Seniors put on hold as they try to sell their homes, or cash out their equity

In March 2009, Frank Mumenthal toured his Elk Grove Village home after adding a fresh coat of neutral-colored paint, new carpeting and other changes. He was ready to sell.

Since 1976, this had been where he raised two daughters and a son, now grown and living in Schaumburg, Lombard and Grayslake. The children and grandchildren have played in these rooms.

In the master bedroom, he took care of his wife until she died from ovarian and breast cancer. In the kitchen, he saw the cabinets he installed. And on the table, he grinned at the elegant china he bought in 1950 while serving in the Army infantry, Second Division.

A sergeant, he was in Toyko at that time, and he bought and shipped the dishes as a gift to his then-fiancee, Mary, who was waiting for him in Chicago. More than a half-century later, those place settings still shimmered.

Instead of using them for company, they were now part of a home staging by a real estate agent.

At 80, Mumenthal wanted to downsize.

"It's just time to move," he said.

Mumenthal is part of the so-called Greatest Generation, those who have survived some of the toughest times in history, including the Great Depression. Many of these older Americans want to move on to the next chapter in their lives, whether that's downsizing to a condo, moving to assisted living or just living with someone.

But the new economy has complicated their plans.

The Daily Herald tracked Mumenthal and about a half-dozen other area senior citizens with homes for sale over the past year. The tough real estate market and plummeting home values have stalled their plans to cash out what's left of the equity in their homes. The mortgage crisis led to tighter loans, and higher unemployment caused some potential homebuyers to sit on the sidelines.

For individuals 50 and older, which is about 80 percent of all homeowners, owning their own home is a key measure of financial security. But it's also inextricably linked to quality of life and health, said Gerardo Cardenas, spokesman for AARP Illinois in Chicago.

"When older individuals have to postpone the sale of their homes, or take their properties out of the market altogether because of plummeting house values, they will also be facing additional pressures: skyrocketing property taxes, higher vulnerability to foreclosure, or even inability to afford repairs or modifications, which will also impact their physical and mental health, increase isolation and decrease safety," Cardenas said.

The ability to sell their property and move to the next stage in their lives is a key issue. But it's not an isolated issue. It also comes with depleted savings, job loss or being forced back into the job market just to make ends meet, Cardenas said.

In Frank Mumenthal's case, the retired maintenance supervisor just didn't want to shovel snow, clean the gutters or do other outside chores any more. And after undergoing heart angioplasty a few years ago, he wanted to enjoy life.

So he decided to list his home for about $239,000 in March 2009. As the months passed, a few potential buyers turned away for various reasons. He continued to drop the price. After 10 months, he sold the home for $192,500.

He then bought a condo for $170,000 near the Elk Grove senior center, where he enjoys spending time. But after selling, closing and moving costs, he just eked out a profit. Still, the long wait and expense were worth it, he said.

"It's a shame my wife passed away, because we should have done this sooner," Mumenthal said.

Others have not been as lucky. Karen Kazmierski, 60, and her husband, Matt, 67, have had their four-bedroom Bolingbrook home for sale on and off over the last two years during the recession. They won't budge on the $239,000 list price.

While Karen sells jewelry, Matt works part time at the a local hardware store. They were tempted to move into a home at Carillon, a community for those 55 and older near Plainfield in unincorporated Will County. But they didn't want to pay property taxes on two homes, if theirs didn't sell in time.

They, too, wanted to downsize and stop doing outside housework. But the current real estate market hasn't been kind, they said.

"We took the home off the market. No one was really looking right now," said Karen Kazmierski. "We may entertain the idea of putting it back on the market in the spring."

Ken Dahms, 82, also is on hold. He already lives in Carillon but wants to move to the next stage of his life as well. He's been trying to sell his two-bedroom home for nearly two years and has reduced its price from $245,000 to $188,500.

But that domino effect, where homebuyers aren't able to sell their current homes, has been a troublesome trend. And foreclosures have played havoc with prices.

"I love my townhouse," Dahms said. "If I didn't have this open invitation from my daughter in North Carolina to move in with her, I'd never leave. But at my age, my daughter has convinced me I should live with her."

"But I don't have a real time frame to move," Dahms said. "When it happens, I will move."

In some cases, real estate professionals just need to properly price the home for the market, said Connie Hofherr, regional vice president and broker manager at Prudential Starck Realtors in Arlington Heights. She has been a Realtor for more than 30 years in the Northwest suburbs.

"If the Realtor studies the market and does a right-price analysis for the homeowner, it should sell in a reasonable amount of time instead of pricing the home too high and keep chasing the market to a right price," Hofherr said. "Seniors, in most cases, have equity in their homes but heard about prices of homes similar to theirs that sold in 2005 and think they can sell their home for the same price. Sellers need to be educated to today's market and adjust their thinking and pricing to today's economy."