Patio Homes – Jim Smith's Blog

Selling Your Home and Renting Might Be the Answer for You, As It Was for Us

This past weekend I had an interesting conversation with fellow “seniors” who are contemplating their next step in life.

They own a single-family detached home with lots of yard work to keep it looking beautiful. They love their home but feel the need to simplify their life as they age. (They’re in their 70s.)

Their options vary from downsizing to a patio home, moving to a 55+ rental (which Rita and I did last year), or moving out-of-state or out of the country. Our nation’s political turmoil is what’s behind the last option, and Portugal and Mexico have caught their attention.

This couple is also feeling an urgency to choose, because they know this is the time of year when the landscaping looks its best, and they don’t want to miss that window of opportunity.

Putting my “consultant” hat on, I had some insights of my own to share with them.

My first insight was that you don’t want to wait until you have to sell, such as from illness or death of a spouse. This couple is in excellent health, and that’s what you want when you undertake such a serious (and exerting) life change.

My second insight was that renting is actually a great way to procrastinate, taking the pressure off choosing those other options. As a renter, you get to decide a year from now when your one-year lease expires. At that time you can buy that patio home, move locally, out-of-state or to Portugal — or you can renew your lease and put off the decision for another year.

As a renter, especially in an apartment building or 55+ community, you are free to travel and check out all those options. And, since you will have sold your house already, you could be a non-contingent buyer if buying is what you decide to do.

Selling your current house and buying a replacement home at the same time can be really strenuous and stressful in terms of moving. If you rent, you can take your time to move out of your current home, and you can take your time again when you decide to buy next year or the year after.

A third insight is financial. This couple owns their house “free and clear.” When they sell, they’ll have nearly a million dollars that they can invest (as we did), adding another income stream. That equity isn’t earning them anything sitting in their home, and the income they earn from investing their proceeds will likely exceed the cost of renting.

Lastly, they’ll be able to enjoy worry-free vacations. As a renter, they’ll be in a “lock-and-leave” environment like Rita and I are — able to go on cruises or other trips without any concern about break-ins, snow-shoveling, lawn care or frozen pipes.

As a Realtor and homeowner, I never thought that I’d be a renter again, but I could tell that we were at the top of the market and that by “cashing out” on our single-family home in Golden, we’d have the freedom to make another decision at any time later on and not have to worry about anything. And because we had to downsize to sell our 4,000-sq.-ft. home and move into an 1,100-sq.-ft. apartment, that hard work was behind us. It was a great feeling when that downsizing was complete. Another benefit is that our heirs will have less to sort through and dispose of when we die, because we already did most of that work.

I’d like to hear your thoughts or questions about this topic. Email me at Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Here Are Some Ways to Make Your Home More Accommodating to Seniors

Even if you live in a home with stairs, there are ways to make your home more senior-friendly, so you can age in place instead of moving.

Stairs are the single biggest reason that most seniors want to downsize into a ranch or patio home, but almost any staircase can accommodate a stair elevator — a chair which can transport you from one floor to the next, even around curves. We had a stair elevator on the stairs to our basement in the ranch home we sold last year. We used it mostly for transporting heavy items to and from the basement, including those big purchases from Costco which didn’t fit in our kitchen cabinets or pantry. The seat on a stair elevator folds up so you can walk past it easily.

Some new homes are built with 4-foot square closets one above the other which could be sacrificed later on to install an elevator. If you’re having a custom home built, consider that idea. Even if you never make that conversion, it’s a feature that could raise your home’s resale value.

A handyman can often design and build ramps onto your front porch, into your back yard or from your attached garage into the home.

Rita and I are big fans of “chair height” toilets, which cost no more than regular toilets and can be swapped out by a handyman, making it a pretty affordable enhancement. A handyman can also install grab bars in multiple places around your home, especially in bathrooms.

Other easy and affordable improvements could include installing lever door handles to replace door knobs. Another might be to install a video door bell so you can see who’s at your door from your chair (or from afar when on vacation — a stranger ringing your bell wouldn’t know you’re not home).

There are also internet-connected electric deadbolts which you can lock or unlock using a smartphone. Speaking of security, you can also install internet-connected cameras which not only give you a live view of your interior or exterior spaces but also store that video in the “cloud” for later viewing or sharing.

You might have the handyman install motion-sensing light switches in your garage or bathrooms to turn on those lights when you enter. A photocell light switch can turn on your porch light at sunset. You can purchase both types of those switches at any hardware store.

One reader suggests a countertop microwave oven as being more convenient than a wall-mounted one for a wheelchair-bound senior.

For bathing, you can buy a walk-in bathtub, but that’s a pretty expensive improvement that won’t necessarily improve your home’s resale value. It could even hurt it. Most seniors prefer a shower, and one that you can roll into is best. At least build a walk-in shower with a bench and hose attachment.

A home with zero outside maintenance is ideal for seniors, but “patio homes” are few and far between and sell quickly when they come on the market. I’ve had clients lose bidding wars for a patio home.

The primary feature of a patio home is that the HOA takes care of all outside maintenance, mowing unfenced front and back yards, removing snow up to your garage door and porch/front door, trimming trees and bushes, etc. Many patio home HOAs even take responsibility for repainting your home’s exterior on a schedule (typically 6 years) and have a master insurance policy covering the structure and your roof. You purchase renter’s insurance instead of homeowner’s insurance.

No patio home? You can hire vendors to mow your lawn and shovel the snow. We had a wonderful Vietnamese family which not only mowed our lawn as needed but did a spring and fall yard cleanup for a reasonable fee. Of course, now that we live in an apartment, we have none of those expenses, and I’m a big advocate of doing what we did — cash out by selling your home if it will produce enough cash to live out your remaining years.

Just Listed: 2-Bedroom Arvada Patio Home

Good patio homes are hard to find, and this one at 7575 Loveland St. in Arvada’s Saddle Brook subdivision is going to make some buyer very happy. It was just listed for $650,000. Like a true patio home, there is no mowing or yard maintenance to handle — it’s done by the HOA, along with snow removal from your driveway, walkway and front porch! It’s not a senior community, but seniors find the maintenance-free living to their liking, allowing them to “lock and leave” without anyone knowing they’re gone. Everything is on the main floor, including the laundry, and all appliances are included — even the high efficiency washer and dryer. The basement is unfinished, but does have rough plumbing for another bathroom and a second set of laundry hook-ups. You can take a video tour with drone footage at www.ArvadaPatioHome.info, then call your agent or Jim Smith for a private showing. This home will be open both Saturday and Sunday, June 12th & 13th, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

High-Tech, Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Make a Home More Senior-Friendly

Most seniors would like to age in place — that is, to stay in the home they know and love instead of relocating into assisted living. At the same time, there are practical considerations, especially if a senior lives alone.

There are no-tech and low-tech ways to address the issues associated with aging in place. What’s new and perhaps less known to you are the high-tech and “smart home” solutions that are becoming more and more common. But let’s talk first about those better known no-tech and low-tech solutions.

The common no-tech solution is, of course, to have a caregiver who either lives in or visits you on a schedule. This, however, can be very expensive, unless you’re lucky enough to have a loving family member or two who can serve that function, perhaps trading free rent in your home for assistance with household chores, such as cooking and laundry.

The ideal home for aging in place, according to Jenn Gomer of CarePatrol, has a main-floor master bedroom, main-floor laundry room and a walk-in or roll-in shower — typically a ranch-style home with few or no stairs, although there are 2-story homes with main-floor masters and main-floor laundry. Ideally, the home should be close to at least one family member or friend on whom you can count in a pinch.

If a senior has a fall or is hospitalized, Jenn suggests meeting with an occupational therapist, who can look for trip hazards and suggest grab bars or railings where they could be beneficial. However, multiple falls should be seen as a warning sign that you may need to change the home environment.

Jenn encourages her clients to be open to getting outside help with difficult activities. For instance, if you have a bad knee and your laundry is in the basement, consider allowing a friend or family member to help with laundry or getting an outside home care service to assist. Installing laundry hook-ups on the main-floor is another option, if practical.

A classic low-tech tool is the medical alert button you wear on your person. The original product was introduced by Life Alert Emergency Response in the 1980s, but there are numerous other companies now offering such a product.

Another challenge can be grocery shopping, but one low-tech option nowadays is to order groceries online or by phone and having them delivered, rather than going out on icy sidewalks and parking lots.

If adapting your multi-level home into one that works for you is not practical, Golden Real Estate’s agents can help you find a home with one-level living. In addition to identifying currently available homes that meet your needs, we can alert you every time a new home matching those needs comes on the market

Golden Real Estate can make a senior’s move easier by providing totally free moving from his or her current home to their new home, or to a senior community if that’s their choice. (Jenn Gomer can help with that.) We have our own trucks and movers and provide you with free moving boxes and packing materials, including wardrobe boxes and bubble wrap. You just pack and unpack, and we can even find someone to assist with that. (If you know someone who would like to be on our call list for moving or packing assistance, let me know.)

Patio homes, typically ranch-style homes with exterior maintenance done by an HOA, are few and far between, but if they’re out there, we can find them within 15 minutes of them going on the market. I just sold one this fall.

We’d love to live in a patio home with grounds maintenance handled by the HOA, but we have the equivalent of that at less expense by hiring someone to mow our lawn in the summer and do spring and fall yard clean-ups. It’s great!

Regarding making your current home more senior friendly, Rita and I love the stair elevator which we have on the stairs to our basement in our ranch-style home. We got a great deal on a used one, and they’re easy to install, assuming you have a straight staircase. The seat and armrests fold up when not in use, so they can work on any staircase that is at least 3 feet wide. Rita and I are still quite mobile and don’t need to use our stair elevator currently, but we like knowing it’s already in place for when the need arises. Meanwhile, it’s handy for transporting cases of wine and other heavy items to and from the basement.

If you have stairs with landings and turns, custom-made stair elevators can be purchased, but they get pricey. I can recommend some vendors. For those straight staircases, I can help you find a used one and someone to install it.

A senior friend who lives alone buddied up with a neighbor and texts that neighbor every morning when she gets up. If she forgets, the neighbor texts her asking if she’s okay. Also, that neighbor and two others have keys to her house.

Now, let’s talk high-tech solutions. For such devices, you need to have a smartphone and have internet and Wi-Fi installed in your home.

As a matter of personal safety, I think everyone should consider a video doorbell. When someone rings the bell, it sounds as usual in your home, but it also rings on your smartphone, with a video of the person ringing the doorbell and the ability to converse with him or her. The device can also alert you when there is motion at your front door, and the video is stored online where it can be shared with police. The best part of such a video doorbell is that you don’t need to be home, you only need to have your smartphone with you. The visitor has no way of knowing that you’re not home. Simply having a video doorbell is a good crime deterrent, because thieves recognize it. We bought our video doorbell from www.Ring.com.

There are so many other Wi-Fi connected devices that you can install in your home which alert you on your smartphone. You can even buy Wi-Fi-connected “smart outlets” which make any non-internet connected lamp or appliance controllable (and easily monitored) on your smartphone. I suggest viewing all the many different devices available from various manufacturers at www.SmartHome.com.