Retirement living, Where?

needshave

needshave

Member
Location
Ohio
After you retire, one of the big questions is where? Do you stay in your current residence and continue to pay the mortgage, property taxes and perform upkeep while maintaining utilities and health care costs or do you sell the property, bankroll the profit, if any, and live in a maintained (by others) apartment. There are some obvious pro and cons to both, but what are your thoughts? What did or are you going to do. There are 55+ communities where you are saddled with HOA fees, Condo's with COA fees, apartment homes, RV's, tents, etc....
 

Our mortgage has been paid off for over 10 years and we love our home. So here we'll stay. I wouldn't care for apartment living but it's a personal choice.
 
Watched the house I live in being built. Bought it and paid it off as soon as I could.

Picked out the floor plan, exterior & interior, colors etc. And still love it. 4 bedrooms and a double attached garage.

Paid $25,125 for it. Now models just like mine on my street are now selling for $800k to $900k.

But I'm staying right HERE. I'm half way up a hill with an eastern view of the Los Angeles busy harbor, with
friendly neighbors.
 

My wife managed an apartment complex for fifteen years but that was twenty five ago and we had long term tenants above and beside us (she was resident manager) that were great. Apartment living is okay for some but others find it too confining.

We will stay put, the house is small and we paid off our mortgage in 2005. The property taxes are so low you'd think I was lying...
 
I think it all depends on your lifestyle. In an apartment you don't have to worry about maintenance and taxes and insurance, but they can raise your rent or throw you out when the lease ends. With a condo you have all the cons and rewards of a house and apartment, although you own the place. In a house you have all the maintenance and taxes and insurance and worries about repairs and such, but you have more privacy and lifestyle choices. I'd rather have the house: saw it built, chose the exterior and interior plans, even though I will soon have to pay someone to do the yard work since I'm getting older. Also, if you like to travel or like being a snowbird, you're better off with an apartment or condo. Like I said, your lifestyle is the biggest denominator.
 
I prefer to rent an apartment in an older nondescript complex. It allows me to only pay for the amount of space that I need, eliminates worries about property values, big-ticket repairs, maintenance, security, etc... It also allows me to invest the money that would be tied up in a house or condo and get a return that is approx. the amount of my rent.

Do what feels right for your situation and enjoy your new found freedom.
 
I am staying right here in my tiny little house in CT. All paid for, reasonable (to me) taxes, in the country but close enough to shops.
 

I think an important question is, Is being debt free the answer to retirement. To a happy retirement?

A friend of mine retired three years ago, he had lived in his house for 30 years, totally paid off. It was fine when he had kids. It was fine when he was a young man and could go out and maintain the grounds and residence. It was fine when they were young, raising the kids, and working. They never did a lot of socializing or spending a lot of free time away from the workplace, kids or house. There wasn't time.

They both retired within three months of each other. After two months at home they were devasted and they spent the majority of their time searching for something to do. There was not a lot in their area, without traveling 20 miles or so to a city. But after several days of that, nothing else to do. So there they set in their debt-free house. They were not happy, they were disappointed in retirement. They each picked up a part-time job to have something to do.

They worked for 6 months, and used the earned money for a trip to three area of the country they were interested in and stayed a month in each one. Returned back to their house. They loved the environment and atmosphere that had visited. After two months at home, they decided to move back to that location for a year and rented an apartment home to get a feel for the area. They rented out their home. After one year returned and sold the property they had paid off. Bankrolled the profit and continued to live in their apartment for another 6 months While searching for permanent residence there. They found what they were looking for, secured a new residence and mortgage.

So now they are happy with day to day activities, they have a mortgage, they're in debt, but they are happy with their dad to-day activities. I think being happy, having meaningful activities and friends to share it with is what we all want. I'm not sure just being debt free is the only answer to being happy in retirement. Money can't buy happiness.........But it sure helps!

So I think Aunt Bea summed it up very well.....

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Originally Posted by Aunt Bea
Do what feels right for your situation and enjoy your new found freedom.


 
We have always viewed retirement as a series of phases. We're still in the "active" phase but at some point we are not going to want to take care of this house and the extensive gardens. In fact, the garden is ALREADY a problem and we're still in our 60's, LOL. It's on a hill so lugging sacks of soil and fertilizer - not to mention the year-round weeding required in a coastal Mediterranean climate - is never ending.

I'm not emotionally attached to a house. I've lived in plenty of places and been happy. We love our place and have spent years getting it just the way we want but it is, in the end, just another house. Someday someone will also love it and customize it the way THEY want; more power to them!

Change is a challenge. Some people accept it and thrive. Others view it as an insurmountable object and retreat.

We like to do driving trips at this stage so leaving the house empty for long periods is an issue. The result is that I've been putting off doing really long road trips because an empty house is a tempting target for thieves – even with an alarm system and 'random light' setup. Up until a few years ago we had friends willing to stay in our place and look after it, but they moved away, unfortunately.

We are gradually decluttering – more slowly than we should! – and within the next 3–5 yrs will sell or rent this house out, and then move into senior housing. We are very lucky that cost is not an issue for us. OTOH, the options are so wide–open it will take considerable work to winnow them down to a final choice.

There are many different types of senior facilities here. We would prefer to remain in the area, since family and friends are here. Living in the city allows us a great choice of available services, too. When the time comes to stop driving, it won't be much of a hardship as there are many alternatives available.
 
200....I think that "Retirement Phasing" is a very realistic approach way of looking at aging and retirement. We are also in the active phase of retirement and in our 60's.

We are in many ways looking at our house the same way. It is most unique, built in 1850 and of Gothic Revival architecture, with large stained glass and cathedral style windows, all brick with a large courtyard and carriage house. We really love the house and area, yet, as you say it comes to a point where we no longer want to maintain all this property. Including inside, outside and gardens. Realistically, you want to spend that time required to perform household maintenance and money enjoying life.

We have looked a some area's when trolley and mass transit service is available and safe. It is the preferred way of traveling for us when we are in that area even now. I appreciate your thoughts, the phasing idea of retirement is excellent.
 
Falcon said:
Watched the house I live in being built. Bought it and paid it off as soon as I could.

Picked out the floor plan, exterior & interior, colors etc. And still love it. 4 bedrooms and a double attached garage.

Paid $25,125 for it. Now models just like mine on my street are now selling for $800k to $900k.

But I'm staying right HERE. I'm half way up a hill with an eastern view of the Los Angeles busy harbor, with
friendly neighbors.
Click to expand...
Want to rent out one of those rooms. Falcon?
 
I've only ever lived in houses, I can't imagine living in an apartment. Especially with a dog! I can understand the preference though, as I'm not a gardener or have much interest in the garden generally. If I've a small expanse of neat lawn and some colourful pots, then I'm happy. I'm moving from the home we've lived in for 24 years, to a house we're currently renovating (we bought it in the mid-90's and have been letting it) and our garden will be a fraction of the size it is now, still a nice place to be but with a fraction of the maintenance.

If we buy a home in one of the warmer States for winter living, I would be keen on a house but again either with a small garden or in an area where services are reasonably priced. If such a thing exists. :)
 
Well for me it's a no brainer. I live in cooperative apartment complex where all the maintenance issues for common areas are taken care of. Our mortgage is paid off but we still have "carrying charges" similar to HOA fees but do not include electricity and cable. Those two this month totaled $144. The cost of living here is about 36% of what it would cost to live in comparable apartments (2 beds, 1 bath, nice patio space). Even public, senior housing would cost us almost double due to our income and that would probably be for a one bedroom. Although it would be lovely to live in a nice warm climate, oceanfront year round it doesn't make financial sense to move from here. We "compensate" by staying at ocean front locations very cheaply several times a year due to our timeshare ownership and affiliated exchange club. Also most of our family members are in this area or close by. I've lived here 47 years...this is home. I literally wake up upset when I dream I've moved from here.
 
Our home is paid for, the winters here in Central Texas are mild, the grandkids are nearby, so I'm not moving. Taxes aren't low, but still reasonable. Very happy here.
 
We picked the land we had our house built on also and have been here for over 20 years. It’s a large property that has a fair amount of maintenance but will be paid off when my husband retires. He’s younger than I am so is retiring later.
We have a good retirement plan but aren’t sure where we are going to retire. I think we are going to play it by ear.
For a while we considered moving out east near the ocean but there are a lot of pros to living here. One thing is that it’s close to everything. We can get anything we want where we live, which is a nice feature. It offers peace & serenity with all the conveniences of modern living. It’s a tough choice. We’re planning on doing a ‘reverse mortgage’ on our house since we have no kids to give it to. We have generous insurance in case of death.
 
The reverse mortgage program has changed substantially. A somewhat technical article from Forbes (once you understand some of the changes, it will make more sense, so don't delete this from your 'fyi' file):
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamieh...ely-and-negatively-for-retirees/#23a42dddacc3

There are advantages and disadvantages to the new rules. Under all circumstances it must be remembered this IS A LOAN. The lender is first lien holder in all cases.

This website link compares the new HECM (home equity conversion mortgage) vs a HELOC, the latter being what most are familiar with. HECMs are offered by the FHA. What was referred to as a 'reverse mortgage' still exists with exactly that name, but are now instruments offered only by private lenders. RMs are an extremely small piece of the market, mostly used for jumbo mortgages since there are strict limits on HECMs.

(note: I am NOT endorsing this sales website; it simply has a reasonably clear explanation of some of the complexities of the new HECM program): https://www.americanadvisorsgroup.c...ecm-line-credit-home-equity-line-credit-heloc

There are many third party vendors who sell/facilitate HECMs. Just remember these are fairly complex loans, more so than what you think of as the "standard" reverse mortgage, because they are intended to offer borrowers more flexibility. So do your research; don't be in a hurry to sign any papers; and find a neutral party to go over the legal details with you.

HTH!
 
Where to retire? Having lived in 4 different states since retirement, and will probably move at least one more time, I gotta say, it doesn't matter all that much where you retire. Health is a much bigger concern (I'm doing great! Thanks for asking.) for most folks, and of course, your relationship with your spouse, etc, is also key. Those factors will likely drive the "where" question.

As for the whole mortgage thing, if it makes you happy to have a paid for house, great. It is not a concern of mine, and really don't plan on ever having a paid for house.

YMMV
 
This is a question and there is no one sentence pat answer. It's complicated and one thing won't work for all. Like it was mentioned, someone can be quite unhappy in a too large house, paid for or not. There are options for 55+ if people have the funds where they can meet people if they like, have access to community events and probably a pool.

Living in a house in a neighborhood may not be suitable for some. When I owned a house in my 40's I didn't belong in that neighborhood and I didn't like it.

I'd like to be able to look at other areas but at this time I'm trapped here by my stepfather due to his health issues.
 
Don M. said:
Correct! The First consideration when preparing for retirement...IMO...is to be Debt Free.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I did. No credit cards to pay off and a very small mortgage that we paid off. Then I retired. As long as I have pay for property taxes and utilities, I will always have a place to live. Plus I can borrow against it, sell it or do a reverse mortgage. We have no kids so I am not looking to leave anything to anyone but a charity.
 

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