My wife and I are still 7 years away from FIRE, but are always comtemplating different options.
We will definatley be moving to S.Florida to be near family. We will also definatley want to travel alot. Housing prices are much higher in S.Florida than they are where we live now, but we have budgeted for this. Currently we are exploring the idea of renting instead of buying. Here are my thoughts. Tell me what you think.
Renting goes against all of my normal lines of thinking. We have lived in our current house for 11 years and it will be paid off next year. We will stay here until we retire. I fully understand all of the benefits of home ownership and as I said , renting goes against my normal line of thought....but...
As we move out of the accumulation phase and into the "I want to do whatever I want and not worry so much about the financial costs as long as I can afford it" phase....I think we will value the flexibility of renting more than the stability of owning. If we buy a house at 50, we would have to be 80 before we paid it off, so having a "paid off" house for years, isnt a reality for us at that point. We wont be able to afford to pay off a house in 12 years at those prices so we would basically be paying the house down for our heirs (which isnt a priority for us). Instead of paying a landlord rent, we are basically paying our hiers rent, in advance since we will likely never own the place ourselves....at least not for long.
I envision a retirement full of flexiblity. We could rent a house right near our relatives for a year or 2. Then when the lease is up, we may want to travel the country for 3 months (with no expenses back at home base since there is no home base). Then come back and rent in a highrise on the beach for a year or 2. Then when that lease is up, go to Europe for a couple months (again with no expenses at home base). You get the idea.
If all of this moving gets old after doing this for a decade, we can always buy a house at that point. Thoughts?
We will definatley be moving to S.Florida to be near family. We will also definatley want to travel alot. Housing prices are much higher in S.Florida than they are where we live now, but we have budgeted for this. Currently we are exploring the idea of renting instead of buying. Here are my thoughts. Tell me what you think.
Renting goes against all of my normal lines of thinking. We have lived in our current house for 11 years and it will be paid off next year. We will stay here until we retire. I fully understand all of the benefits of home ownership and as I said , renting goes against my normal line of thought....but...
As we move out of the accumulation phase and into the "I want to do whatever I want and not worry so much about the financial costs as long as I can afford it" phase....I think we will value the flexibility of renting more than the stability of owning. If we buy a house at 50, we would have to be 80 before we paid it off, so having a "paid off" house for years, isnt a reality for us at that point. We wont be able to afford to pay off a house in 12 years at those prices so we would basically be paying the house down for our heirs (which isnt a priority for us). Instead of paying a landlord rent, we are basically paying our hiers rent, in advance since we will likely never own the place ourselves....at least not for long.
I envision a retirement full of flexiblity. We could rent a house right near our relatives for a year or 2. Then when the lease is up, we may want to travel the country for 3 months (with no expenses back at home base since there is no home base). Then come back and rent in a highrise on the beach for a year or 2. Then when that lease is up, go to Europe for a couple months (again with no expenses at home base). You get the idea.
If all of this moving gets old after doing this for a decade, we can always buy a house at that point. Thoughts?