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 Most Americans today might expect to live a little beyond 80 years of age. Let’s face it --- an 80 year life span doesn’t give us much time to do and be all that we can be. We should not wait until near the end of our lives to begin the process of enjoying the rest of our time on Planet Earth to the fullest. This translates into not waiting to purchase that retirement home in Florida because you believe that waiting might result in your being able to find a “better deal”.
When you really think about it, even if you were successful at precisely timing the housing market (which, like timing the stock market, is nearly impossible to do), do you really have to be so ego invested in being perceived as the smartest buyer by your friends (by getting the absolute lowest price at the absolute bottom of the market) that it will prevent you from starting a new, better life today?
By purchasing now, what is the worst that could happen? You could pay a few thousand dollars more than the more patient friend who ends up being the perfect market timer. But, keep in mind that any extra money it might cost to do something now must be amortized over the many years you will spend in the happier existence (typically just pennies per day). More importantly, it is more likely that your more patient friends will be the ones who pay more—not only in dollars, but far more importantly, in the lost opportunity to begin enjoying a more blissful, contented life today! You are in a great position to change the thinking that has prevented thousands of people from earlier generations from enjoying the rest of their lives to the fullest for the longest possible time – starting right now!
I am in the business of making people’s retirement dreams come true, but, as a Baby Boomer, I’m also at the time of life where the drive to help my customers exceeds my drive just to sell houses. I truly want to help you make what many consider a very difficult decision, to improve your lifestyle in the beautiful autumn years of life.
“OK” you say, “but I still have to sell my house before I can purchase my dream home”. Well,—maybe –but then again, maybe not. Are you aware that Pringle Development allows two full years from the time of contract to issue a “Notice” to proceed with construction? Add another 6 months to deliver the home after that and you have two and a half years to sell your house—a period during which Pringle will protect your price. If prices go up, we’ll limit the amount that you can be charged to a small percentage of the increased price—but if prices go down—guess what? Pringle will charge you the lower price when you build! Folks, it just doesn’t get any better than that!
Since real estate is cyclical with few cycles typically lasting for more than 2-3 years (and this bad cycle has been in play nearly two years already), you’ll have plenty of time to sell your home in a better market, getting more for it, while being price protected at the bottom of the purchase market on the home you are buying. So, now who among your circle of friends is the smart one?.
Of course, you certainly should seek to get the most you can get for your present home while still selling it quickly. You just have to be realistic. The very best way to do this is to get a bonafide appraisal of your homes value and then once you have that number firmly in mind, cut it by 2% - 3% to move the property quickly. You also can set your house apart from others that are competing for buyers by hiring a professional home stager. Pringle maintains a national registry of these professionals—so call us if you want to employ one in your area. This may cost you as much as $2,000 - $3,000, but it should come back to you three or four times over in the increased sales price you can get for a properly staged home.
My wife and I just sold a home in Minneola, Florida in 26 days in the worst market that that town has ever seen and my REALTOR never even had to place an ad. In spite of the fact that nothing else had sold in my neighborhood for 8 months, I followed my own advice above (including pricing the house about 3% below the comparables).
Some people might say I left $8,000 or $10,000 on the table. I say I saved more than that by purchasing my new Pringle home (before my old home was sold) at a time when our company was offering more concessions on the target property than I ever had to make in selling mine. But, more importantly, I benefited from giving up those few thousand dollars by not only “the time value” of money (who knows how long I would have had to continue making payments on my old mortgage if I didn’t price my home to sell), but also by the time value in improving the very essence of existence—a much greater enjoyment of life in my new surroundings.
Stop putting off a new, happier life. Call Pringle today and our Lifestyle Consultants will be happy to work with you to help you design your new, better, more healthful and rewarding lifestyle while you still have plenty of time to enjoy it.
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