Is your Sequim home sellable . . . someday? Would you buy a home if you knew you could never sell it? Probably not, but people do it all the time. Of course, they don’t buy their retirement home saying to themselves, “We will never be able to sell this home,” but maybe they should be asking, “Is this Sequim home sellable someday?”
Suppose you and your spouse buy your ideal Sequim home, your final retirement home. It’s perfect for you and your personal preferences. You love it, and you can see living there the rest of your life. That’s great, but the rest of the story is that someday you will need to sell it, or your surviving spouse will need to sell it, or your children will need to sell it. What if no one wants it and your Sequim home cannot be sold?
Sequim Home and Time it Takes to Sell
If it’s your children who inherit your home, and it takes them three years to sell it, maybe that’s no big deal to you now, but what if you pass into eternity and leave your wife? What if she is 84 years old, alone, and needs to go live with one of your daughters, but she cannot sell your home?
In Sequim with such a large retiree population, here’s what I’ve seen. Couples moving to Sequim when they are retiring in their 50’s or 60’s. In 15 to 25 years, they are in their mid 80’s, and we all know that men statistically go before women. This means that at 80+ years old your wife could be stuck with a home that won’t sell because it is weird, has an odd floor plan, is in a poor area, or is old and unappealing to buyers.
This is worth considering when you buy your Sequim home, because right now we have widows in their 80’s who cannot sell their homes. The financial stress and burden is too much. No man would do this to his beloved intentionally, but it will take some careful thinking when you buy your retirement home to be sure that you don’t by a Sequim home that cannot be sold years later.
Last Updated on September 19, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
Already thought this through. No husband. Don’t care if my heirs can sell it or not. They can either retire here, too, some day, rent it out, or invest in it a little and convert it into a bed and breakfast. I plan to buy a home exactly like I want. Finally. One with carpet that’s not escrow beige. One with trendy painted wood floors (or that I can embellish myself). One with a soaking tub instead of a shower. One with a not-so-in-love-with-cooking kitchen. One with windows that the cats can watch birds from.
From Chuck Marunde: Very good Ann. Well said and a hearty congrats to you for having the freedom and courage to do precisely what you want to do. Your answer made me laugh. Loved it.