3 Things to do Before Retiring to Delaware

Every week someone tells me the exact same thing. We just started looking at houses. They have 12 different tabs open. They're looking at open houses. They're trying to figure out what house they would like to live in, either a single-family home, a carriage home, how many bedrooms, and I always tell them the exact same thing. Looking at houses is the absolute last step in the process. There are three things that come before it, and I'll be honest, almost no one does them in order. But if you do them out of order, you'll end up looking for a house in the wrong part of the state, in something that you can't afford, in a place that you actually never tested it. And you're probably wondering, what does that mean? We'll get to that step. So, let's do them in order. Step one is to know the real financial picture before you look at any houses. This isn't a, can I afford Delaware? This isn't even a Delaware versus Pennsylvania, Delaware versus Florida. It's honestly bigger than any of that. If you have a house to sell, that's actually where you should start. Especially if that house that you're selling is going to be funding your move. There are four different ways to look at this. The first one is, could you do a bridge loan? And what I mean by that is, basically it is a short-term option to get you into that other home. Whether that be you do a bridge loan, or you do a home equity line of credit, to get the equity out of your current home, in order to purchase the next one. Now, in doing that, you have to be able to float both mortgages. So, there are a lot of stipulations when it comes to doing a bridge loan, or even a home equity line of credit. Another option is to sell, and then rent it back from the buyer. Now, in doing that, you have to have a flexible buyer. What you're not looking for is the domino effect. So, you have to sell in order to purchase this one, and then this person has to sell in order to purchase that, and it becomes an absolute nightmare if one of those dominoes falls. So, what you're really looking for is a flexible buyer that you'll be able to rent back from, in this case. You also could write a contingent offer, which means that you need to sell your house in order to purchase the next one. In doing that, the seller of your house that you are trying to purchase is taking on a risk that you may or may not be able to sell your house. This does sometimes make your offer weaker, because the seller is taking on a little bit more risk with your offer. And the last option would be that your current home is either paid off, or you have a very low mortgage, and you are able to purchase the next home and float both mortgages. So, I will tell you that not everyone qualifies for this one. So, a lot of times this may or may not work. Another thing to consider is that if you are financing the home, a lot of times people try to purchase the home before they retire. And the reason is, is because your retirement income changes after retirement. You are on a fixed income, you have only a set amount of money, whether that be Social Security or your pension, your 401k, your IRA withdrawals, that you can have per month. So, they look at your non-retirement income and your retirement income totally different. So, in a lot of cases, I see people try to purchase the home before retiring, even if it has to be a second home, because you may qualify for more before retirement than you would after retirement. This is why it is very, very important to look at your full financial picture before ever looking at a house, because things could change on so many different levels. You could look at, okay, if I purchase the house before retirement, what does that look like? If I purchase after retirement, what does that look like? What is my purchasing power in each scenario? Do I currently own my home? Could I float both mortgages? Should I be contingent? There are so many different things and avenues to go down. And this is why I always say that you should talk to your financial advisor or your CPA or whoever helps you decide your financial picture. And you're looking for someone that has a fiduciary responsibility to you. Another thing to consider in this whole financial picture is working with that financial advisor or your CPA on what your taxes are going to look like for your retirement income. If there is anything that I have learned by looking at different states is that not every state does things the same. It does not mean that Florida does the same thing as Delaware. It does not mean that New York does the same thing as Delaware. So it is very, very important to look at not only the current state that you live in and where you have earned all of your money, as well as what it means when you move to Delaware. This is why I made a full guide, and it is the real cost to retiring to Delaware. I have tried to think of every single number that could ever possibly be for retirement, and I've put it into one guide. It is packed full of information. It is down below in the description, so go ahead and grab that. It'll be sent right to your inbox. It has moving costs, timelines, even a worksheet where you can fill out exactly what your costs are going to be, and then you could compare them to your state currently. So once again, that is down below in the description. Okay, so number two that you should be looking at before even thinking about retiring to Delaware is thinking about what your retirement looks like. Are you someone that wants to be in a 55 plus community? Are you someone that is just looking for a ranch style home, but would love if the community took care of your lawn maintenance, or your landscaping, or your mulching? Or maybe you are someone that is looking for a small town, no HOA. You just want to be out in basically a rural part of the state, or maybe you're someone that, hey, I actually don't want a house at all. I would prefer a condo. That is what you really, really need to narrow down. What does your retirement look like? What you're really looking for is what I call the five F's. There's fees, fit, freedom, foundation, and future. Let's start off with fees. So it does not mean just the HOA fee. Well, yes, that is super important. It's everything else that comes with it. What are your utilities? What are your property taxes? What are your grocery bills going to be? So that is the first thing to consider. Then you also want to consider the fit, kind of what we just talked about. A 55 plus community, a non-55 plus community, a condo, a single-family home, a carriage home, then freedom. Are you okay with the HOA telling you what color your front door can be? Or maybe you are someone that has a camper or a boat. That's what I mean by freedom, because in most communities, you cannot put a boat or a camper in your driveway. Next, let's talk about the foundation. Whether that be your builder reputation or the construction quality, if you are looking at new construction. And honestly, even if you're looking at resale homes, you want to have a home inspection regardless, whether you're purchasing new construction or a resale home. But take into consideration that a home inspection can cost you around five to six hundred dollars, depending on the company that you use. And what you're really looking for is, you're not going to have all of these problems later in life. So what does that look like? And that brings me to the last F, which is the future. Can you age in place? What does the health care look like? What specialists are you possibly going to need that you need to take into consideration with the area that you choose in Delaware? Is the house set up to be able to do that? Is the laundry and your bedroom on the same floor? Are you going to be able to get a wheelchair, if needed, or even a walker, if needed, down the hallways or into the bathroom, if you ever need that? Now, listen, I know that I just threw a lot at you with just that second step. So that's why I say take your time with this. Really think about all of the different things that I just mentioned in just this one step, because there is still a third step. And that is, you really want to test your retirement. I have so many people that say, I have vacationed in Delaware. I absolutely loved it. I went to Bethany. I went to Rehoboth. I went to Lewis. And the first thing I say to them is, okay, you were on vacation. And listen, I do this too. A lot of times on vacation, you can look past things, okay? You know that there is traffic, but it's vacation traffic. And it's fine, because you don't have to worry about work. And you really just need to worry about getting there and enjoying the pool and the beach. Maybe you go to like a resort style place, and everything's taken care of for you. Your meals, you got to eat every night, you go to mini golf. That is not what your ordinary Tuesday is going to look like. So, what I do tell you to do is come and visit. Take a couple days. I know that staying in a hotel is sometimes uncomfortable. I know that, you know, there's a lot of aspects, especially if you have animals at home, or maybe you have doctor's appointments. But I really, really, really want you to come visit. I want you to drive around. I want you to pick essentially the area that you want to be in. And I want you to go to the grocery store, go to the emergency department, go to where the doctor's offices are, go to where you would be shopping, and really, really look around. I mean, obviously, I would love for you to be able to do that in multiple seasons. Especially if you are looking at the beach area. So, if you were looking at the beach area, you definitely want to check it out in season. Now, granted, that does not last all year round. But you also want to check it out in the fall, and the winter, and even the spring, if you have that opportunity. Now, listen, if you come here in the summer, or even the fall, and you're like, I absolutely love this, then by all means, let's sign. But at the same time, what I want you to do is really, really look at the area, because I can tell you from also experience, when I lived in Rehoboth, I did not realize that I would need to basically get my groceries on a Wednesday, and make sure that it lasts me throughout the week. Because I didn't really want to go to the grocery store on the weekends. Now, that was only for three months out of the year, and you really start to prepare ahead of time. And that's why I always say, you really want to look at your ordinary Tuesday. And you'll, I know I sound like a broken record, and I say this all the time, but I actually just had clients come, and I said, drive around. Tell me, where do you like to shop? Let me, I'll point you in the direction. Do you like Aldi? Do you like Fresh Market? Are you someone that is going to go to the restaurants all the time? What type of restaurants do you like? Check out this, check out that. And really, really, really picture yourself, not in vacation mode, but every day, having to drive the same roads, and really tell me what you feel, and where you would like to be in the state. And that's the three things that I think that you should be thinking about before ever looking at a house in Delaware. Really, really think about it. Sit down, do the math. Really think about what you would like in retirement, and then come and visit. Drive around, get a feel for the area, and then once we've narrowed that down, we can really start to look at a house. Because that part usually happens a lot quicker when you know those three things that I just talked about. And then the rest of it is usually a lot easier. I can tell you that my clients that have taken these steps beforehand really, really, really have a better experience than someone that has come in, they've already chosen the house, they have no idea what the area is like, they have no idea what they can afford, and they have no idea what it's going to look like in the future. I really hope this video helped. If it did, be sure to give me a thumbs up. Be sure to subscribe to the channel. Like I said, I do have a full guide packed full of information on the real cost of retiring to Delaware that is below in the description. So if you are interested, go ahead and click that and get that sent right to your email. If you would love to retire to Delaware, I would love the opportunity to work with you. My information is down below in the description. So go ahead and grab a link to my calendar or you can send me a text or an email and we can get set up with a phone call. Hey, thank you so much for making it this far into the video. If you are interested in more Delaware retirement content, check out this video right here. And if you would love to tour Delaware new construction homes with me, check out this playlist right here. And don't forget, subscribe to my channel.