Home Selling Action Plan
Dear Phyllis,
I look forward to your real estate advice and am now seeking your counsel. My mother had a stroke and is slowly recovering. She has lived in her La Crescenta home for forty years, and there is a lot of deferred maintenance. For the short term, she is staying with me but, of course, wants to return home. The home is split-level, which is not ideal for her. As I see it, our options are:
1) Fix current house and rent it and find a smaller single-level home in proximity to doctors and my home. We can hire someone to come in twice a week for errands, cooking, and cleaning. And of course I can look in on her as well.
2) Fix current house and sell it and invest in bonds, move her to rental, senior housing, or if needed, assisted living. Thank you in advance for any clarity on my situation. I am simply
OVERWHELMED
Dear Overwhelmed,
My thought is to slowly improve the home while your mother remains in place, and let’s see how she recovers. Right now, there is no need to make quick decisions. After several more months into her recovery, you will hopefully decide on a home-selling action plan.
In our current market, move-in-ready homes are highly desirable. At this point, I recommend hiring a home inspector to complete an inspection. Meet with a local Realtor who can guide you on which repairs will give you the highest return on your time and money.
Keep your mom where she is comfortable as long as possible. In the meantime, you can slowly make repairs and improvements (ones that won’t be too disruptive for her). When it’s time for her to move, you have a lot of the work done, but more importantly, you have a plan of action. This plan will enable you to sell the home for the highest possible price and maximize your mother’s equity.
I wish your mother a speedy recovery.
Your mother is very lucky to have you available to help with her care and important decisions. Although my mother is in good health for now we are making some of these decisions now so that we are prepared.