When most of us picture an older adult moving out of a long-time home, we imagine a crisis — declining health, a loss of independence, a move someone else decided was necessary. This episode is about the opposite. Host Kirsten Howe welcomes back real estate agent Nathan Jines of Jines Real Estate Group to talk about homeowners 55 and up who are choosing to relocate — not because they have to, but because they want to. Nathan explains why this is his favorite group to work with, and why the most important question isn’t “where should I go?” but “what do I want this next phase of my life to look like?” Whether the answer is a view, a 1930s Mediterranean in Berkeley, or simply being closer to the grandkids, the move finally gets to be about you. Kirsten also flags the good half of Prop 19 — the chance for California homeowners to take their property tax base with them when they move.
If you or someone you love is starting to think about a move later in life, on your own terms, this conversation is for you.
Time-stamped Show Notes:
0:00 Introduction
0:40 Kirsten frames today’s topic — relocating by choice, not out of necessity. This isn’t about people moving into assisted living or a child’s home for care; that’s a different conversation for another day.
1:45 Who this episode is for — people 55 and up with good health who want a change.
2:50 The good half of Prop 19 — in California, relocating can let you take your property tax base with you, which gives real freedom to people in this stage of life.
3:25 Why 55-plus is Nathan’s favorite group to work with — at this stage, you don’t have to move; you GET to, and the goal is to design the lifestyle you want for the next phase.
4:30 The most important first question isn’t where to go — it’s what you want your next phase to look like and what excites you.
6:10 Moving to be near the grandkids — and the Texas “barndominium” one couple built after traveling out several times, buying land, and creating a home with all the features of a house that still qualifies as a barn.
8:15 Only move because it excites you — you no longer have to relocate for a job, a new baby, or the schools. The decision finally gets to be about the life you want.
9:05 Listen for more details about how Nathan takes the pressure off a big, stressful move — his goal is to help clients explore what’s right for them at their own pace.
10:00 Try before you buy — connect with a local agent and rent an Airbnb to “try on” a location, even one nearby. He shares a Berkeley client weighing city life in Rockridge against suburban Lafayette.
11:10 Don’t forget the commute — Nathan shares a story about a client who moved to San Jose just as his company called everyone back to the office, and grew tired of the hour-and-a-half drive.
12:05 Next, Kirsten and Nathan discuss the most daunting part — getting out of a home full of belongings, and why you don’t have to do it alone.
Get in touch with Nathan!
Nathan Jines
Jines Real Estate Group
https://jinesre.com/
nathan@jinesre.com
(510) 220-4714
Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Absolute Trust Talk. I’m Kirsten Howe, the host of this episode, and I’m here with Nathan Jines of Jines Real Estate Group. My regular listeners will remember Nathan, because he’s been on the show before — but I wanted to have him back. And, by the way, welcome, Nathan.
Thanks for having me, Kirsten.
You’re so welcome. I wanted to have him back because I want to focus more specifically on seniors who are selling their homes and moving somewhere else — whether it’s purely downsizing, wanting to live in a different climate, or wanting to live near grandchildren. There are a lot of different reasons people relocate as they age, and I just want to talk to Nathan about his experiences with that particular slice of his clients.
Nathan, today we’re talking about people who are relocating out of a home they’ve owned for many years because they want to. In this episode, we’re not talking about people who need to move because they can no longer take care of themselves — people who need to move into assisted living, or into a child’s home so the child can care for them. That’s a different conversation, and maybe you and I will have that one another time. Today, we’re talking about people who get to choose, and who are choosing to move.
Yes, there are absolutely different considerations for people who need to move for medical reasons than for those who are able to move because they’re stepping into an exciting new phase of their life.
Right. And at some point in the future, we probably will do an episode about that other group. But just for clarity, we’re talking about people 55 and up. You could be 75 and still fall into this category — your health is good and you want to make a change, you want to move on to a different kind of life. Or you could be 55 with severe health problems and belong in the other category. So today, our topic is people who are choosing to relocate later in life. And if it ends up being in California, you have the opportunity to move your tax base, which is a big deal — it gives real freedom to people in that category.
That’s the good half of Prop 19. We like that half of Prop 19.
And that’s not the one I talk to people about quite as much. I usually talk about the bad half of Prop 19, but you get to talk about the good half — so thank you for that.
Now, Nathan — again, Jines Real Estate Group — is a fantastic real estate agent. I’ve worked with his clients, and boy, do they love him. You’re going to see why, if you haven’t already. Nathan, let’s talk about people who are looking for something else, whether it’s because the house is too big or they want to move near grandchildren. They’re not moving into assisted living or independent living — they want to buy something else. What should they be thinking about in terms of what they’re looking for?
Thanks, Kirsten. This is my favorite group of people to work with. The cool thing about being 55-plus is that you don’t have to move if you don’t want to. You move because you want to, and you’re moving because it’s going to create a lifestyle where you can enjoy the next phase of your life. That’s exciting. First-time homebuyers are just trying to scrape into our Bay Area to make it work; or you’ve just had a baby and need more space, or you have to think about the schools. But the exciting thing about 55-plus is that you have options now. Maybe your kids are grown, maybe you’ve got grandkids — and now it’s about making a choice for something that’s going to help you enjoy your life, not just making it better for your kids. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. We’ve all done it.
Absolutely.
I think the first question a person needs to ask is: what do they want their life to be like? What do they want the next phase of their life to look like? What excites them? This can mean all kinds of things to all kinds of people. Some folks just like to be in their house — maybe they call themselves a homebody, and they love spending time at home. They might like to enjoy views, so they want a place with a view, somewhere they can walk a couple of blocks around where they live. That’s what excites them. For others, it’s architecture — I have plenty of clients who are enjoying the architectural beauty of a Mediterranean or Tudor-style home built in the 1930s in Berkeley. They love the architecture, they love the views, they love the lifestyle that house affords them. For others, the motivation is, “I want to be near my grandkids. I want to spend time with them. I want to see them every day.” For them, what they’re looking for is proximity to their grandkids.
I was just telling you earlier about a client who moved to Texas to be near their kids. I referred them to a broker out in Texas who specialized in the area they were thinking about moving to. They were able to travel out there a few different times and get a sense of what it would be like to be next to their kids and grandkids. They ended up buying a large piece of land with a house on it, and they built a “barndominium” — which I didn’t even know existed.
It’s a thing in Texas. They convert a barn into a living space?
In this case, they built it as a barn. Here we’d call it an ADU, but they’re so big — it’s like another house.
Because they get more space.
Right. It qualifies as a barn, but it has all the features of a home: a kitchen and everything else.
That’s interesting — that might be a zoning thing, too.
Most definitely. If you call it a barn, you can do it.
Yes, it definitely was that. For the person who’s 55-plus, it’s about beginning to think about what they want the next phase of their life to look like and what gets them excited. You don’t have to move anymore because you had one more kid. You don’t have to move for any of those reasons. You should only move because that next phase of your life — and the lifestyle change it will afford you — is exciting to you.
Sure. Let’s focus for a minute on that example of moving far away. These people moved from California to Texas. That sounds stressful — that sounds like a big project. How do you make that easier for your clients?
Thanks for asking, Kirsten. It starts with understanding that I don’t come in as an advisor to add stress to your life because of something that has to happen. I enjoy meeting with folks and helping them explore what’s right for them, without the pressure of needing to make a decision right away — because it’s a huge decision. Sometimes people come to me after they’ve already gone a distance in that decision, and sometimes they’re just beginning to think about it. But being able to go and visit where they’re thinking about moving — and to get connected with a professional there, if they choose, within the Keller Williams network, because it’s a large one — and just begin to look at a few different homes in that location, can at least get them thinking about what life would be like there. If they’re open to it, I always recommend it: go and rent an Airbnb wherever you’re thinking about moving, even if it’s local.
I told this to somebody a couple of days ago. I said, “I know you live in Berkeley, but think about renting an Airbnb” — because they were torn. Did they want more of a city lifestyle, more like Rockridge, near the shops? Or — they still have young kids — did they want to be in Lafayette and have a bit more of a suburban lifestyle, where most of the enjoyment is on the property? Even staying in a place for a little while can help you.
Right. Test it out, and pretend you live there already.
Exactly. And if you’re still working, it’s about asking, “What’s my commute going to be like?” I had someone who just moved to San Jose from Berkeley. He’s still working, and they’re calling everyone back into the office at his job at a very prominent technology company — and he’s tired of making that hour-and-a-half drive. The lifestyle that moving down to San Jose affords him is being closer.
Closer. Okay. So, for people who have made the decision — “we are going to move now” — what advice would you have, not focused on where they’re going, but on how they’re going to get out of this place? That, to me, feels like the most daunting part.
Yes, it is. But thankfully, you don’t have to do it alone. Some folks want to, but a lot of times your kids — if you have adult children — might be busy and not necessarily able to help empty out your house. Maybe you’re blessed and they do. Either way, we have all kinds of specialists. There are haulers who come in like an army and pack up everything you want packed up, then take it wherever it needs to go — to be donated, put in storage, or put in a pod, whatever you want to do. And then someone who’s a little further along in life might just need one person to come and help them slowly and methodically go through their things, helping them decide what to keep and what to donate. I have widows I work with who are like this, and I have a great lady on my team named Allison. She’ll go and just sit with them, help them go through things, and help them get through the process of decluttering and deciding what to keep and what not to keep. We also have a moving truck that our company owns. We can park it out front, they can fill it up, and we can drive it out — or they can. We can rent it to them, and they can use it to move things around and get them where they need to go.
Resources Related to This Episode:
- A Will is Not Enough – Securing Your Legacy with Estate Planning Life can change in an instant. A will is not enough to be prepared. Get free access to our actionable E-book Guidebook #1 and start protecting your legacy today. https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/guidebooks/
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- We’re pleased to provide a library of e-books to address common estate planning questions and concerns in practical, easy-to-understand language. https://AbsoluteTrustCounsel.com/Resources/.
- ASK KIRSTEN: If you’d like Kirsten to answer your question on the air, please email her at Info@AbsoluteTrustCounsel.com.
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