Walking the rightsizing walk – Yikes! House sold
Ishould know by now if you venture into an exploratory hypothetical conversation with a real-estate broker, you might as well start packing. One casual conversation with a broker friend started the house hurricane.
My neighbor had just sold his house for a tidy sum. That got me running the numbers on the Happier Yellow House. Who doesn’t do this? In the seven years since we bought it — and greatly improved it (in my humble opinion) — the home’s value had increased nicely.
So, I asked Wendy, our broker friend, just out of curiosity, what she thought we could get. She gave me a number that even a er broker’s fees would be hard to pass up. Still, the thought of listing my house, nding a new place and moving sounded more painful than surgery without anesthesia.
I talked it over with
Although selling your home can be an emotional time, it allows you to dream of what your
could be.
my husband. DC was instantly on board. To reduce our chances of this actually happening, we told Wendy to circulate the non-listed property among only the brokers in her o ce. If any of them had a buyer willing to pay full price, we’d consider selling.
Three days later, two dozen or so brokers from Wendy’s o ce paraded through our home. A few thought they might have a prospective buyer. One brought a well-to-do widow by the next day. She made an all-cash, full-price o er. (It’s an ambiguous blessing that selling my
home to the rst buyer who walks in is one of my superpowers. This is h time in a row it’s happened.)
And just like that we were homeless. Though this happened fast, the notion of selling and moving is one DC and I have talked about — if only idly. DC is nearing retirement. As we look ahead, we are looking for ways to stretch our retirement income by reducing our real estate overhead. Speci cally, we’d like to be mortgage free. Currently, we have two properties: our main house and a beach condo
an hour away. Both have small mortgages, which are easy to manage so long as we’re both working.
We love having a beach getaway, but, because of its mortgage, it costs more than it makes in rental income. (By o ering it as a vacation rental, we only have to open a vein to cover the costs not an artery.) Our plan when we bought the condo two years ago was to see how we liked it (we do) and then when we got ready to retire decide whether to keep or sell it. Here we are.
Marni Jameson At Home
Jameson
Photo courtesy of Pavel Losevsky/Dreamstime
next home
National Association of Realtors
News
release
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Existing-home sales decreased by 2.7% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors ExistingHome Sales Report. The report provides the real estate ecosystem, including agents and homebuyers and sellers, with data on the level of home sales, price and inventory.
Month-over-month sales declined in the Northeast, Midwest and South and rose modestly in the West. Year-over-year, sales fell in the Northeast and West, while rising in the Midwest and South.
“The record high median home price highlights how American homeowners’ wealth continues to grow — a benefit of homeownership. The average homeowner’s wealth has expanded by $140,900 over the past five years,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“Multiple years of undersupply are driving the record high home price. Home construction continues to lag population growth,” Yun continued. “This is holding back firsttime home buyers from entering the market. More supply is needed to increase the share of first-time homebuyers in the coming years even though some markets appear to have a
Nation’s existing-home sales decrease
temporary oversupply at the moment.
“High mortgage rates are causing home sales to remain stuck at cyclical lows. If the average mortgage rates were to decline to 6%, our scenario analysis suggests an additional 160,000 renters becoming firsttime homeowners and elevated sales activity from existing homeowners,” he added. “Expanding participation in the housing market will increase the mobility of the workforce and drive economic growth. If mortgage rates decrease in the second half of this year, expect home sales to increase across the country due to strong income growth, healthy inventory, and a recordhigh number of jobs.”
National snapshot
Total existing-home sales for June
• 2.7% decrease in total existing-home sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.93 million.
• No change in sales year-over-year.
Inventory in June
• 1.53 million units: Total housing inventory, down 0.6% from May and increased 15.9% from June 2024 (1.32 million).
• 4.7-month supply of unsold inventory, up from 4.6 months in May and 4 months in June 2024.
Median sales price in June
• $435,300: Median existing-home price for all housing types, up 2% from one year ago ($426,900) — a record high for the month of June and the 24th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
Single-family and condo/co-op sales
• Single-family homes in June: 3% decrease in sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.57 million, up 0.6% from June 2024. $441,500 median home price in June, up 2% from June 2024.
• Condominiums and co-ops in June: No change in sales, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000 units, down 5.3% from June 2024. $374,500 median price, up 0.8% from June 2024.
Regional snapshot
• Northeast: 8% decrease in sales monthover month to an annual rate of 460,000, down 4.2% year-over-year. $543,300 median price, up 4.2% from June 2024.
• Midwest: 4% decrease in sales monthover month to an annual rate of 950,000, up 2.2% year-over-year. $337,600 median price, up 3.4% from June 2024.
• South: 2.2% decrease in sales monthover month to an annual
rate of 1.81 million, up 1.7% year-over-year.
$374,500 median price, up 0.3% from June 2024.
• West: 1.4% increase in sales month-over month with an annual rate of 710,000, down 4.1% year-over-year.
$636,100 median price, up 1% from June 2024.
Realtors Confidence Index for June
• 27 days: Median time on market for properties, unchanged from May, up from 22 days in June 2024.
• 30% of sales were rst-time home buyers, unchanged from May and up from 29% in June 2024.
• 29% of transactions were cash sales, up from 27% in May and 28% in June 2024.
• 14% of transactions were individual investors or second-home buyers, down from 17% in May and 16% in June 2024—lowest level since September 2022 due to individual investors retreating from the market.
• 3% of sales were distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), unchanged from May and up slightly from 2% in June 2024.
Mortgage rates
• 6.75%: Average 30-year xed-rate mortgage as of July 17 according to Freddie Mac, up from 6.72% one week before and down from 6.77% one year ago.
This prompted a recurring circular discussion: To be mortgage free, we could either sell the Happier Yellow House, use the equity to buy something less expensive for cash and keep the beach condo or we could keep the Happier Yellow House and sell the condo. The answer to the riddle kept coming as: Neither.
That is until a full-price cash o er tilted the tables. Though intellectually I knew what to do, emotionally, the decision wasn’t so easy. I love my home and neighbors.
However, because I strive to practice what I preach in my columns and books about downsizing and rightsizing, and speci cally the notion that we must evolve so that our homes suit our current phase of life, I told myself I needed to — gulp — walk the walk.
The scramble to nd a new house I loved or could love, that t our needs — social, emotional, physical and nancial — began. We had 60 days to closing. Tick tock.
Meanwhile, when I got cold feet — every 10 minutes — I would remind myself that house deals fall through all the time. They can fail inspections, parties can disagree on improvements that need to be made, nancing may not materialize, contingencies might not be met. The sale isn’t over until the docs are signed and the ink has dried. I found this irrationally reassuring. Worst case, we would stay put. But, as the reality sunk in, my outlook brightened. I grew hopeful and started envisioning what the next home could o er:
• A man cave. In retirement, DC is looking forward to spending more time working on creative projects, including writing music. He also plans to do some consulting, so would like a dedicated space, which our current home doesn’t o er.
• More house downstairs. Our current home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. I can see a day when a one-level home could appeal.
• A little less yard. The tree trimming, irrigation issues, fountain maintenance, owerbed refreshing, pest control and lawn care all add up. However, I still want a private outdoor oasis and maybe a small dipping pool. I live in Florida, a er all.
• The magic combo. Mostly I want a home that has what I can’t change, but not what I can. That is, I want good room ow, good natural light, welcoming curb appeal, a nice street and a nice area. I also want a vanilla house, one that is well maintained but not “done,” that could use improvement. These little gems o en sit on the market and go for a good price.
• No mortgage. I like the sound of that.
Join me next week for the house hunt.
Marni Jameson is the award-winning author of seven books, including “Rightsize Today for Your Best Life Tomorrow.” If you have questions about home improvement, better living, downsizing or rightsizing, send them to marni@ marnijameson.com. Jameson Continued from 3
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