Anonymous
Post 02/17/2026 23:41     Subject: Re:Money advice after kids gone to college
I don't think it's weird at all that their home is worth twice their investments. So long as they always planned to sell it when they retire. Why not enjoy living IN your money until then?

We're not far off. About $2M in retirement savings, a Bethesda house worth $2M and a vacation home worth about $1.6M. It's always been a part of the plan to sell one or both houses when we retire and move into something smaller.

Yes, you can argue that the markets would have had a bigger ROI than the house. So what? We didn't want to enjoy our money only when we were 75. What joy is there only i seeing a balance accrue in a brokerage account? You get one life.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 22:06     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely sell house. You have almost nothing else.


I’d hardly call $2.3 million “almost nothing.” That is about $2.15 million more than most Americans at the point of retirement. So they are doing great. Should they sell the house? It’s too big so they’ll sell eventually. Now or later? That’s the real question.


But it is NOT enough to fund living in a $4.3M home, unless they bought if for $1M. Even so, the costs associated with maintaining it, etc, they need to sell/downsize and live within their means


When you hear $4.3M, you might picture a huge mansion. It seems like you’re someone from rural America.
A $4.3M house in this region doesn’t always mean it’s a large home. I don’t believe that maintenance costs are the issue.
However, I do think OP should consider downsizing to free up some equity.


you are a strange person. I live in Arlington and even here 4.3 buys you are very large and extravagant home. It certainly is quite foolish for someone to attempt to maintain such an absurd home while dipping into savings.


Was going to say this too. Arlington is notorious for having a high SFH price per square foot relative to say McLean or really anywhere else and $4.3M is still well over 5000-6000 finished square feet.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 21:41     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely sell house. You have almost nothing else.


I’d hardly call $2.3 million “almost nothing.” That is about $2.15 million more than most Americans at the point of retirement. So they are doing great. Should they sell the house? It’s too big so they’ll sell eventually. Now or later? That’s the real question.


But it is NOT enough to fund living in a $4.3M home, unless they bought if for $1M. Even so, the costs associated with maintaining it, etc, they need to sell/downsize and live within their means


When you hear $4.3M, you might picture a huge mansion. It seems like you’re someone from rural America.
A $4.3M house in this region doesn’t always mean it’s a large home. I don’t believe that maintenance costs are the issue.
However, I do think OP should consider downsizing to free up some equity.


you are a strange person. I live in Arlington and even here 4.3 buys you are very large and extravagant home. It certainly is quite foolish for someone to attempt to maintain such an absurd home while dipping into savings.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:35     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
I would still get a 3 bedroom or so in case the kids bounce back home (unless you're not up for that.)
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:16     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:I'd give yourself some time to figure this out. Kids at college often come home for breaks and summer. Its nice for them to reconnect with HS friends and the neighborhood they grew up in.


This. I’d start thinking about your next steps, but I wouldn’t make any radical moves just yet. Let your youngest get into college and settle in and see how he/she is doing before you pull the trigger.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:09     Subject: Re:Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:I would sell but reinvest in real estate within a year to avoid depreciation recapture and capital gains tax. Invest in a single family townhouse with large English basement and a carriage house (either existing or possible to build). There are some zoning areas that allow for development of ADU up to 50% of the main house if the plot is large enough.

You can create a second job for the rest of your life in retirement for yourself and your husband and make it a great RE development project! It will save you tons of money in taxes and you will have at least 11% cashflow on your cash invested from this house. But I've seen 18% on development projects at $2m+ RE transactions. You just need to find a good investment.




Forgot to add - contact 1031 exchanges find out if that would be better for you than just selling. In my estimates, a project this size can generate you 25K net monthly cashflow at a a min
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:08     Subject: Re:Money advice after kids gone to college
I would sell but reinvest in real estate within a year to avoid depreciation recapture and capital gains tax. Invest in a single family townhouse with large English basement and a carriage house (either existing or possible to build). There are some zoning areas that allow for development of ADU up to 50% of the main house if the plot is large enough.

You can create a second job for the rest of your life in retirement for yourself and your husband and make it a great RE development project! It will save you tons of money in taxes and you will have at least 11% cashflow on your cash invested from this house. But I've seen 18% on development projects at $2m+ RE transactions. You just need to find a good investment.

Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 17:51     Subject: Re:Money advice after kids gone to college
Agree with the majority of the posters. Selling and downsizing would free up a large amount of equity, reduce ongoing expenses, and better align housing with this next stage of life. Rebalancing your portfolio away from a single, illiquid asset and into a more diversified mix would improve flexibility, cash flow, financial stability, etc
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 17:43     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:You made very strange choices.


Actually looks like they got lucky on home appreciation. Sell it
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 11:10     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely sell house. You have almost nothing else.


I’d hardly call $2.3 million “almost nothing.” That is about $2.15 million more than most Americans at the point of retirement. So they are doing great. Should they sell the house? It’s too big so they’ll sell eventually. Now or later? That’s the real question.


But it is NOT enough to fund living in a $4.3M home, unless they bought if for $1M. Even so, the costs associated with maintaining it, etc, they need to sell/downsize and live within their means


When you hear $4.3M, you might picture a huge mansion. It seems like you’re someone from rural America.
A $4.3M house in this region doesn’t always mean it’s a large home. I don’t believe that maintenance costs are the issue.
However, I do think OP should consider downsizing to free up some equity.


Taxes alone are probably at least $40k a year.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 10:43     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely sell house. You have almost nothing else.


I’d hardly call $2.3 million “almost nothing.” That is about $2.15 million more than most Americans at the point of retirement. So they are doing great. Should they sell the house? It’s too big so they’ll sell eventually. Now or later? That’s the real question.


But it is NOT enough to fund living in a $4.3M home, unless they bought if for $1M. Even so, the costs associated with maintaining it, etc, they need to sell/downsize and live within their means


When you hear $4.3M, you might picture a huge mansion. It seems like you’re someone from rural America.
A $4.3M house in this region doesn’t always mean it’s a large home. I don’t believe that maintenance costs are the issue.
However, I do think OP should consider downsizing to free up some equity.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 18:39     Subject: Money advice after kids gone to college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Definitely sell house. You have almost nothing else.


I’d hardly call $2.3 million “almost nothing.” That is about $2.15 million more than most Americans at the point of retirement. So they are doing great. Should they sell the house? It’s too big so they’ll sell eventually. Now or later? That’s the real question.


But it is NOT enough to fund living in a $4.3M home, unless they bought if for $1M. Even so, the costs associated with maintaining it, etc, they need to sell/downsize and live within their means