In Part 1, host Kirsten Howe and real estate agent Nathan Jines of Jines Real Estate Group talked about why more people 55 and up are choosing to relocate — and how to make that choice on your own terms. Now, in Part 2, they get into the how. Nathan’s first piece of advice flips conventional wisdom on its head: if you’re financially able, buy your next home first, start living your new life, and let a full-service team handle the sale behind you — decluttering, staging, repairs, negotiations, all of it, even from across the country. He shares how bridge lenders make buying first possible, why his East Coast clients never have to come back, and the lesson his own parents learned on their way to a happy new life in Portugal.
Kirsten and Nathan also explore what buyers in this stage of life are really looking for — community and connection first — including the story of clients who traded a 2,500-square-foot Oakland home for a 1,000-square-foot condo on Yerba Buena Island and gained the city lifestyle they’d been dreaming of. The through line: your health and peace of mind matter more than any house sale.
If you missed Part 1, start with Episode 207 — then come back for the practical playbook.
Time-stamped Show Notes:
0:00 Introduction
0:40 To kick things off, Kirsten asks the big logistical question: if you own a house and want to buy another, what comes first?
1:05 Nathan’s answer flips conventional wisdom: if you’re financially able, purchasing first and knowing where you’re going is exponentially better than selling first and moving twice.
1:40 A lesson from Nathan’s own family — his parents moved into an Airbnb first, and his stepdad later admitted he wouldn’t have tried to sell their belongings; he would have just donated them. Today, they’re happily settled in Portugal.
2:30 Did you know? Bridge lenders can use your current property as collateral to help you move into your next place.
3:00 Selling completely remotely — Nathan’s clients move to the East Coast and never come back. His team handles clearing out the house, staging prep, painting, landscaping, and inspections, while sellers review contracts, sign documents, and make decisions from anywhere.
4:10 Kirsten’s takeaway: as the seller, you don’t have to stick around if it doesn’t work for you.
4:40 Why moving first makes the new life real: when you’re spending time with the grandkids or relaxing by your new pool, you’re not thinking about that old couch you’ve had for 30 years.
6:40 Some clients want to be hands-on with the decluttering, and the timeline is theirs, even if it takes six months to empty every closet.
7:15 Nathan’s guiding principle: the mental and physical health of the person matters more than any house sale.
7:50 The emotional side of leaving — for some, not being there to watch the furniture leave a 30-year home is much better emotionally.
9:30 Next, Kirsten and Nathan discuss trends in what 55-plus buyers are looking for—number one: people need relationships and community, whatever that looks like for them.
10:15 From 2,500 square feet to 1,000, one of Nathan’s clients traded a Redwood Heights home full of wonderful things for a brand-new Yerba Buena Island condo with no garage, and got the San Francisco city lifestyle they wanted in their 60s.
11:30 “Lighten your life” — Kirsten’s word for the trend: get rid of things, get rid of obligations, and free yourself from the need to repair the roof while still owning your own place.
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.
Oh, 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.
The order of events is maybe something for people to think about, because you own a house, and now you want to buy a house. What’s your advice about that?
If you have the ability, purchasing first and knowing where you’re going is exponentially better than trying to sell your house and move twice. I’ve done that before — my own parents moved into an Airbnb. I told them it would be better if they moved first, but they’re my own parents; I can’t tell them what to do. Afterward, my stepdad said to me, “If I could go back and do it over again, number one, I would not have tried to sell the stuff. I would have just donated it.” But now they’re in Portugal, and they’re very happy. I would say step one is to identify where you’re going, if you have the ability to do so.
Financially, yes.
Yes — then purchasing first. And there are ways of doing that as well. There are bridge lenders — we have lenders who will collateralize the value of a property in order to help you get into the next place. Once you’re there, it’s a whole lot less stressful for you, because our team can do almost everything. In fact, we can do everything completely remotely. I have clients who move to the East Coast, and after they leave, I don’t see them again. We might have a house where things need to be removed, and then the staging prep, painting, landscaping — whatever items need to be done — and inspections. We handle all of that. Then I just connect with them remotely, and they can review contracts, sign documents, make decisions, and see the house when it’s on the market. We go through the negotiation process, and then they receive the money once it’s done.
In your trust account that you made for them. Better, if possible — financially and otherwise — to find that new place, actually go there and live there, and let Nathan take care of all the details back home. You have the team who can get everything done. In other words, as the homeowner, as the seller, you don’t have to stick around if it doesn’t work for you.
That’s right.
Now, what I wanted to say, Nathan, in response to your point about buying that new place and going there if you can, and then selling the old place: it occurred to me that you’re making this move because you want to, and you have a different life in mind for yourself, whatever that means. I think that by actually moving there, it gets you even more excited. It’s actually real.
That’s right. It’s real. If you’re making that move because you want to be near your children or your grandkids, and you’re getting to spend time with them, you’re not thinking about that old couch you’ve had for 30 years when you’re focused on your new, exciting life. Or if you’re relaxing in the desert in Southern California — there are plenty of people moving down to the desert to live that life and relax in their new pool — again, they’re not having to think about that old couch and the stress of the selling part. You can leave that to our team while you’re enjoying the whole reason you moved in the first place.
Yes. I also think having something very real and concrete to look forward to is always a good thing in life, and it makes the harder things a little bit easier. For me personally — I’m just saying — if I have a trip to visit my grandchildren on the calendar, I don’t mind working extra hours quite so much. Get that new place, see it, live in it, and know that you’re just about to make your next phase real. That is the better way to go, if you can.
It helps you realize, “This is the reason I’m doing this. This is why I’m going through the process of a transition — because I’m able to get into a new lifestyle in this new phase of life.” It’s great to be able to go, be there, enjoy it, and live there. It helps reduce the stress of moving tremendously.
Yes. That’s good. Thank you.
We work with everybody at the level of involvement they want. Some people have their family nearby, and they want to be involved in the decluttering and the process — and that’s okay. We give them the assistance they need that fits them.
Right. And the timeline is theirs. If it’s going to take six months to empty every closet, the basement, and the attic, so be it.
I always go back to this: it’s the mental and physical health of the person that’s more important than any house sale. It really is. It’s their personal health. If they can be healthy in the process and enjoy it as much as possible, that just makes everything better.
That’s a very good comment. And what I was going to say is, I have to imagine that for some people — not everyone, but for some — being away from the physical manifestation of the departure might be much better emotionally. Seeing your furniture taken out of a home you’ve lived in for 30 years is something you might rather not be around to see.
It’s true. It’s true. Yes.
I’m going to say this here — I said it to you earlier, but I want to say it again because it just hit me. It’s fascinating to me that we’re talking about something very practical, pragmatic, and hands-on. I’m sure you have a zillion checklists and a “this is how we get things done” approach. But when I ask you a question about getting something done, the first thing you focus on is, “First, let’s think about what’s really right for the client and make sure they’re okay.” I hear you telling stories about, “No, we’re not going to sell your house now.” I just admire that about you — you’re so client-focused. And for anybody who doesn’t know this about Nathan: he was a pastor for many, many years, and you can see that in his demeanor and in how he handles his client situations.
Thank you, Kirsten.
You are welcome. I did want to focus a little bit on the other end now — not leaving the house, but finding the new place. Do you see trends in this age group in terms of what people are looking for?
Great question. I think every situation, every person, is different. But number one: people need relationships, and people need community — whatever that looks like for that individual. Some people want to move into a condo complex — getting to know a few of your neighbors and simplifying your life, because you want to be more mobile and you don’t want to focus on having to maintain a house. Your lifestyle is more about travel. Or you really want to stay in the Bay Area, but you want to visit your grandkids more often, and you want to feel more mobile and able to do that.
There are folks like my clients who moved from Redwood Heights in Oakland to Yerba Buena Island. They had an amazing house, and it was full of all these wonderful things, and they just decided they wanted to simplify. They downsized and got rid of everything. They went from, I think, a 2,500-square-foot place to 1,000 square feet — and without a garage.
Without a garage!
Yes. But for them, their lifestyle is, “In our 60s, we want to be going down to San Francisco. We want to have this city lifestyle.” They have a cute little dog that’s about five pounds — I think it’s a Shih Tzu. And he’s a retired firefighter who is still teaching some classes, so he needs to get to the East Bay. Their new lifestyle fit very well with this downsize into a basically brand-new development, built within the last couple of years, where they will not need to do anything. They went from needing to maintain an older home — thinking about the roof and all of those things — to not needing to think about anything at all, except: Where are we going to travel? Where are we going to visit? What new places are we going to eat at in downtown San Francisco? That’s the lifestyle that was right for them. I do see a trend of folks moving for that reason.
Maybe I’m just going to use the word “lighten.” Lighten their life — get rid of things, get rid of obligations. To me, that sounds attractive, having been a homeowner for a long time. You can still own your place and not be responsible for repairing the roof. You can free yourself from that kind of thing. I’ve seen those developments on Yerba Buena. They’re beautiful. And oh my gosh, the views — I can’t even imagine what it’s like inside those units. It’s just beautiful over there.
They are. They’re gorgeous. They’re state of the art.
Well, there’s that, too. Although it sounds like there’s not much storage space, so you have no choice but to keep things light and flexible.
Spartan. Keeping it Spartan.
There’s something to be said for that, for sure. Nathan, I want to thank you so much for being here and sharing your vast experience with us. It was really fun for me, and I learned a lot. You made me think about some things I hadn’t thought about. Thank you so much.
Well, thank you, Kirsten. And thank you for helping so many people with their estate planning needs — our mutual clients. Thank you for everything that you and your firm do. You’re amazing.
Thank you for that. That’s very kind. My guest today has been Nathan Jines, a fabulous realtor in the East Bay area, working with clients of all ages — but he does like to work with seniors. And by seniors, I mean 55 and up. I think that number keeps getting lower. I’m going to be a senior really soon.
Yeah, you are.
Okay. Thank you, Nathan. And thank you all for listening and watching, if you were watching. We look forward to connecting with you next time.
Resources Related to This Episode:
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- 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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