sell as-is vs renovate

[Anonymous]

(I posted this in the Midlife Concerns and Eldercare forum and now I am realizing I should have posted here.)

I am single, age 61, and live in what some on the real estate forum would call a $hit$hack -- inside the Beltway, Fairfax County. House is a split-level and I'm concerned about stairs due to a health concern. House needs serious work in bathrooms and basement, plus landscaping.

I have roughly $300K remaining on the mortgage @ 2.7 interest. No other debt.

Two kids -- one college graduate living 500 miles away, and one college student attending an in-state school (college fully funded in 529). No other family so nowhere to "move back to." Have been living in DMV for 30 years so most all of my friends are here. Have three dogs who love to run around in large fenced-in yard. College student plans to move back home after college to save $ for a few years while working in DMV.

I still WAH FT but salary (65K annually) does not fully cover monthly living expenses. Have a $1500 monthly annuity and health insurance is covered (FEHB).

I have $1M in a Vanguard IRA and $375K in HYSA, CDs, and cash.

I am trying to decide what to do next. Due to health concern, I would prefer to be somewhat local to docs in Fairfax County. Would become more important when I am no longer able to drive (15-20 years?). I could sell house as is, but don't have the $$$ to buy something I could afford.

I don't know what to do next - should I fix the house (bathrooms, basement, etc.) or just sell and let someone else deal with it? Not sure what I could get for the house -- maybe 550K as is? (Zillow number is $685K which is way over given house condition.)

Is there someone I could ask (realtor?) to advise me how to proceed?

[Anonymous]

If there is no where else to move to, selling does not seem like the solution.

There are renovation outfits that are tailored to making a home more friendly to aging and mobility issues.

[Anonymous]

Don't renovate. Not worth it for a split level. RE agents will lie to you and tell you to sink money into the house and sell it, because that's what benefits them.

The problem with selling is what could you buy and at what rate? You run the risk of even higher monthly expenses.

Could you get a roommate to help with expenses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't renovate. Not worth it for a split level. RE agents will lie to you and tell you to sink money into the house and sell it, because that's what benefits them.

The problem with selling is what could you buy and at what rate? You run the risk of even higher monthly expenses.

Could you get a roommate to help with expenses?

I was thinking of renovating the basement specifically for a roommate setup.

[Anonymous]

A roommate doesn't help with the stairs. How old and large are the dogs? You might want to plan for a condo with dog park. But also, the expenses of 3 dogs may be relevant to your financial situation, sorry to suggest rehoming one or more but that would both reduce expenses and make it easier to find a condo or apartment.

[Anonymous]

When you say things need work, is it a cosmetic thing or are we talking about years of neglected maintenance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A roommate doesn't help with the stairs. How old and large are the dogs? You might want to plan for a condo with dog park. But also, the expenses of 3 dogs may be relevant to your financial situation, sorry to suggest rehoming one or more but that would both reduce expenses and make it easier to find a condo or apartment.

+1 I have two dogs myself and am a landlord who rents to tenants with one or two dogs; there’s not going to be anywhere who will rent to you with three dogs. I would stay where you are and renovate with an eye to staying on one level as much as you can, while your youngest finishes college and until you have two or fewer dogs.

[Anonymous]

Could you install a lift to get from one level to the other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this in the Midlife Concerns and Eldercare forum and now I am realizing I should have posted here.)

I am single, age 61, and live in what some on the real estate forum would call a $hit$hack -- inside the Beltway, Fairfax County. House is a split-level and I'm concerned about stairs due to a health concern. House needs serious work in bathrooms and basement, plus landscaping.

I have roughly $300K remaining on the mortgage @ 2.7 interest. No other debt.

Two kids -- one college graduate living 500 miles away, and one college student attending an in-state school (college fully funded in 529). No other family so nowhere to "move back to." Have been living in DMV for 30 years so most all of my friends are here. Have three dogs who love to run around in large fenced-in yard. College student plans to move back home after college to save $ for a few years while working in DMV.

I still WAH FT but salary (65K annually) does not fully cover monthly living expenses. Have a $1500 monthly annuity and health insurance is covered (FEHB).

I have $1M in a Vanguard IRA and $375K in HYSA, CDs, and cash.

I am trying to decide what to do next. Due to health concern, I would prefer to be somewhat local to docs in Fairfax County. Would become more important when I am no longer able to drive (15-20 years?). I could sell house as is, but don't have the $$$ to buy something I could afford.

I don't know what to do next - should I fix the house (bathrooms, basement, etc.) or just sell and let someone else deal with it? Not sure what I could get for the house -- maybe 550K as is? (Zillow number is $685K which is way over given house condition.)

Is there someone I could ask (realtor?) to advise me how to proceed?

Don’t renovate unless the house is unsafe/falling down.

Only sell once you know where you will move to to be sure it’s actually cheaper - a condo with a dog park will work once the dogs die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A roommate doesn't help with the stairs. How old and large are the dogs? You might want to plan for a condo with dog park. But also, the expenses of 3 dogs may be relevant to your financial situation, sorry to suggest rehoming one or more but that would both reduce expenses and make it easier to find a condo or apartment.

+1 I have two dogs myself and am a landlord who rents to tenants with one or two dogs; there’s not going to be anywhere who will rent to you with three dogs. I would stay where you are and renovate with an eye to staying on one level as much as you can, while your youngest finishes college and until you have two or fewer dogs.

This is what I was thinking. Change is on the horizon but is not immediately needed. Rehoming a beloved dog is not an option to most people unless there is a medical emergency, and it sounds like OP is not there yet.

I also think it's fair to ask your child that is returning home to help with some repairs and updates. Landscaping might be an easy one that doesn't require a ton of expertise. Sometimes there are local parks and nature centers where you can get free/cheap native plants. If there are safety renovations like stairs, I would go ahead and budget for that over a year or two because you will likely have to do it before selling anyway. You will be able to get yourself out of "as-is" territory and into "fixer-upper" territory. That might be the difference you need in order to move to a condo in 5 years.

Other than that, move as much of your daily life onto the main floor and leave the upstairs for your returning child to help with.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, don't have any advice on the house.

But I would reevaluate your asset allocation. Having 37% of your savings in cash is a tough thing to justify.

[Anonymous]

Smart renovations can lead to an ROI on the sale. Though depending on the condition, you may just be better off selling as-is.

There are 1BR condos to be had for 300-400k which would involve minimal debt.

You could also move to a lower COL area considering you WAH.

What about Charlottesville? Baltimore? Good healthcare.

Tell your college student you’re not in the financial situation to have a 2BR. You fully funded college which is a massive boost.

I would worry about the cost of maintaining this house spiraling out of control given health concerns.

I’d downsize when you are doing better health wise. CVille or Baltimore, for example, isn’t that far from your friend group.

If you’re not meeting your costs now on your income, keeping your house isn’t an option whether you renovate or not. And renovating in this housing market is a huge risk. Dump the house, take the equity, and figure out the rest.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you have a pretty good situation with a low mortgage and a good location. If you otherwise like your home, just plan to live indefinitely and renovate to make it work for you. Don't worry about resale, worry about it being a good home for you for the rest of your life.
If/when your college kid comes home to save money set up a plan where they do a lot of the heavy lifting home maintenance in exchange for their cheap/free housing. There are many things that just take time, strength and mobility rather than expertise. It's good for them too to get the home maintenance knowledge.

See if your neighborhood has any senior services around 'aging in place' -- I know our neighborhood does--somebody comes in and helps you think through some of the issues. Can you reach the basement without stairs? If you renovate that for a roommate, it could also serve as a place for you if you lost the ability to easily handle the stairs and then you could rent out the upstairs (or move at that point).

I'm currently helping my older parents think through staying in a split-level home they love (they are in their 80s but are still mobile). They can enter their basement through their garage with no stairs. What we've done is change the half-bath downstairs to a full bath with an accessible shower and handicap bar etc. They already have a guest bedroom down there. That way if either of them had an injury that impeded their ability to use stairs, they could live in the basement while we worked things out rather than having to go to a nursing home. We also got a quote from a lift place and an analysis of where we could put it most effectively (for them it was garage to upstairs bedroom closet) if it was a more permanent loss of mobility. They are not there yet but we figured it's good to know if a lift is even a possibility. We also just personally figured out what it would take to add a small IKEA kitchen to the downstairs and what they would want for that. It could become a live in apartment for either them and rent out the upstairs (or have another family member live upstairs), or it could be a rental or for a live-in home health aide or for a family caregiver too if they got the lift instead. My main point is that it's worth it to think of the renovations needed for mobility to more realistically compare the cost to moving. For our family it gave us much more ease of mind to map out the costs and logistics of various plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A roommate doesn't help with the stairs. How old and large are the dogs? You might want to plan for a condo with dog park. But also, the expenses of 3 dogs may be relevant to your financial situation, sorry to suggest rehoming one or more but that would both reduce expenses and make it easier to find a condo or apartment.

+1 I have two dogs myself and am a landlord who rents to tenants with one or two dogs; there’s not going to be anywhere who will rent to you with three dogs. I would stay where you are and renovate with an eye to staying on one level as much as you can, while your youngest finishes college and until you have two or fewer dogs.

This is what I was thinking. Change is on the horizon but is not immediately needed. Rehoming a beloved dog is not an option to most people unless there is a medical emergency, and it sounds like OP is not there yet.

I also think it's fair to ask your child that is returning home to help with some repairs and updates. Landscaping might be an easy one that doesn't require a ton of expertise. Sometimes there are local parks and nature centers where you can get free/cheap native plants. If there are safety renovations like stairs, I would go ahead and budget for that over a year or two because you will likely have to do it before selling anyway. You will be able to get yourself out of "as-is" territory and into "fixer-upper" territory. That might be the difference you need in order to move to a condo in 5 years.

Other than that, move as much of your daily life onto the main floor and leave the upstairs for your returning child to help with.

Landscaping is not mandatory unless you have HOA or something is a hazard to your house or neighbors. Please don't feel to be pressured to maintain manicured front when you are an old resident on limited budget and can't afford it and don't have health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smart renovations can lead to an ROI on the sale. Though depending on the condition, you may just be better off selling as-is.

There are 1BR condos to be had for 300-400k which would involve minimal debt.

You could also move to a lower COL area considering you WAH.

What about Charlottesville? Baltimore? Good healthcare.

Tell your college student you’re not in the financial situation to have a 2BR. You fully funded college which is a massive boost.

I would worry about the cost of maintaining this house spiraling out of control given health concerns.

I’d downsize when you are doing better health wise. CVille or Baltimore, for example, isn’t that far from your friend group.

If you’re not meeting your costs now on your income, keeping your house isn’t an option whether you renovate or not. And renovating in this housing market is a huge risk. Dump the house, take the equity, and figure out the rest.

She has limited options with 3 dogs if these are big dogs. Condos may not allow this, and in a TH have stairs... She needs an SFH and sounds like the one she has is the cheapest option she can have if she wants to stay here and have access to medical amenities. She will need a rambler that's already 1 level living and not too dumpy to have to face the same issues. She will likely have to compromise on the area, maybe move further out or into a less affluent neighborhood.

I didn't read all of it, but it might be that doing slight renovations to make the house more accessible would be worth it, also having your grown kid move with you and help out in exchange for free housing. Latter option is getting more popular with younger people not able to afford in premium areas unless in high paying fields. You could also have your kid(s) live in the house full time while renting an apartment for yourself with kids taking care of dogs until you have budget to renovate. I would not spend extra to try to make it HGTV worthy for resale, and I would not spend on landscaping beyond removing any hazards or really rundown parts. Focus should be on maintenance to replace broken things and maintain safety and also on accessibility.