Baby boomers generally have grown children who have left to start lives of their own. It took a lot of sweat and tears to provide sufficient house in which they could grow up. But do you need all that space any longer?
Downsizing may be a smart option. Why maintain a big house just in case someone might stop by and spend the night? But if are thinking of selling, then you certainly want the greatest possible gain to yourself in the process.
To think smart, think in terms of what will make your home sellable. If it is old, a complete renovation probably isn’t best. Think instead in terms of remodeling one area of the home. What could you do to make it inviting to buyers? Perhaps you need to upgrade the windows or replace flooring, or concentrate on modernizing the kitchen or bathroom.
If you’re like me, you probably don’t have a clue how to best invest renovation dollars that will return in a higher priced sale. We can’t all be good at everything. But how do you decide what would be to your greatest benefit?
One option is to hire a consultant. Such a person is trained in areas of renovation. However, this could be expensive and thus counterproductive. Too, these services are often aimed to help those wanting to put on an addition or give their home a new look for themselves.
Another, less expensive route is to contact a reputable real estate professional. These people do sell houses but they are also experienced in knowing what people are looking for. Their advice is also free for the benefit to them comes if they sell it for you later.
The real estate agent would come to your home and look it over. Within minutes, he will tell you what selling points your home has, and what areas would be beneficial to improve. His advice would tell you where you need to focus your renovation dollars.
In fact, a good real estate company will even be able to recommend contractors you can trust to do the work honestly and with quality or even work with them for you. That kills two birds with one free stone!
When you think about it, this makes sense. The real estate agent will want the job done well both for your sake and for his own, since quality work increases the value of the property and thus his commission when it sells. It benefits you both.
There are many more tips we can use as baby boomers to make the most of our money during our retirement years. Get more helpful financial advice at cafebabyboomers.com