Many people have a vision of their ideal retirement. The Truehold team talked to Dan, a Truehold resident in St. Louis, who used a sale-leaseback to fund his and his wife’s dream retirement.
Dan and his wife are finally empty nesters, with only their dog Gracie left at home. With newfound free time, they garden, golf, and even go on cruises. “One of the benefits of getting old, when you get to a certain point, you can do those things.”
Most of all, they love having their five kids and eight grandkids back to the house for family parties. As their family grows, however, these gatherings are feeling more and more crowded. Their home is in a subdivision, so their pool and deck “pretty much eats up the backyard.”
After 34 years of marriage, the couple’s vision for retirement is clear in their minds—they’re going to build a retirement home, a “forever home,” with plenty of space to host their whole family. “It’s gonna be a two bedroom, two bath, ranch style home. We gotta have a big porch because we like sitting outside. We want the ground for the kids and grandkids to come and goof off on and have family get-togethers.”
To actually make their retirement dream come true, Dan knew he had to plan carefully. He was realistic about the challenge of building a new home: “I know everybody says it’s a nerve racking thing.”
When they heard about Truehold, they knew it was a great option to ease their building process. “Our goal was to sell this house and use part of the equity to help us find between one and five acres and then put a house on it. While it is being built, we’ll rent from you guys and then go from there.”
They considered selling their house through the traditional route, but “then you’ve got to go and find a place to stay while your house is being built and all that. With us being able to…just stay without having to worry about moving, multiple times, and finding some place…It just fit our needs really well.” The task of selecting a contractor and finding the ideal plot of land is taking more time than they anticipated. Meanwhile, they're appreciating the ability to remain in their existing home for the duration of the construction period.
Dan found the process to be “really, really smooth. Overall it’s been a really great experience. The people have all been professional and really polite.”
Since closing, they have their home equity available as cash to fund the construction project. “With the equity, that’s a big plus, it helps us get started, having more money to put down and do what we needed to do…It fit the best for what we needed.”
"Overall it’s been a really great experience. The people have all been professional and really polite.”
Now, the couple is relishing in the anticipation of living in their “forever home.”
“The biggest thing is the excitement of being able to draw up house plans and seeing our overall goal and dream come true and come to fruition. Being able to design it, picking out colors, picking out everything that you’re gonna have in it and finally getting it started and coming to the finish point; when it finally happens it’s gonna be a really good thing.”
Are you looking for a way to fund your ideal retirement? Truehold can help you unlock your hard-earned savings and enjoy your retirement years without financial stress.
This story is based on an interview conducted between the customer and a member of the Truehold team. All quotes are from the customer, with some words cut for length and clarity. The customer may have received compensation for their time.
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