Our topic today is downsizing as a strategic retirement plan. You might be well-positioned to rent out the home you own so you can set aside money for your future retirement. In Santa Cruz, we have a lot of properties along the coastline that are extremely desirable as rentals. Lots of highly qualified tenants are looking for homes in the area where you live. If you have kids who have grown up and gone off to college or moved out on their own, you might find you don’t need the four bedrooms or all the space that you once did. Instead of paying that mortgage every month, you can rent the house out to tenants and earn a bit of rental income that you can save for the future.
This option is especially appealing now because rents have gone up substantially in the last year or so. You will likely be able to collect enough every month to keep up with your house payments and put a little aside. You might want to think about downsizing while you begin planning for your retirement.
This is a great strategy for getting additional income to put towards that retirement. You can also use the income to pay down debt or build up your savings. It can feel good to really simplify your life, move into a smaller property that is suitable for your current lifestyle and begin saving aggressively for retirement.
If you are thinking about doing this, or you are interested in learning more about the idea, please give us a call. We have a lot of experience working with people who are embracing this strategy in order to hold onto their homes while they downsize and plan for their retirement. Contact us at Portola Property Management; we look forward to hearing from you.
