomb County were down by almost 13% and closed sales in Oakland County were down by almost 9%. (All comparisons are month to month, year to year.)
Steve Meyers is a Real Estate Agent/Realtor at RE/MAX Metropolitan located in Shelby Twp. and is a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame. He can be contacted with questions at 586-997-5480 (voicemail) or email him at steve@answerstorealestatequestions.com. You can also visit his website, answerstorealestatequestions.com.
