Your House's Value

Location, location. Even in your ownarea, you know your house would sell forfar more (or less) if it were located in adifferent town or neighborhood. Whenthe differences in location are nationwide,the gap between home prices is magnified. At Coldwell Banker (www.coldwellbanker.com), you can compare homeprices in a variety of communities acrossthe country, a useful tool if you're thinkingabout pulling up stakes after retirement.How much house you can afford inyour retirement locale depends a lot onwhere you live now. If you live in a million-dollar home in Greenwich, Conn, forexample, you could sell it and buy fourcomparable houses in West Palm Beach—and have cash left over. You'd have tospend half of the proceeds from the saleto buy a similar house in Miami, however,and to buy a home in Palo Alto, Calif,you'd have to spend the million and comeup with an extra $5000.