Anyone else plan to rent vs. own in retirement?

[MrLoco]

I was wondering if anyone else plans to or has sold their primary residence with the intention of renting simply because renting give you a little more freedom and fewer headaches. I know there are pros and cons to both and with renting...Yes... you could have noisy neighbors but that is also true with condo or single family home living.


It's just that as my wife and I approach 60; we are getting tired of all the little repairs, remodeling; appliances breaking down; this and that with some "new" problem appearing frequently. We have enjoyed home ownership for some 32 years now, but want to travel a bit more in our 60"s while our health holds out. Plus the day will probably come when one of both of us will need assisted living/nursing home/ memory care and the transition will be far easier on us and our children if we live in an apartment.


I realize we could be living in an apartment for 20+ years with no additional equity build up ( pertaining to real estate not our investments) , but so what? Our NW is north of $5M and we would like a 2BR, 2 bath unit which in our area currently go for about $1750/ month. Perfect for 2 people. These are large apartment complexes with 24/7 on call manager/maintenance services and usually a pool, tennis courts/ clubhouse and impeccably manicured lawns/shrubs.


Plus some expenses go away such as property taxes, homeowner's insurance, heat (usually included with rent), landscaper, repairs, etc.


Also, these days even though I try to do some repairs myself; it seems that when calling an expert....even as a repeat good customer...I will wait days for a return call. They all seem so busy with more business than they can handle.


So....anyone sold the house or even condo and currently renting? How do you like it? Regrets?

 

[RunningBum]

Try this thread.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/rent-or-own-principal-residence-in-er-89144.html

btw, those expenses that "go away"? They just get included in your rent. You can't think that someone is paying the heat (which is not common in my experience) or maintaining the grounds out of the goodness of their heart for you.

And if you think a repairman that you'll pay is slow in responding to a call...wait until you try to get an apartment maintenance guy to respond, when they aren't getting paid by you and aren't inconvenienced by whatever is wrong. Some places are better than others, but it's out of your control when you rent.

 

[Scrapr]

I have thought about it. Mrs Scrapr is adamantly opposed. So I guess that settles that

The thing I would worry about is getting into a building/condo with a bunch of 20 year olds. Parties, late nite arrivals, etc. Now get off my lawn

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I moved here 20 years ago I bought a condo in a building that was mostly seniors. They didn’t let kids play on the lawn so no one with kids bought in. It was quiet. We have a house now and no way would I rent.

 

[brett]

We sold, traveled, came home and rented for four years.

We had no issue with renting. We actually enjoyed it and had no issues whatsoever. We happened to find a place that we both liked so we bought.

Our learning...it is certainly less expensive to rent. We did much better financially investing our money in the market for four years than we would have had we bought-by a large margin.

We owned all of our lives. After renting we had some people suggest that we could no longer afford to buy since we must have spent all of our money travelling. I suspect some people cannot get their head around renting and why it can be preferable option for some reitrees.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My mom and dad rented because he got really sick and it was easier. It depends on the situation.

 

[HFWR]

If you own, you’re a landlord renting to yourself.

 

[W2R]

"Anyone else plan to rent vs. own in retirement?"

Not me. I hope I never have to pay rent or deal with a landlord again.

It's just that as my wife and I approach 60; we are getting tired of all the little repairs, remodeling; appliances breaking down; this and that with some "new" problem appearing frequently.

I don't do any repairs or remodeling at all, myself; my handyman does that. I have called him a few times since I bought this house in 2015 but spread out over the year, the cost isn't much. He shows up promptly and does excellent work.

My appliances were all bought brand new when I moved in, and none have broken or will break in the foreseeable future. If one of them does, I'll buy another online and have my handyman install the new one and dispose of the old one. I don't pay rent or have a mortgage, so that sort of expense fits into my budget nicely.

But if you would rather rent, more power to you! There's nothing wrong with renting if you actually want to do that. Life is about choices and so I'd say, go for it. If you don't like it, you can always change your mind and buy.

 

[dcoy]

Yes, when we retire and the kids move out the first item of business will be to sell the primary residence, travel the world extensively and rent.

 

[Fedup]

My handyman lives here. I’ve rented before both apartment, condo, and SFH, I prefer owning.
When my handyman is not around, I might outsource it like my brother.

 

[googily]

My in-home handyman/repair concierge service has alas relocated to another dimension, so the notion of continuing the upkeep on a 100-year-old house is not especially enticing, especially as I get older. I have a monstrous amount of equity, which would fund quite a few years in a luxury deeeeluxe apartment in the sky. There are many new buildings just a few blocks away, so I wouldn't even really be changing neighborhoods. Would also like to not have to park on the street anymore.

No heirs, so no need to try to protect the money. (And also no one to help me with keeping this house going)

We'll see. Not moving anytime soon, but I imagine I would rent at least for a time in a nice building and see if I could stand it.

 

[Freedom56]

It depends where you live and whether you own your home free and clear. Rents in our area of Southern California for a home comparable to what we have will cost you about $4500 per month plus utilities. It costs us less than $950 a month for our home (property taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities). But if I had to buy one for $1.1-1.3M and did not have the cash, it would be a totally different situation comparing renting vs owning. The same thing for our condo in Florida. Rents in our building for an unfurnished unit like our floor plan is about $2400 per month with a minimum 1 year lease. It costs us about $1000 per month for condo fees, utilities, and property tax. If we had to buy a new unit for about $400K and mortgage it, renting becomes more attractive.

For me personally, I like owning. I bought my first home at the age of 24 and never looked back at home ownership. One other point is that both my wife and I are pretty handy. Plus my wife is OCD so we keep our properties in immaculate condition.

 

[Midpack]

We may rent for a year when we relocate, but that’s it. We don’t want neighbors on the other side of a wall for noise or fire. We want a small yard of our own to grow stuff. We want garages for our cars, though some rentals have optional garages for additional rent. We don’t want stair in our next place.

But I could see it temporarily. I read about a couple retirees who rented for 3 years in several locations they couldn’t afford to live in permanently before settling down. I think they spent a year oceanfront in Hawaii, another on a Caribbean island, and I forget where else. Sounded like a good way to start retirement with an adventure before settling in.

 

[dtbach]

Don't plan to rent until we just can't do lawn work, repairs, etc anymore. will consider downsizing to a condo (maybe 2, as we might do the snowbird thing) to at least not have to worry about the yard.

 

[clifp]

My plan is sometime between 75-85 moving into senior community, with easy access to assisted living. At which point, I'll be a renter.

 

[220volt]

If your home is paid for it doesn't make any sense to rent. Your rent will only go up over time. I would stay in the house and save the money you would otherwise pay in rent for future repairs and unexpected expenses. You will likely save for a nice vacation every year.
Unless your property taxes are out of control and renting would actually save you money.

 

[mrfeh]

We've considered it, but likely will never rent, for the following reasons:

• we've owned a single-family residence for 27 years, and really enjoy having some space between ourselves and the neighbors (do not want other people on the other side of the wall)
• for a similar residence, renting would be much more expensive than owning

FWIW - we do not have a mortgage.

 

[Aerides]

I don't plan to rent, but under certain circumstances I would consider it. And like others, it would be far later in life, when a SFH becomes too much to handle. Especially if I outlive DH and it's just me. Then I will be going for a townhouse or similar anyway.

That's a while away, but right now in my area, gorgeous new rental townhouses and big apartments are all over, whereas purchases of those are going to be older condos needing major renovations or priced sky high. So a lot depends on the geography you want, and the types of properties in your area.

 

[TwoByFour]

Yes, owning a home is a real pain in the rear but it is ours, we can do whatever we like to it, we take pride in it and because it is a house, we feel attached to the land. I could never rent a chunk of air, which is what you are doing in a condo or apartment. Well, perhaps when I am too worn out to care anymore I could.

 

[Dtail]

Currently renting as we moved from the NE to the SE. We love the community, so now would consider owning as the rents going up are not in our control.
Plus it would be a cash purchase.

 

[54andchange]

Housing and location choices almost always go beyond money factors, do what you want and enjoy. It is always good to reflect on the money math anyway. If you are a homeowner like me who believes in long-term equity out performance, then my home ownership is an expensive opportunity cost indeed. But it meets our needs at this point. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/07/27/rent-vs-buy/

 

[Fedup]

I like to think my renters help build my capital.

 

[audreyh1]

I would have no problem renting if it met our goals.

 

[Onward]

Owning real estate actually impeded my progress to FIRE, and since FIRE about eight yrs ago I've only rented. I feel it gives me a flexibility of lifestyle that I wouldn't have as a homeowner. For example, last year I decided I wanted to move to Puerto Vallarta. In 30 days I was there, with no house or renters to worry about in the U.S.

I'm sure it's a personal thing, but I never really got the "pride of ownership" thing. The only thing I'm proud of owning is income-producing securities that give me the lifestyle I want.

 

[calmloki]

This place tickles me - pretty rare to see this much original and un-remuddled and it reminds me of several places we have redone. When you redo a place like this you do have pride of ownership because you were responsible for the way it turned out. . I don't have any pride in our bank accounts or stocks.

https://www.zillow.com/savedhomes/f...782,26.431228,-134.25293_rect/4_zm/1_rs/1_fr/