Stay, move, or use your equity?
A plain-English decision guide for people who have owned their home a long time — and are starting to wonder what comes next.
Written by Amanda LaRussa · Mortgage advisor, San Diego
If any of these sound familiar, this guide is for you.
- “We do not need this much house anymore.”
- “Our property taxes are so low.”
- “But where would we go?”
- “We have a lot of equity, but retirement still feels tighter than I expected.”
You do not need the answer yet. You just need to understand your options. Loving your home and your home still fitting your life are not always the same thing.
What is inside
Six questions, worked through one at a time. No pressure to decide anything.
- 1Does your home still fit your life? The stairs, the yard, the upkeep, the rooms nobody uses any more.
- 2What does staying really cost? Taxes, insurance, the roof, the HVAC, and the help you may want later.
- 3Would moving actually save money? Smaller is not automatically cheaper. Compare the real move, not an imagined one.
- 4What if you want to move? Including what Proposition 19 may mean for your low property-tax base.
- 5What could your equity make possible? Repairs, paying off a mortgage, or simply keeping more cash available.
- 6What about a reverse mortgage? How it actually works, and how to tell whether it fits your situation.
The checklist inside the guide
Tick the ones that sound like you. Three or more, and it is probably worth a conversation.
- We have owned our home many years and built substantial equity.
- We love the home, but we wonder whether it still fits our life.
- Maintenance, the yard, or the stairs are becoming a concern.
- Our home is valuable, but the monthly budget still feels tight.
- We still have a mortgage payment.
- We have thought about moving, but do not know if the numbers work.
Send me the guide.
Tell me where to send it and it will be in your inbox in a minute or two.
- No cost, and nothing to buy.
- Educational only — it does not push you toward any one answer.
- If you would rather just talk, say so on the form and I will call you.
Your information stays with me. No spam, and you can tell me to stop at any time.
I work with San Diego homeowners in their sixties and seventies who have decades of equity and a decision in front of them. Most people I talk to are not ready to do anything yet — they just want to understand what the options actually are before someone tries to sell them one.
That is what this guide is for. If you read it and want to talk through your own numbers, I am happy to. If you read it and decide to stay put, that is a perfectly good outcome too.
You do not have to figure this out alone.
You do not need to know which option you want before you reach out. You may simply be at the point where it makes sense to understand what each one looks like.
Send me the guide Or call Amanda directly — (619) 586-6196