Real Estate Matters

Silver Edition… News & Issues for the Mature Market

Volume VI, No. IV www.seniorsrealestate.com

Get to Know Your Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Seniors face some amazingly difficult decisions when it comes to real estate. Should I sell my home, rent a compa-rable place to live and invest the difference? If I sold my home would I owe capital gains taxes? What should I know about seller financing and installment sales? Where can I find a real estate agent who understands my needs?
Look no further. As your seniors real estate specialist, I’ll be happy to answer your questions and give you the information you need.
Your real estate partner,

MARY E HASTERLIK, CRS, GRI, SRES
(920)490-8114

World’s Oldest Web Surfer

A 96-year-old man in Texas was the oldest person to enter a contest to identify the world’s oldest Internet surfer. “I have seen the birth of the auto-mobile, airplane, telephone, radio and television. Now, the computer and the Internet have opened a whole new world for me,” says Dr. Jason Grinnell. The contest was sponsored by the Seniors Search.com Web portal.


What’s Your “Retirement Type?”

A new survey of 1,002 adults identifies five “retirement types.” Which type are you?
-- Planners (35 percent of Americans) have median retirement savings of $73,000. They take smart risks and believe they’re making wise investments.
-- Savers (18 percent) take fewer financial risks and identify their set-aside funds as savings rather than investments.
-- Strugglers (20 percent) are disciplined savers, but they become discouraged by unexpected events.
-- Impulsives (15 percent) are sporadic savers. More than half of them spend even when they aren’t planning to buy anything.
-- Deny-ers (12 percent) have average retirement savings of $7,000. They think retirement planning is pointless. They’re impulsive shoppers, and they avoid financial risks regardless of the potential for gain.

“Surviving Spouse” Tax Trap

A twist in the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act is still forcing some widows and widowers to make snap decisions about selling the home they shared with their recently deceased spouse. The law requires the surviving spouse to sell the home in the same tax year as the other spouse’s death to claim the $500,000 capital gain tax exclusion available to married couples. If a death occurs at the end of the year, the surviving spouse has very little time to make this life-altering decision.

5 Steps to Keeping Your Home in Great Shape

The longer you’ve lived in your home, the more likely it is that you’ve overlooked some needed maintenance and repairs. The following five-step plan can help you keep up:
1. Walk around your home once a month with a pencil and a notebook and make a list of everything that needs attention. Don’t focus on the cost or difficulty of the repairs. Simply step into every room and take a close look around.
2. Prioritize needed repairs and maintenance tasks and sort out which ones you can complete yourself and which require a professional.
3. If you need to hire a carpenter, electrician or other specialist, make sure the person is licensed to perform the needed repairs. Get written estimates and a written contract for the work.
4. Contact senior-oriented organizations to get information about home modifications and financing programs that help people make their homes safer and more comfortable as they grow older
Tip: AARP’s Web site, www. aarp.org, has a section devoted to simple universal design ideas for existing homes.
5. You’ve taken care of your home all these years, so take some time to enjoy it!