KABUL, Afghanistan — With less than a year left in his final term, President Hamid Karzai insists that he is eager to leave the presidential palace and lead a quieter life. It turns out, though, he may just be moving next door, to a lavish new home yards from the complex that has been the seat of his power for more than a decade.

According to Afghan officials, Mr. Karzai’s new home will be an old, European-style mansion that, once renovations are done, will be roughly 13,000 square feet. And the scale would befit the new role he is said to desire: guiding whoever fills his old job, as a presidential adviser for life.

As a clue to how Mr. Karzai, 55, might try to retain his influence, and security arrangements, the new estate in the heart of Kabul may be Exhibit A. But Western and Afghan officials examining the political scene here say there are a host of other ways Mr. Karzai is already working to influence the 2014 election. The vote is deemed critical for the Afghan government to keep its hold over the country with the American-led coalition ending its mission next year and negotiations on keeping some foreign forces here after that at an impasse.

Mr. Karzai has consistently placed loyalists in roles crucial to managing and securing the coming vote, raising concerns about the potential for fraud. Most Afghans now in positions of influence owe their jobs, and often their riches, to the president. And even as Mr. Karzai has publicly sought to appear above the fray as presidential candidates have announced their campaigns, it is widely acknowledged that none of them would be in the running if not for Mr. Karzai’s tacit acceptance, or at least ambivalence.