The Financial Implications of Renovating vs. Moving

As you approach retirement, the financial implications of renovating versus moving can significantly impact your future planning.

Whether you choose to remodel your existing home or sell it and move, each option comes with its own set of financial considerations.

Costs of Renovating Your Home

Renovating your current home can breathe new life into familiar spaces. However, you need to consider the financial aspects of such a decision.

Budgeting for a Renovation

Budgeting for a renovation involves more than considering the cost of materials and labor. You must also account for potential overruns, unforeseen issues that may arise, and the possibility of needing temporary accommodation if the renovations are extensive.

Return on Investment

While renovations can increase the value of your home, not all improvements offer a high return on investment. Some renovations, like kitchen and bathroom updates, typically add more value than others. 

You should plan carefully to ensure your renovations will contribute to your home’s worth and avoid common mistakes in bathroom renovations or kitchen remodels.

Financial Factors in Moving

On the other hand, selling your home and moving can also have significant financial implications. While you may have equity in your home, significant chunks of your home sale go toward costs related to selling and moving.

Real Estate Agent Fees

Selling a home involves real estate agent fees, which can significantly reduce the profit from the sale. Typically, agents receive from 3 to 6 percent of the sale price as compensation for their work in staging and marketing your home.

Moving Costs

Additionally, there are costs associated with moving, such as hiring movers or renting a moving truck, and potential expenses for storage. 

If you’re downsizing, you may need to pay someone to haul away old furniture and junk you can’t use anymore or sell.

As with home renovations, there’s also the issue of when your new home will be ready. When you close on your existing house, will you need to pay for temporary accommodations while you wait to have the carpet installed or appliances delivered? These are costs that you need to consider.

Housing Market Fluctuations and Interest Rates

The state of the real estate market can greatly affect the financial outcome of selling your home. If the market is in a downturn, you may not get the price you desire for your home. Conversely, if the market is buoyant, you could make a substantial profit.

Interest rate fluctuations can also influence your decision. A mortgage to buy a new home might be cheaper than a home equity line of credit to pay for renovating your existing home. 

However, you should consider the term of the loan along with the interest rate, monthly costs, property taxes, homeowner association fees, and points.

Retirement Considerations

Retirement brings about a new phase in life, and your home plays a significant role in that. If you plan to age in place, renovating to make your home more accessible and comfortable could be a wise investment. 

However, selling might be the better option if you wish to downsize or move closer to family or amenities.

Understanding the financial implications of renovating versus moving can guide you toward the best decision for your retirement years. 

Weighing the costs and benefits of each option will help you create a living situation that suits your needs and supports your financial goals.

6 Ways to Save Money When Moving House

Moving can be a stressful and costly experience, so it's no surprise that people often try to find ways to save money during the process. 

Whether you're moving across the country or just down the street, saving money can help make the process less stressful and more manageable.

In this article, we'll look at five different ways to save money when moving house. From using a storage facility to getting neighbors and family to help pack, these tips are sure to help make your move more affordable.

Get Neighbors and Family to Help Pack

The easiest way to save money when moving is to get your neighbors and family to help pack. This can be especially helpful if you have a lot of items to pack or if you're short on time. 

By getting your loved ones to help you pack, you can save money on packing supplies and help ensure that everything is packed properly.

Rent Your Own Moving Truck

Renting your moving truck can also be a great way to save money when moving. This can be especially helpful if you're moving long distances and need to transport a lot of items. 

By renting your own truck, you can save money on moving costs and ensure that your items are transported safely and securely.

Use a Storage Facility

Another way to save money when moving is to use a storage facility. This can be especially helpful if you're moving long distances and have a lot of large items to store. 

By using a storage unit like those provided by Handy Storage, you can take some of the stress off of your move and move a few things at a time. 

This can also help you save money on gas, as you won't have to make as many trips back and forth to your old home.

Sell Unwanted Items

Before you start packing, it's a good idea to go through your items and sell anything you no longer need or want. This is a great way to save money when moving, as you can earn some extra cash by selling your unwanted items. 

Additionally, by selling your unwanted items, you can reduce the amount of things you need to move, which can help lower moving costs.

Plan Your Move During the Offseason

Another way to save money when moving is by planning your move during the off-season. Moving companies tend to charge more during peak moving season, which typically runs from May to September. 

Moving during the offseason allows you to take advantage of lower rates and potentially negotiate better deals. Additionally, you're more likely to have a wider range of options available to you during the offseason.

Pack Your Own Boxes

Finally, packing your own boxes can be a great way to save money when moving. By packing your boxes, you can save money on packing supplies and ensure your items are packed properly. 

Additionally, packing your own boxes can give you more control over the moving process and help ensure that everything is packed and transported safely.

Final Thoughts

Moving can be a daunting task, but using these tips to save money can make the process a little bit easier. 

Whether you're using a storage facility, getting neighbors and family to help pack, selling unwanted items, or packing your own boxes, these tips will help you save money and reduce stress during your move. 

So go ahead and use these tips to save money and make your move a success!

5 Ways to Make Downsizing Homes Profitable Instead of Painful

As we age, we realize that the home we’ve been living in for years may no longer suit our needs. Perhaps it’s too big or has become too difficult to maintain. The thought of downsizing may initially seem painful, especially if the memories of our family are attached to it.

However, downsizing can be an opportunity to simplify our lifestyle and even increase our financial security. 

Read on for five ways to make downsizing homes a profitable experience rather than a painful one.

Start Early

If you’re considering downsizing your home, start planning early. Start by decluttering and sorting through the things you no longer need or want. 

Downsizing means letting go of things you’ve held onto for years, so it’s best to start sorting things out at least a few months before you move.

Create a Floor Plan

Once you have found a new place, create a floor plan. This will help you determine what furniture will fit in the new house and what won’t. 

By creating a picture of how your furniture will fit, you’ll save yourself time and money as you won’t be moving items that are not required.

Reevaluate Space Elsewhere

If you’re moving into a new space that has a smaller garage space, consider what tools or vehicles you still need. A new home can bring many expenses, including repairs and maintenance, so selling an older car can easily offset those expenses. 

Not only will you free up garage space, but you might also earn some extra cash. If you’re holding onto a car for an adult child, consider either selling it to them or getting cash for junk cars before you move.

Utilize a Professional Mover

Hiring a professional mover to help move and downsize is an excellent idea. Not only will they take care of packing and moving, but they might also provide storage solutions for items you can’t fit in your new home. 

Hiring a professional will help reduce the stress of moving and ensure that your goods are transported safely and efficiently.

List Your Home with a Professional Realtor

If you want to sell your current home, it is best to list it with a professional Realtor. A realtor will help you to maximize your home's value and market your home to potential buyers. 

They can also give you insights into the real estate market, which can be beneficial when searching for your new home.

Final Thoughts

Remember, downsizing can be a challenging process. However, you can make it a profitable and stress-free move by being prepared, creating a floor plan, decluttering, utilizing a professional mover, and selling an older car. 

By following these tips, you can trade the pains of downsizing for profits and a new, more relaxed lifestyle. So, downsize and discover a more comfortable and simplified living experience.

Tricks for Seniors to Move Houses Safely and Cheaply

As you age, moving houses can be a daunting task. It requires a lot of physical effort and can be emotionally overwhelming, especially if you have lived in the same house for many years.

However, moving to a new home can also be an exciting experience and an opportunity to begin a new chapter in your life. This blog post will provide some tricks for seniors to move houses safely and cheaply. 

These tips will make the moving process smoother and less stressful for you.

Plan Ahead

Moving houses is a big project and requires careful planning. Start planning early so that you have enough time to sort through your belongings and decide what you want to take with you and what you want to discard. 

Make a moving checklist that includes all the tasks needed, such as notifying utility companies, packing boxes, and hiring a moving company. This will help you stay organized and on track.

Declutter

Moving houses is an excellent opportunity to declutter your house. Decide what items are no longer necessary or useful and get rid of them. Donate items to charities or have a garage sale. 

This will help you reduce the amount of stuff you need to move, saving you money on packing supplies and moving costs.

Hire a Professional Moving Company

Hiring a professional moving company, like Modern Moving, can make the moving process safer and more efficient. Look for a reputable mover that has experience moving seniors and is familiar with the unique needs of seniors. 

The mover should be licensed, insured, and able to provide references. Be sure to get estimates from at least three moving companies to compare prices.

Consider Downsizing

Moving to a smaller home can be a smart move for seniors. It can reduce the cost of utilities, property taxes, and maintenance. You will also have less space to clean, which can make cleaning easier and faster. Downsizing can also relieve you of the burden of maintaining a large house and yard.

Take Care of Yourself

Moving can be physically and emotionally taxing, especially for seniors. Be sure to take care of yourself during the moving process. Get plenty of rest, eat well, and stay hydrated. 

Ask for help from family and friends if you need it. Making sure that you take care of yourself will make moving houses a much more pleasant experience.

Moving houses can be a daunting task, especially for seniors. However, moving can be less stressful, safer, and cheaper with careful planning, decluttering, hiring a professional mover, downsizing, and taking care of yourself. 

It may take some effort, but moving to a new house can be a great opportunity to start fresh and begin a new chapter in your life. Hopefully, the tips in this blog post will help you with your move and make the process smoother and more enjoyable.

How to Prepare Your Pocketbook for a Cross-Country Move

Moving all the way across the nation can be pretty intimidating, to put it mildly. It can also be a major financial commitment. If you want to get your bank account ready for this kind of relocation, you have to keep your cool. It’s wise to give your bank account a gentle warning before taking action.

Reduce Your Costs

Cutting expenses dramatically can help you prepare for your massive relocation. You may want to stop eating out for a few weeks or months before you move. 

You may want to stop spending money on extras such as movie theater tickets and cable television as well. These costs can add up dramatically.

Work a Part-Time Job

You can safeguard your bank account from moving expense shockers by working a part-time job. Getting an evening or weekend job can help you save a lot of extra cash. 




It can help you create a fund for unanticipated moving setbacks as well. If you want to avoid panic, then it can always help to have extra cash on hand.

Select an Affordable Professional Moving Company

Professional moving assistance doesn’t have to wreak havoc on your finances. If you hire a company that’s known for outstanding value, you should be A-OK. Ask people for suggestions for a moving company that is economical. 

Search the Internet for moving specials and discounts that may be offered by highly regarded relocation businesses in your area, too. If you move on a certain day, you may be able to decrease your expenses in a major way.

Look for Free Options

Paying for moving and packing tools and supplies can often be extremely costly. Paying for boxes, bubble wrap, duct tape, and the like can often make you feel like you’re going to go broke. If you want to stay away from the poorhouse, you can go above and beyond to find free options. 

Your local supermarket may have boxes that you can take for free. Free boxes can often save people hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Try to find out about tape, padding materials, and everything else, too. It can never be harmful to ask.

Don’t let any huge moving effort get the best of you. You have to be the portrait of equanimity. If you freak out, things will be a lot harder on you. If you keep your composure, you can do things the right way. You can think about cost-cutting strategies, too.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move

As we get older, many of us start to notice that our living situation just isn’t what we need anymore. Sometimes we move in order to become part of a senior community, and live close to others in our stage of life. Other times, we want to be closer to family, or downgrade in order to get rid of all those extra projects that come with living in a big house.

Then again, a move can be a huge disruption to your life, and it’s a major hassle from start to finish. So how can you determine whether a move is actually worth all the effort and bother? Well, whether you’re living out your golden years, or moving into your first home with a spouse, here are some helpful tips.

Can You Upgrade Your Existing Home?

Sometimes, there are things that we really want for our home, and so we start looking longingly at shiny new housing listings. If our health is getting difficult, it might not even be a matter of want, but need. 

Perhaps you’re not able to handle the stairs as well as before, or you need a different kind of shower. However, the truth is that most of the time, it’s much more cost-effective for an individual to update their existing home rather than get a new one. 





It’s true that looking at a quote for something like installing solar panels, or putting a granite countertop in your kitchen, can be intimidating. However, when you consider it an investment in your home that increases its value, it puts things in perspective.

Even if you’re planning to move, it might be worth looking into the costs of certain upgrades in order to increase the price point that you’ll be able to get for the house.

Location is the Primary Concern

If the truth is that all the upgrades, expansion, and remodeling won’t answer your needs, then yes… it’s probably time to move. That means that it’s a problem with the location; not the actual house. 

There are so many things that determine whether your location is good or bad. Often, it seems as though location and price are directly correlative, and it’s just a matter of finding as ideal a location as possible inside of your price range, but the truth is that location is highly relative. A prime location for one person won’t be ideal for another family.

Here are the major things that you need to ask yourself when choosing a location that matters to you.

Is the school district important to you? One of the major concerns people have when moving is what kind of school their child will be going to. So, if you don’t have children, or if your children are attending private school, or an alternate schooling program, you can save a lot by not competing for the same thing other families are desperate for. This link has a good guide if school district is a priority for your move.

What does your commute look like? One of the biggest things that contributes to (or detracts from) our quality of life is the time we spend in traffic getting to and from work each day. How much does a long commute bother you? 

Can you use public transit to reduce costs and stress? Don’t forget; it’s not just about the commute to work. The commute to school, to the grocery store, and to your friends’ or family’s homes can all determine how well a location works for you.

What does your lifestyle demand of your surroundings? Some people love to be friendly with their neighbors. Some of us love to be close to the outdoors. Others love a convenient park in the neighborhood. It’s important not to be distracted by things that really don’t matter to you, though. 

Sure, a park nearby is nice, but if you never use or see that park… then it really doesn’t make a difference to you. Let someone else pay for that proximity.

Renting vs. Buying

Deciding whether you’re going to rent or buy will also have a big impact on whether it’s time for you to move. After all, it’s a completely different game. Renting will feel much more temporary. 





If you decide to buy, you want to be comfortable with a more long-term decision. Even if you need to move from that home, will you be able to get good rental rates if you decide to become a landlord? Will it retain its value if you resell it in a few years?

People Matter

Although we usually think in terms of finances and employment while we’re looking into a move, the truth is that there’s one thing that matters more; who you share that space with. In the end, money doesn’t make us happy, and few jobs will. 

On the other hand, people who have the best quality of life, self-reported levels of happiness, and life expectancy, are those who have strong networks of connection with friends and loved ones. 

So, while you’re evaluating your reasons to move, it could be that it just comes down to doing the best thing for your family. That might be enough! Moving doesn’t have to be a terrible hassle if it’s handled right.

No PTO? How To Make A Big Move While Working Full Time

In a perfect world, you'll have weeks of time off to prepare for your big move. Unfortunately, though, many people don't have the luxury of skipping out on time at work. 

If you find yourself moving without the ability to take extra time off, you might want to consider the tips below.

Schedule

Since you don't have weeks to take off for your move, you'll need to schedule everything as precisely as possible. You will spend most of your moving time packing before or after work, so make sure that you clear your calendar of as many other responsibilities as possible. 

Make sure to schedule your actual moving and/or loading day on one of your days off - this will give you a bit more time to work without being under the time pressure of having to get back to the office.

Look at Storage Solutions

One of the best ways to get the most out of your limited time is to use an at-home storage solution to hold your possessions. Solutions like moving pods allow you to pack everything up on your own schedule and can be moved without your presence. 

While these solutions do tend to be more expensive than a standard moving truck, they do allow you the relative luxury of moving things out at your own pace. 

Space in these pods tends to be limited, so this is a better solution for those moving out of apartments or who have relatively few possessions.

Hire Movers

If you're really pressed for time, it might be a good idea to hire professional movers. A good moving company will help you pack all of your belongings, load them on to a truck, and get everything where it is going. 

Movers can get you packed and unpacked in a fraction of the time it would take you to do the job yourself. In fact, you can generally expect that the entire job will be done over the course of your weekly days off. 

This can be an expensive solution, but call up a company like Bekins Van Lines Inc to get an estimate. If the price is right, you can cut out loads of stress from your move.

You can move even if you don't have time off from work. Make the most out of the time you do have away from the office and make sure to hire professionals if you need more help. It's not the most pleasant way to move, but it is certainly one of the most efficient.

Making the Unfamiliar Familiar: Tips for Transitioning Kids to a New Home

Moving with kids is much more difficult than moving on your own. While adults tend to adjust quickly, realizing that their world is not ending, children aren't so quick to fall in love with their new homes. According to the staff at The Child Study Center of New York University, there are things that parents can do to help transition kids to a new home.

1.Get Out of the House

As busy as you are unpacking, organizing and decorating, do your best to get the kids out of the house. Exploring your new city can help children get used to their new place quicker. 

In fact, experts say that the act of exploring a new city gives children a place to go home to: their new house. It may be a mental game, but your children's' emotional stability is what you are most concerned about. 

2.Mini Decorators

It's tempting to paint your kids' rooms, put their things away and get them organized. Try to resist getting so hands on unless your children are simply too young to be of much help. For school-aged children, decorating can be just the thing that's needed to make a new house home. 

Let your child pick out a color for the walls, new bedding or even new toy shelves. The more you allow your children to make their new rooms their own, the faster they're going to fall in love with the new house.

3.Get the Group Together

If you haven't moved hundreds of miles away, invite your children's "old" friends for a sleepover. Let your child show his old friends around his new neighborhood. 

If you did move hundreds of miles away, contact parents and ask them to allow their children to Skype with yours. Even a video chat can help kids touch base and feel better about moving so far away. 

4.Sports

No matter what time of year you move, you can get your kids involved in sports, clubs or activities that involve their peers. Sports, clubs and other activities give your children the opportunity to connect with their peers. 

Your children don't feel pressured to come up with things to talk about; the mere act of participating in the same thing provides ample fodder for conversation. 

5.Patience

No child adjusts at the same rate. Your support and patience will mean more to your children than anything else you can do for or with them. Don't lose your mind when your kids don't adjust as quickly as you think they should. 

Instead, sit down, talk to them, and find out what you can do to help. Moving can be a time of very real grief for your child, and grief comes with stages. Unless you know where your kid's head is at, you can't help.

Moving is stressful for you in more ways than one. Not only do you have to worry about packing, moving and unpacking, but you have to worry about fitting in at work, meeting new people, and finding new activities to participate in. 

On top of all of that, you have to worry about your kids. Try to remember what it was like for you as a child when you had to move house. Offer your support, be patient, and take your children on new adventures; they'll feel at home before you know it.

Robin Knight just relocated to San Francisco and used Movoto.com to shop for his new home.