Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 6 | Page 18
course like having to manage your tenants, having
to pay to maintain multiple properties, and the
possibility of a downturn in values or damage,
respectively. One thought in the area of second
properties relates to large beach homes or estate
homes where you have a goal that it not be sold for
as long as possible. Large estate and beach homes
will come with maintenance, sometimes unique
forms of maintenance that can get expensive, or
complex depending on the property. Very old homes
for example may not just have the usual updates
from time to time but specific methods of keeping
them updated to maintain their historic
requirements or value.
Maintenance – Again staying with this concept of
how to treat one’s real estate over time given the
maintenance costs that will come up it’s important
to have the end in mind when choosing to upgrade a
residence’s kitchen or bathrooms or other projects.
Is this the best use of our liquid cash? Are we going
to see a return on this investment when we go to
sell? Have we been told by a trusted real estate
agent that this work really needs to be done to get
the property sold down the road? Will we enjoy this
upgrade for 5 years, 10 years, or 20 or more years?
Is this upgrade making the property more or less
convenient to live in as we age? Could we get by
without doing the work and not get on each other’s
nerves as a family? Would it be better perhaps to
do as little as possible work on the house just to keep
it sellable and safe but set this money aside to fix up
the house we really want to move to when we
retire?
Regardless of your circumstances if you find
yourself in a position to be the owner of real estate
as you approach the rest of your life consider
yourself fortunate. If nothing else by going through
some of the topics outlined above it is clear you have
positive options to assess. The key is thinking as
far ahead as possible and keeping in touch with
the opinions of those you trust.
Brian Kuhn CFP® is a financial planner with PSG
Clarity – A Division of Planning Solutions Group. He
is located in Maple Lawn MD in Howard County and
accepts clients throughout the Maryland and DC
area. Click on www.psgclarity.com for more
information or call 301-543-6035.
Securities offered through Triad Advisors, Member
FINRA / SIPC. Advisory Services offered through
Planning Solutions Group, LLC. Planning Solutions
Group, LLC is not affiliated with Triad Advisors.
PSG Clarity is a division of Planning Solutions
Group, LLC. For more information visit
www.psgclarity.com or call 301-543-6035
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