Baby boomers are the first generation in the last 100 years who have experienced the wild swings in the real estate market. I’m a baby boomer, and in a quarter of 100 years selling real estate in Maine. I’ve seen interest rates go from 21% to 3.5% for a 30-year loan. A new 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch in the Lakes Region area, go from $69,900 to $169,900. Now it’s time to make that shift for the next phase of life, whether it be downsizing or buying a vacation home for the whole family that you will retire to, or not wanting to deal with the maintenance of a home and buying a condo.
One of the most difficult things I encountered as a real estate agent is to go to someone’s home to do a market analysis; one of the spouses has had a heart attack, is in ICU for weeks then passes away, leaving the surviving spouse with hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital bills with no means to pay them. Your older years should not look like this.
Baby boomers should seek the help of an Elder Attorney for their real estate, life insurance and will preparations. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my children to have to deal with this if something happens along the way. I didn’t fall into the category of having little fear of mortgage debt, like 1/6 of baby boomers. I am more like my parents with a lot of old fashioned values.