The Kids Moved Out and the House Feels Too Big: Sell It and Buy a One-Story?

There is no set age or date. There are signs people tell me about often:

• Rooms nobody uses still get cleaned, cooled and paid for.
• The stairs have become an issue, even if nobody says it out loud.
• The yard and the upkeep feel like a second job.
• You want to use what you have built up in the house for something more comfortable.

If none of that sounds like you, maybe it is not time, and that is fine. I will tell you myself when it does not make sense. I wrote about it in When selling is not the right move yet.

It is the first question and almost nobody has it answered. It comes from the likely sale price, what you still owe (if anything) and the costs of the sale. I walk through the math in What do I walk away with if I sell my house?

With that number you know whether the next house is bought with a loan, with part of what you keep, or another way. What you can buy and what your payment would be is for the lender to say, with your paperwork. I walk you through that process step by step, but I do not give payment or rate figures.

This is where a lot of people go wrong: they look for "smaller" and end up with a small house that does not work for them. Fewer square feet is not the same as more comfortable. Make the list before you tour:

• Everything on one floor, including the primary bedroom and the laundry.
• A step-free entry or as few steps as possible, and hallways you can move through easily.
• A guest room, if the grandkids or your kids stay over.
• Less yard, or one that does not ask for every weekend.
• Close to what you use: your church, your doctor, your kids, your job if you still work.

You decide that list. I do not tell you what area you "should" live in. I show you the homes that meet what you asked for.

A big house holds a lot of years. Before it is shown, it helps to decide what goes with you, what gets divided among the kids, and what gets sold or given away. Doing it before listing has two advantages: the house looks roomier in the photos, and you are not deciding with the moving truck outside.

One tip: give the kids a date to pick up their things. With no date, the boxes stay.

The most common fear when you sell to buy is being left without a place between one house and the next. The date plan solves it:

• Line up the closing on your sale and the closing on your purchase so they fall together or very close. More in Your closing date.
• Negotiate staying in your home for a while after the sale, if needed. That arrangement is explained in You sold your house but have nowhere to go yet.

• Shopping for the new house without knowing what you keep from the current one.
• Over-fixing the big house. Many people do not want to put money into a house they are leaving, and sometimes they are right. Selling as is is also a path.
• Letting someone else make the decision. Your kids give their opinion with love, but the house and the decision are yours.
• Forgetting about tax exemptions. If you have exemptions on your current home, ask your county appraisal district how to apply for them on the new one.

Do I have to sell first in order to buy?

It depends on your situation: what you keep, what the lender says and the dates. There are several paths, and you pick one with numbers, not in a rush.

What if the big house does not sell quickly?

That is why the plan comes first. Price, the condition of the house and the dates are looked at before the sign goes up.

Can you handle both homes if they are in different DFW cities?

Yes, within the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I handle both transactions, on one calendar.

Letting go of the house where your kids grew up is not losing something. It is using what you built to live more comfortably in this stage. With clear numbers and dates, it stops being a leap and becomes a plan.

What weighs on you most about the house you live in today?

Text or email me your address and what you want in the next home, and I will tell you what your sell-and-buy plan would look like. No commitment, nothing to sign.

I am Veronica Yeary, a REALTOR in Dallas-Fort Worth, CRS, ABR, SRS and CIPS, in real estate since 2010. I sell your home and find the next one with a single plan, with me, start to finish.

469-441-8890 · Text or call · veronica@veronicayeary.com · Email