Know Your Budget

What is Your Budget? Simple question but hard to get an answer to. Nothing determines what community your new 55+ home will be in more than your budget. Sharing your budget preference with your 55+ community specialist saves both parties countless hours sifting through the tens if not hundreds of communities in any given area.

For example, in my area within an hour’s drive in NE ATL, there are more than 45 Active Adult Communities. Approximately 10% are priced $250,000 -$275,000, 80% are priced $300,000 – $575,000, and 10% are over $575,000. If you are in the lower 10% there are 4 communities you can consider and so on.

For some reason, the number one factor determining where your new home will be, budget, is the last thing most people want to share when requesting information for 55+ communities. You can always increase your initial budget or if you find a home for less than your max budget awesome! But don’t tell me everything you want: area, location, home size, amenities, and not the budget. Maybe you cannot get everything on your wishlist but if I know your budget I will do my best to get you everything you are looking for. This will also help you prioritize your wants and needs. Maybe you can be 20 minutes from your grandkids instead of 10, maybe a community without an indoor pool is an acceptable compromise and fit your budgetary considerations.

For example, I had a client who gave me their whole wish list for their new home and said send me what you got! In spite of several requests for a budget, he did not respond. In this case, there were 2 homes, and both were well over a million dollars so I sent them to him. He was highly insulted and said that was way over his budget (the one he failed to provide) and I was only trying to make money off him with a higher commission. He went on to say he was going to find an agent that would work for his best interests. I was thinking good riddance! He called me a month later and I found him home within his budget without the waterfront, (wide water view no less) he had initially said was a must-have.

The bottom line, know your budget and share it with your 55+ real estate specialist. This should be the first not the last thing you share when beginning your home search. You can always adjust up or down but have a target starting point!