A lot of people dream about moving home once they get older. Some want to be closer to their grandchildren, others want to be somewhere hot in a retirement community. Whatever the reason is why you may want to move once you are retired, a considerable problem can be the fact that moving home is expensive, and you need your retirement money to enjoy retiring.
Why Moving Home Is Expensive
Let’s presume you own your own home and have no mortgage on it. If you want to move, it will still mean having to go through the entire process of selling it and finding a new home. This comes with listing fees, valuation fees, property fees, taxes, and more. Even if you rent your home, however, there are costs involved with moving. You will need to pay a deposit, usually have to pay a few months’ rent up front, pay for credit searches, and more.
Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done about these costs. And, unfortunately, there are other costs that you have to deal with as well. When you cancel your utilities, for instance, you will often have to pay a final bill. Then you have to start your new utilities elsewhere, which are often set slightly higher than what you are used to. Again, there is little that can be done about this.
At this point, things may start to look bleak, particularly when you consider that there is yet another cost that you have to think about, and that is the cost of the physical move. You will need packaging materials, you have to hire Washington DC movers, you may need some new furniture, you have to decorate your new property, and the garden may need doing. However, this is also the point where you can make savings.
How to Make Savings
First of all, as stated, there is little you can do about the cost of buying or renting a home, and very little you can do about the cost of utilities, although it does pay to compare the market. There is something you can do about the cost of the physical move, however. The most important thing is that you research your options.
There are many moving companies to choose from, each of which offers different services. Take your time to compare the market and figure out which one most closely meets your particular needs. Plus, since you are retired, you may be able to negotiate a discount as well.
You can save costs in areas such as getting your own packaging materials and your own insurance as well. The more you can do yourself, the less it will cost you. Since you are elderly, you may be somewhat limited in terms of how much physical things you can actually do.
However, you should feel free to ask your family and community members for help. They will probably be more than happy to give you a hand where they can, which again enables you to save money overall.
Moving is possible, even when you have retired, by simply taking your time to find the best deals.