Buy or Rent?

rkunsaw

Well-known Member
The real estate people say I should get $250,000 or a little more for my home. I now need to decide whether to buy or rent when we move.

Will need 3 bedrooms because wife's daughter will move in with us to help take care of us. I'll be 78 next month, my wife is 80.

We first talked about buying a house but after some deep thinking on the subject I'm leaning hard toward renting.

I have a list of pros and cons in my head that support renting but before I mention my thoughts

I would like to hear others thoughts about it.
 

I choose to rent because the money that I would spend on a house throws off more than enough investment income to cover the rent.

Also where I live a senior citizen can break a lease without penalty if they need to move into some sort of assisted living facility.

The only reason I can see to buy is if you need to customize the home to accommodate various health conditions.

Good luck!
 
I would have a tough time renting, as I see it as flushing money down the toilet. With buying, you can expect to get a return on your investment, provided you buy at the right price, in the right place.

I also want to feel free to modify my house in ways I see fit, and make my own repairs, as I'm better at doing so than the majority of workers out there.

I would never buy in an area that has an HOA, though. To me, that would be Hell, having some dweebs telling me what I could and couldn't do with my own home. I never understood how anyone could stomach such people.
 
We have been home owners all our adult lives. Last year I sold my last house & now we are renting. I don't miss home ownership: the cleaning of the eves troughs, the lawn, the snow, taking the garbage out, worrying about mould, filters & salts. It's a lot of work. We live in a nice place with coffee mornings & Happy Hour on Fridays. When we want to travel we just lock the door & go. No more taxes, no more handyman calling & no more sales people at the door. Life is good. Don't understand why anyone who is a senior wants to live in their own home?
 
I would have a tough time renting, as I see it as flushing money down the toilet. With buying, you can expect to get a return on your investment, provided you buy at the right price, in the right place.

I also want to feel free to modify my house in ways I see fit, and make my own repairs, as I'm better at doing so than the majority of workers out there.

I would never buy in an area that has an HOA, though. To me, that would be Hell, having some dweebs telling me what I could and couldn't do with my own home. I never understood how anyone could stomach such people.
Think about lifestyle. Money isn't everything. Why be the richest person in the graveyard?
 
I've done my own work all my life and I preferred it that way. But we are selling because my wife needs more care than I can give her and this house and 25 acres is too much to keep up.

Those of you who like doing your own work should consider there might come a time when you are unable to do so.

Also, although I have no intention of ever dying, if it should happen, money in the bank will be a lot easier for my heirs to divide than a house.
 
Speaking as a landlord with rental houses, I know firsthand what tenants are doing when they rent a house. They are paying off someone else's mortgage and putting that money straight into the landlord's pocket.

After owning rental property, I don't think I could ever rent a place. I would always think of where my money is actually going. I would consider downsizing, maybe buying a small condo so someone else could do the outside work. But my house, I want it to be mine. That is my security.
 
We have been home owners all our adult lives. Last year I sold my last house & now we are renting. I don't miss home ownership: the cleaning of the eves troughs, the lawn, the snow, taking the garbage out, worrying about mould, filters & salts. It's a lot of work. We live in a nice place with coffee mornings & Happy Hour on Fridays. When we want to travel we just lock the door & go. No more taxes, no more handyman calling & no more sales people at the door. Life is good. Don't understand why anyone who is a senior wants to live in their own home?
The reasons we want to continue to live in this great home hub and mom and I built are many. Its "home". Most of all, what we have here we could never match with 3x as much expenditure if we moved. We have privacy, beautiful acreage and like I've heard repeated over and over again from people that visit - "its a beautiful piece of land... like a resort"...lol. What's not to love.

We spent time in Florida in a beachfront condo for over a month for years. Not hard to figure it wasn't for us. Talk about living in a "cube" with sky high condo fees and no privacy, even with an ocean out your window and balcony.

Son knows what to do if the need would ever come - otherwise we hope to reside here for the duration and meet up on the other side with our buds!
 
i think personally renting is like throwing it down a drain -if u can buy well within your money then I would '
nothing as good as owning your own home - do what you wish in it -and left to who ever u wish -
we have always had our place as the years past - never looked back on it good investment -so think hard =
and hope u settle in ok !
 
The real estate people say I should get $250,000 or a little more for my home. I now need to decide whether to buy or rent when we move.

Will need 3 bedrooms because wife's daughter will move in with us to help take care of us. I'll be 78 next month, my wife is 80.

I'm not in your same position but since I'm older than my wife I expect to go 1st. I've advised my wife to find a suitable place to rent because upkeep on our home and all that goes with is not something she should not have to deal with. You didn't mention if you have a mortgage payment or yearly property taxes or if selling & buying a home was really a need.

Considering your ages that 250k could sustain you all for a long time renting.

And congratulation on having a daughter that is so caring.
 
If I were you I would rent, the reason being is that there’s so much maintenance involved when you own a home that you have to count on someone else for lawn work for interior painting and fixing things that are broken it is costly and is also unpredictable. We purchased our home when we retired but that was my husband’s decision, I would’ve preferred to rent because I do not like the responsibility of caring for a home.
 
Larry, I think in your position I would rather rent than buy, makes sense to me because of health and age-related reasons you don't need your own home to maintain, etc. Best of luck in finding a three bedroom home that suits your needs in your area.
 
I've done my own work all my life and I preferred it that way. But we are selling because my wife needs more care than I can give her and this house and 25 acres is too much to keep up.

Those of you who like doing your own work should consider there might come a time when you are unable to do so.

I understand completely, with your wife suffering with Alzheimer's just caring for her and yourself will be a full time job. I know from your postings how independent both of you were and how hard you worked to live off your land and make a good life for yourselves. Time now to cherish memories of your working together and sharing a loving marriage, but put the physical work behind you in caring for a house and property. Even a small suburban lot like I have takes a lot of work to maintain.
 
I like working on my house. I like that lifestyle. My family would inherit, so I'd not be the richest cadaver in my chosen med school.
I used to love working on houses. Built one in 1975. Also finished 2 basements over the years. The last one was 2 years ago. It had a wonderful bar, a wine room, a spare bedroom & a library. However, when you get to a certain age, like me, you finally get fed up running up & down to cut wood & realize that life is short & there has got to be more to life than work, work, work, work.
 
I used to love working on houses. Built one in 1975. Also finished 2 basements over the years. The last one was 2 years ago. It had a wonderful bar, a wine room, a spare bedroom & a library. However, when you get to a certain age, like me, you finally get fed up running up & down to cut wood & realize that life is short & there has got to be more to life than work, work, work, work.
Except when you realize that your life isn't much fun without work, work, work. I have friends who travel. They love it. For me: Been there, done that. I have friends who like to sit around their homes reading, eating, watching TV, sleeping. Yeah, I've done that, too. It drives me goofy, after a while. I like the physicality of the work I like to do. I fully understand that my body will slow down, eventually. Eventually, my mind may want to do those things my body can no longer do. I'll deal with that when that time comes.
 

Back
Top