Forget about millennials, homebuyers over 55 are a growing portion of homeowners for the first time
Forget about millennials, homebuyers over 55 are a growing portion of homeowners for the first time
CLOSE
Prices went up by 12.7%.
HourYou are never too old for the American dream.
Take Rupert and Pat Haller. Since 1974, these high school sweethearts planned to buy a quiet and spacious house, far from the apartment on the fourth floor of Jersey City, where they spent most of their lives.
They finally closed their first home in September, a ranch house in Toms River, New Jersey.
"It's really what we strive to do," said Rupert, 65. "After 45 years of marriage, we are both retired, we have a house and we spend every moment together, I am very blessed."
The Hallers represent a small but growing portion of first-home buyers in this year's housing market. The proportion of home buyers over 55 has more than doubled in the last 15 years, to 38 percent. And first-time senior users accounted for 9 percent of that share, the highest level since the data was collected in 2003, according to the 2018 Homebuyer's Profile. Report of the National Association of Real Estate Agents. Delivered to USA TODAY exclusively.
"People live longer, work longer and have a steady income on retirement, even if they retire, so they feel comfortable taking on a mortgage in their senior year," says Jessica Lautz, director general of survey research and NAR communications.
Affordable rent and previous financial problems kept many of these older home buyers on the sidelines while working long hours, raising their children and finally welcoming their grandchildren. As their golden years approached, their circumstances changed and new possibilities opened up.
More money: These 8 retailers can not afford a disappointing holiday shopping season in 2018
More money: Wall Street says goodbye to the "Red October" and faces a more uncertain future for actions
Plus: Black Friday, Cyber Monday have the best deals. But if you wait, that gift may be exhausted.
A lifelong dream
Almost a year after Rupert and Pat married in 1973, the newlyweds moved into a two-room railway-style apartment in a building run by Rupert's father and owned by his aunt. It was on the top floor.
"I can not emphasize enough on the fourth floor," says Rupert. But the low rent and the short trip to work made the departure difficult.
"We were supposed to stay there a bit and buy something of our own," he says, "but a little bit turned into 44 years."
By 1995, the property had passed to Rupert and his sister, who also lived in the building. No longer paying the rent, Rupert and Pat skimmed the extra money for a house in retirement. A year ago, they began searching and on the Toms River, they found a house with sliding glass doors that led to a swimming pool on the floor, hardwood floors, a private lot and woods in the back.
"As soon as we entered, we knew that this was the house," says Pat. "We did not have a poker face."
They made an offer that was accepted, and then it was rejected by a higher offer the next day. The Hallers, armed with four decades of savings, returned with a cash offer to seal the deal.
"We can not believe it," says Rupert. "We get up in the morning and have breakfast together, I have a bird feeder here, and a couple of days ago we saw two deer on the other side of the street, it's like a dream."
Putting the family first
When her sister started having memory problems, it was a bad case of deja vu for Vannessa Blunt. Years before, his mother suffered from Alzheimer's. Vannessa helped pay for her mother's care, but it cost her money financially.
Now, many years later, Vannessa, 58, and her husband, Kevin, 60, are in a better position to help their sister.
But that meant moving out of her two-room rental in Baldwin, New York, where they lived for eight years and buying a house that could adapt to her sister's changing needs.
"He needed space in case his situation went from bad to worse," says Vannessa.
The Blunts, using their savings for the down payment, observed a dozen houses and placed losing offers on three before landing a house on Long Island in West Babylon, New York, with three rooms on the main floor plus an apartment in the basement with a full apartment. kitchen. They collected it for $ 400,000, up to only $ 1,000 of its sale price.
"When I told Kevin about the final price, he got a little upset," says Vannessa. "What sold him is that if things went south, then we can rent the basement, which is now his man's cave."
Now her sister has a large bedroom of her own with a separate entrance. The adult son of the Blunts and a friend of the family also live with them. "It's a full house, but we have the room," Vannessa said.
At the mercy of the owner
In 1980, Cindy and Jim Schwartz separated with five children in a rental house in New Hampshire. For the next 38 years, that's where they lived, raised the children and, ultimately, never paid more than $ 900 a month for the house.
"That's a big reason why we did not move," says Cindy, 69.
Last year, his owner decided to sell the house. He gave them the first right of rejection, but the price was too high. But they did not want to rent again. They wanted a house of their own.
To obtain an initial payment, Cindy collected the shares that were destined for her retirement. "What the heck, they only come here once," says Cindy, compensation management analyst. Jim, 71, is an excavation supervisor for a home builder.
They would borrow $ 150,000 and no more. With their adjusted budget, they focused on repairers and expanded their search to a 50-mile radius in the state. They looked at 38 houses and lost three bidding wars. "We could not compete," says Cindy.
When they put their eyes on their eventual home, they knew that "it had to be disemboweled, but the bones were good," she says. The list price was too high at $ 234,900, so they made a low offer and finally got it for $ 207,500.
Since its closure in July, the couple broke down the walls to create a large kitchen and dining room, added French doors to the deck, replaced the floor, installed new windows, updated the master bedroom and renovated the second bathroom, all of them alone. The following are new kitchen cabinets and granite countertops.
"We'll be good for Thanksgiving," says Cindy.
Financial discipline
A year before Jill Charles and Glen Person bought their house in September, the couple concentrated on putting their financial house in order.
"We sat together and talked about our goals, what we needed to survive and retire comfortably," says Jill, 64.
The married couple in Denver saved $ 8,000, bought life insurance, opened an IRA, and improved their credit score. When they finished paying a bill, mostly medical expenses, some of which had been collected, would deposit the additional money in the next one.
"We went from about 575 (credit score) to 680," says Glenn, 61, general manager of a retail store.
Staying in his apartment did not fit his plan either. The rent had doubled in the last nine years without an end in sight. Originally they looked at mobile homes, but most of them sat on rented land, a detour for the couple.
Therefore, they became semi-detached houses. The search was difficult because they needed to stay between $ 175,000 and $ 225,000 in the Denver market and find a property that could be financed by an FHA-backed mortgage.
In September, they were closed in a one bedroom house with a fireplace, updated kitchen and views from all the windows. They were one step closer to his retirement dream.
Jill, who works three days in a center for disabled adults, plans to work as long as she can. As for Glenn?
"I'm going to have to work until I'm 70," he says. "But on my 70th birthday, I'm going fishing."
Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/11/02/retirement-older-homebuyers-growing-slice-housing-market/1821252002/
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
fbq('init', '369524843414444');
fbq('track', 'PageView');
.
SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario