Zipcode or county is not really a move per se. New Mexico for example has some of the best Ryan White act benefits. Managing MAGI for ACA subsidies a must in your situation.Thank you.As a gay couple ourselves, we immensely empathize with the uncertainty you are grappling with right now.Unfortunately, it does not really work that way.Selling the home and moving to a smaller place in the same general area - by ordinary folks standards your downsized home would still be way above average - this is the easiest way to secure both your futures. Especially if staying in the area for family, and keeping a low stress job for the partner are key. Of course this change is permanent.
I did the math above for a 2700 sq ft home in my zip code, and financially it really didn't make much sense, only saving $5k - $10k a year, without adding anything to the portfolio - actually, subtracting from it.
Our home is valued at $430/sq ft on Zillow. MLS listing shows an average of $777/sq ft in the same zip code. That's tough to overcome when downsizing, even if staying in the same area.
In the entire county of Santa Clara, the average is $1004/sq ft for single family on MLS. The cheapest SFH property is $535,000 for 700 sq ft, about 1/6th the size of our home for 1/4 of the price. That's $764/sq ft, and way too small.
I think moving locally for expense reduction a tough sale given that our house has a much lower price per sq ft than the average. It does not add up unless also moving out of the area.
A much better reason to move IMO is a place that is more accessible in terms of transit if and when I can no longer drive, and/or closer to medical facilities like Kaiser. That is more expensive, though, not an expense reduction. We could be talking about $1100/sq ft in Santa Clara in this case, so that would involve downsizing of at least 2.5 - 3x factor, possibly more.And where would that mythical comparable and cheaper location be ?Another option is to recreate the same lifestyle in a cheaper location abroad or in the US.
If we chose to stay in the US, we would probably still stay in California due to OA-HIPP. Moving to another state without this program could add thousands of dollars a year, if not tens of thousands, in medical premiums and OOP, nullifying cost savings in other categories such as housing.
Southern France has comparable weather, but doesn't really have a lower cost of housing overall. Pretty similar price per sq ft on average vs our current home.
Thailand is nice, and does have lower home prices, except for Bangkok.
You always come back to the anchored sentiment on why something is not possible. Looking from outside, with your amount of money there are zillion solutions. But you are anchored to making it work as it used to work when you were working. Reality has changed So must you. What does change look like to you. Answer that please. May be get some professional help.
Statistics: Posted by kd2008 — Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:44 pm