Get paid or stay
With real estate prices skyrocketing in Silicon Valley, some of my friends are deciding to cash in on their homes, make extra money, and take a trek out of town or out of state and live the good life somewhere else with lots of money. ample. .
Maybe.
It’s a conversation we seem to have at every social gathering. The prices requested are only the opening offer. Homes are selling for hundreds of thousands further up the list.
It’s a crazy, crazy time and place here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Those of us who have lived through the boom, the bust, and the boom again know that it can never last. That’s why many are taking advantage of the latest boom to sell and move on to less expensive, but beautiful, climates elsewhere.
For some, the decision on where to move is an easy one…reach out to family living out of state, eventually reach the hotter, drier deserts farther south, or join one of America’s expat colonies outside of the United States. .
Anywhere less expensive.
While the decision seems to be easy for some, it is not so easy for me. Oh, I have no doubt that I can make new friends, but I still like the old ones. They have been left knowing everything about me and my own pathologies. I guess I can say about them. There is comfort in that.
I’ve moved a lot in my life. She attended several different high schools, lived up and down California, as well as in eastern Rhode Island and Washington DC.
New England is beautiful because of the seasons and, of course, because of the colorful and shimmering leaves of fall. Washington DC is exciting because of the internationality of everything.
Easterners are curious about ex-Californians. I still remember the questions I was asked when I lived on the East Coast: “Did you leave California because…?”
I can hear it now again. “You got a job in California and left for the second time. Did you move from the Bay Area because…?”
However, I understand the appeal of making a big killing in this crazy real estate market. I just don’t know where I would go to live permanently.
I’ve lived in the Sierra for a while, Pollock Pines to be exact. The small gold rush town is located off Highway 50 directly east from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. It was majestic. That is a thought. If I don’t mind digging in the snow several months out of the year, it might work.
Then there is the family as an attraction. I have family in the east, in southern California and here. Los Angeles is out. Too big, too stuffy and too hot. The east is too humid and scorching hot in the summer, then there’s that snow thing again. Rather deal with snow here than there.
I have several friends who are buying retirement homes in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. They see these houses as investments for later. Frankly, the idea of living in a place where the temperature reaches triple digits for much of the year is not appealing.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that I’m a weather snob.
Finally, there is a cost of sale. It really isn’t all cash up front. I learned that I would have to spend a lot to sell, costs that I never considered. It kind of took the thrill out of everything. Things as dry as:
• Real estate agent fees.
• Closing costs and credits to the buyer.
• Transfer tax.
• Capital gains tax. From Nolo Press, “If you make less than $250,000 on the sale of your home (or $500,000 if you’re married filing jointly), don’t worry, you won’t owe anything in capital gains tax. But if you make more Other than that, you’ll want to investigate the matter further. Once you’ve subtracted things like the costs of preparing the property for sale from the alleged proceeds, you may not owe the tax.”
There’s also:
• Moving costs
• Home improvements to fix the house for sale.
All of these fees and costs can eat up a big chunk of any windfall I think I’ll get from the big sale.
After reading my own reasons for not selling, I guess the answer is clear.
I really don’t want to move even if I could hide a good amount of cash. I just don’t know where I’d go? Not to mention that he would have to retrain a whole new group of friends.