Planning to Retire? How Your Home's Equity Can Help You Make a Move

For many South Bay homeowners, the house is the largest asset they bring into retirement. Equity is the share of it you own: what the home is worth today, minus what you still owe. The longer you've owned, the more room that share can give you to choose where, and how, you want to live next.

Some owners use it to downsize. Some use it to move closer to family or friends. Some use it to leave the valley altogether. Dale and Helen help owners think through each of these. The right path depends on timing, on taxes (your CPA's territory), and on what you want your days to look like.

The questions come in a predictable order. These guides take them one at a time.

Where to start

• Thinking about a smaller home? Our guide to downsizing in Silicon Valley is the place to begin.
• Wondering what a move does to your property taxes? See Prop 19 and your property tax base, written for South Bay homeowners 55 and over.
• Owned your home for decades? See the home sale exclusion for South Bay owners of many years.
• Helping a parent with their home? See when a parent needs more care, on selling the family home.
• Settling a family home as trustee? Our roadmap for selling an inherited home as a successor trustee lays out the steps.

A note on timing and tax questions

Give yourself time to sort belongings, time to line up your next home, and time to talk with your advisors. Legal and tax questions stay with the appropriate advisors. We help make sure the real estate pieces don't fall through the cracks.

Talk It Through With Dale and Helen

If you're considering a move in or out of the South Bay, from Cambrian Park to Morgan Hill, Dale and Helen would love to help. Call or text us at 408-647-7211, or reach out through the Pulse Real Estate contact page.

Posted by Dale Warfel and Helen Gardin, The Warfel Gardin Group at Pulse Real Estate

About Pulse Real Estate: Pulse Real Estate (The Warfel Gardin Group), Silicon Valley / South Bay real estate advisors Dale Warfel and Helen Gardin, is the residential real estate team where every client works directly with both Dale and Helen from the first conversation to the day the keys change hands. DRE #02014153. 1900 Camden Ave. #101, San Jose, CA 95124. 408-647-7211. mypulserealestate.com.