On the Housing screen you enter information about your primary residence and (optionally) a vacation home. Any other properties, such as rental or commercial properties, should be added on the Real Estate screen.
Key Concepts:
- The State you enter for your primary residence is used for calculating state taxes.
- Any equity in the homes remaining at the end of the plan will be used for bequest. Learn more
- You can enter up to two future changes in home each for the primary and vacation homes if you plan to move. Learn more
Common Pitfalls:
- Entering real appreciation that includes inflation: The "real appreciation rate" field expects you to enter the appreciation rate over and above inflation. So if you are assuming 2.5% inflation in the Settings area, and you enter 3% as the real appreciation rate, you are assuming a 5.5% nominal appreciation rate each year. Although the market value of your home might rise 5.5% or more in some given year, it’s an aggressive annual growth rate for the duration of the plan. Sources indicate that 1% real appreciation is the national average. If you expect your rent or the value of your home to merely go up at the same rate as inflation each year, enter 0% real appreciation.
- Not entering a percent down payment: When setting up a change of home, be sure to enter a Percent Down Payment in all cases. If you expect to have a mortgage, the down payment on that mortgage should be included. If you don’t expect a mortgage on the new home, you should indicate a 100% down payment to represent a cash purchase with regular assets and/or the proceeds from the sale of the existing home.