By Vanessa Saunders, MBA, MIMC, Broker Owner, Global Property Systems Real Estate.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent shutdown have created a new demographic of Americans: workers near to or turning 65 who are buying their retirement homes before they retire. Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65. After being forced to work from home, many workers close to retirement age have realized they no longer need to make the commute to work and can work just as effectively from a home office or spare bedroom.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors pointed out this trend recently in an interview on CNBC. He said, “The pandemic was unexpected, working from home was unexpected, but nonetheless many companies realized that workers can be just as productive working from home, We may begin to see a boost in people buying retirement homes before their retirement.”
If you’re looking for a retirement home, either now or sometime in the near future, you need to do some homework deciding where to move. Top considerations for retirees are proximity to family and friends, an affordable cost of living, and convenient and quality health care. Weather also is a factor for many, who are attracted to sun and sand in their retirement years.
Generally, the most popular locations these days for American retirees are Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Florida. Texas and Florida have no state income tax. All four are already retirement hot spots, and many have extensive retirement communities, state health care programs and tax advantages for senior citizens.
Housing affordability is a big reason people move when they retire, Yun said. In particular, people from areas with expensive housing, like New York and California, can find larger homes at much cheaper prices in other states. If they’ve paid off their homes, or close to it, they may be able to pocket a profit after buying their retirement home.
While prices are already rising, they may go higher the longer a person waits, Yun said.
“It seems like demand will remain solid for the upcoming years because the Fed has clearly made its intentions known that we will have a low-interest-rate environment,”
When you retire and where you retire to are questions only you can answer. If you are going to relocate, you should be relocating for reasons that are going to make you happy. If you plan on selling your home and relocating, CONTACT a Global Property Systems local area expert, to help you sell your property, and find you your next home.
