Mark Reifsnyder | Mortgage Lender

It’s hard to miss the news about the intensity of the current real estate market. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. After skimming a few articles, reading the headlines, and watching listings come and go so quickly, it’s no surprise that the idea of selling your home and buying another might seem more than daunting. It doesn’t need to be like this…at least, not for everyone.

The home buying segment that gets all the attention is the Millennial group. There are several descriptors that define this group, but simply put, anyone born between 1982 and 2004 is considered a Millennial. Once we get past the so-called stigma that finds itself in the headlines, we quickly realize this is a large people group.

But what about the rest of us? What about Gen X? Or the Boomers? Or what about the Silent Generation? These groups get less and less attention, specifically the Boomers. Baby Boomers are considered to be anyone born between 1946-1965, that is, anyone currently between the ages of 52-71. Technically, it’s around 76 million people.

Think about that for a minute. Which group is going through multiple life events in a short period of time? Right now, Boomers would typically be facing any of the following events in the next 1-5 years:

•  Beginning an encore career
• Onset of college expenses going away post-graduation
• Early retirement / delayed retirement
• Exercising investment options
• Drawing / delaying social security benefits
• Inheriting a home
• Loss of a spouse
• Downsizing
• Significant medical expenses
• Divorce
• Opening a business / closing a business
• Relocation
• Live-in parents
• Live-in children
• Purchasing a vacation home

These all have a few things in common. Each of these events can be almost impossible to pinpoint when they may occur. Trying to time any market is very difficult. Additionally, engaging a mortgage as a means of addressing any of these events is not considered often enough. A mortgage is commonly viewed as a loan to buy a home and nothing more. However, it can be so much more than that.

A mortgage is only one component of your overall life strategy going forward. Given sufficient equity and credit and the ability to repay, the proper type of loan can help put you back in the driver’s seat and allow you to operate on YOUR timeline, not that of a particular market.

You may simply be looking to downsize, but you see the lack of homes to consider while hearing about how fast everything is selling. You quickly realize that your home might sell far sooner than you can find an adequate home to move to. Furthermore, by having flexibility, you could beat out the competition of other homebuyers. The Millennial sector has adapted quickly and has become very aggressive with home ownership. You may consider renting in between buying and selling, but discover that rentals are just as scarce and sometimes costlier than your current mortgage.

Being prepared to act fast is one thing, but doing so and making a decision against what your gut tells you is another. So what happens? Nothing. You stay put and wait until another trigger pushes you to reconsider. When clients realize the value of the equity in their current home, it allows them to proceed at their own pace—and I’m not talking just monetary value. I’m speaking to the value of options. The value of time. And the value of control.

If you are approaching large decisions and you’re feeling pressure to act sooner than you’d prefer, a professional, local mortgage banker might be able to unlock options that you may not have known were available. A healthy face-to-face meeting can be the beginning of the next chapter!

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