When Should Seniors Sell Their Homes?

Whether you’re planning on moving to a retirement home, a senior living community or downsizing to a luxury condo, it all starts with selling your home.

It can be a difficult thing to process: you’ve lived in your home for decades, have established plenty of loving memories, and are set in your routine. But there are signs that indicate that it might be time to sell it and move on, particularly when you’re heading towards retirement.

So, what are the signs that you should sell your home? When’s the best time for seniors to move on to the next chapter of their life? Let’s take a look at it below:

Five Reasons For Seniors To Sell Their Homes

1. The Market Is Booming

There is no secret that the Canadian housing market is currently on a high. Post-COVID (or rather, near the end), plenty of new homeowners, investors, and buyers are looking to get into (or get more of) the housing market. And that means one thing: the prices of properties go up.

Ultimately, that means you can find yourself making a pretty penny on the property that wasn’t possible a few years ago. It might actually make your retirement more financially stable. If the opportunity presents itself, take advantage of selling your home in a booming market.

2. You Need To Refresh

Whether you’re 20, 30 or 50, everyone goes through a period of stagnation. Life becomes routine and dull, to say the least. And part of that is due to living in the same place and the same circles. Changing it can prove very helpful in your retirement years, helping you embrace a newer, more exciting lifestyle.

Selling your home then could be the start of it. Moving into a smaller home or retirement community offers plenty of life-changing benefits, including increased socialization, more free time due to less home maintenance and the joys of embracing a new suburb or area. If you feel like you need a refresh, this might be a solution for you.

3. Living Alone & Bored

Living on your own has its perks: you’re free to do what you want when you want it. But it also brings plenty of negatives: boredom, loneliness and, in extreme cases, even depression.

Moving into a retirement community or a retirement condo complex can be the answer to spark your life up again. And once again, that starts by selling your property. It will be a new chapter in your life, one where you don’t have to lose your independence but instead gain new connections and friendships for life.

4. The Extensive Housework & Maintenance

The sign that your home might need extensive renovations is the fact that you’re always repairing or replacing the same thing. Whether it’s painting, landscaping, roof repairs, appliance replacement, HVAC problems, garage doors, or anything else that costs you time and money, the more you have to work on your home, the more of a drain it becomes on your life. You don’t want to renovate your home unless you plan to sell it.

If you’re in this position, this may be one of the reasons you may consider downsizing at 55. You could also consider the opportunity to move into a home or community that offers fewer maintenance hassles and worries. You should be enjoying your retirement years doing what you want, rather than doing what you have to. Selling your home could be the start of that change.

5. Living On A Fixed Income

Remember when we preached about selling your home when the market is hot? Well, if you’re living on a fixed income, this is even more important. Unless you have worked hard to save up plenty of money, the monthly CPP, TFSA or RRSP disbursements might not be enough to sustain your current lifestyle – let alone the constant home upgrades and maintenance you have to pay for. Feeling the squeeze financially is not something you want to endure as you get older.

Selling your home and moving into a smaller one can lessen the financial burden on yourself, opening up more income to spend on what you want. More and more seniors and retirees are selling their homes because they want to cash out their equity, support their monthly income and live a much more comfortable lifestyle. You can now do the same by putting your home on the market.