Selling Your Home To Leave The City: Is It Right For You?

CBC reports that a new Royal LePage survey found that about half of Baby Boomers surveyed in Canada planned to sell their homes and downsize.

According to Royal LePage, many of these Boomers want to move to smaller, more affordable communities.

At BGS Homes Inc., we have seen the latest phases of communities in locations such as Norwich and Norwood sell out, with Boomers being a significant percentage of buyers.

Here are several tips to determine if selling your City home is right for you:

1.  Have you saved enough money for retirement?  A recent survey by CIBC found that respondents believed that $756,000 was the amount respondents thought was necessary for retirement.  The survey also found that 90 percent of respondents did not have a plan to get there. 

According to TREB (the Toronto Real Estate Board), in the GTA in July, the average sale price of a home was over $1 million. Semi-detached homes averaged $746,000 in the GTA during the same period.

So if you are lucky enough to own a home in Toronto and paid off your mortgage, selling your home in the city and moving outside of the city could help you get close to that $756,000 goal!  Visit www.bgshomes.com to see some of our latest communities and how to learn about pricing.

2.  When should you sell?  That same TREB survey showed that detached homes only increased 0.5% in the GTA between July 2017 and July 2018.  That increase is lower than many savings accounts pay!

Over time the history of the real estate market in the GTA has been up, but downturns do happen, as has been seen during certain periods of the past year. 

What would happen if all Baby Boomers sold at the same time to cash out?  While that hopefully does not happen, if it did, it may cause a downturn.

There are many factors to consider when selling, but if you are near or in retirement and have no retirement savings, selling when prices are still strong may be worth considering and discussing with a real estate professional.

3.  Will I get bored moving out of the City?  We have built many communities within an hour and half or so outside of Toronto.  A trend we notice is that people get to know their neighbours in smaller communities.  You may be surprised of the fun you will have and people you will meet, all while still owning a detached home.

Further if you live within an hour and a half drive outside of Toronto, you may be able to attend your favourite sports and entertainment events in Toronto on weekends, when traffic is lighter, and spend less time driving than many people commute in weekday rush hour!