Poll:Changing from owning to renting..or vice versa

[utrecht]

Previous rent / own polls included everyone which seems biased towards continuing to do whatever you did before retirement. This poll is only for people who moved after retiring.

When you retired, if you moved afterwards, did you continue with the same living arrangements as before?

 

[jim584672]

I bought a place just before retirement to lock in my expense structure going forward. Always rented prior to the purchase.

 

[W2R]

Most people really hate change. After retirement, if they have owned a house for a long time they will continue to want to own a house. If they have rented for a long time they will continue to rent.

When you retired, if you moved afterwards, did you continue with the same living arrangements as before?

Before I retired, I owned a paid off home. I saw absolutely no reason to change my choice on this.

I did want a nicer house, and could afford one, so I took my time to search for and then buy my Dream House. I absolutely love it. I guess I could have moved to a first floor apartment in the cute little apartment building a couple of blocks away, but there was no reason for me to do that.

I am such a homebody, and I enjoy owning my own paid off home a great deal. My spreadsheets always show that in this particular location the financial advantage of owning is pretty distinct, even considering the so-called "opportunity costs". I have computed it every which way but Sunday, and the results are always the same. But even if all those computations were completely nutso and erroneous and done by a psychotic moron (which hopefully is not the category I fall into), still I am not hurting financially. I want to do this and I am. For me it's the best possible use for some excess cash.

I voted, "After retirement, we sold our house and bought another one", but it was 6 years after retirement and it's "I", not "we" in my case.

 

[Danmar]

Before I retired, I owned a paid off home. I saw absolutely no reason to change my choice on this.

I did want a nicer house, and could afford one, so I took my time to search for and then buy my Dream House. I absolutely love it. I guess I could have moved to a first floor apartment in the cute little apartment building a couple of blocks away, but there was no reason for me to do that.

I am such a homebody, and I enjoy owning my own paid off home a great deal. My spreadsheets always show that in this particular location the financial advantage of owning is pretty distinct, even considering the so-called "opportunity costs". I have computed it every which way but Sunday, and the results are always the same. But even if all those computations were completely nutso and erroneous and done by a psychotic moron (which hopefully is not the category I fall into), still I am not hurting financially. I want to do this and I am. For me it's the best possible use for some excess cash.

I voted, "After retirement, we sold our house and bought another one", but it was 6 years after retirement and it's "I", not "we" in my case.

So why do you like owning so much? Sense of control? Security? Self expression? If we could boil it down to motivation, it might be easier to reconcile 2 very different approaches?

 

[W2R]

So why do you like owning so much? Sense of control? Security? Self expression? If we could boil it down to motivation, it might be easier to reconcile 2 very different approaches?

All of those!

1) Control - - I loved your post on another thread about the sense of control you experience due to owning. Yes, absolutely. I don't want anybody telling me that I can't decorate or alter my home if I want to. I loved being able to install keypad deadbolts on every entry door, for example. I could never do that in most rentals. Nor would I want to, because they were expensive (to me), and if/when I moved that would be money down the drain.

2) Security - - I am a woman and perhaps that explains it? But anyway, I am pretty much of a "security junkie". I like the idea that no landlord can tell me that I have to move out, ever. When I was younger and renting, that did happen and usually at the most inconvenient times possible.

3) Self Expression - - This too, to a lesser extent. I like being able to hang all the artwork I want on my walls. I like being able to use my home gym without worrying about the noise bothering the neighbors through thin walls.

But all in all, I hate to say it but my main reason for liking to own so much is (in my opinion) a female nesting thing. I like being settled in a cozy place that is safe and comfortable and welcoming and mine, where everything is the way I want it, and where I can stay for as long as I might wish.

 

[RE2Boys]

I didn't vote, not sure if our situation would fit the poll. Four years after retirement but with young kids, we moved 750 miles back to my home town as my mother was not doing well health wise. We purchased her house and she lived with us until she passed. We considered other options but decided we liked the location so did a major interior remodel/updating and have been here ever since. It was weird to again live in your teenage home after a 35 year absence and it was still largely the same interior!

 

[utrecht]

I didn't vote, not sure if our situation would fit the poll. Four years after retirement but with young kids, we moved 750 miles back to my home town as my mother was not doing well health wise. We purchased her house and she lived with us until she passed. We considered other options but decided we liked the location so did a major interior remodel/updating and have been here ever since. It was weird to again live in your teenage home after a 35 year absence and it was still largely the same interior!

I would consider that "owned, and then bought another house"

 

[kcowan]

I don't see how retirement will change anyone in their choice of how they acquire a residence. The issues do not change. Maybe the home value will not change on a daily basis like the market, but that is just a false measure.

 

[utrecht]

I don't see how retirement will change anyone in their choice of how they acquire a residence. The issues do not change. Maybe the home value will not change on a daily basis like the market, but that is just a false measure.

A lot of people are waiting for retirement to make a major move. Either to be close to family, or closer to the beach, or for many other reasons. If they are moving anyway, its the perfect time to change their living arrangements if they are have wanting something different for a while.

In our case, we moved from Texas to from Florida to be close to family. We were tired of home maintenance, but mostly we wanted to be able to live in a house on a golf course one year, a high rise on the beach the next year, a condo in the downtown area of the city one year, travel for a full year the next year...etc. So moving at retirement was the perfect time to switch from owning to renting. If we hadnt moved away from Texas, we probably wouldve stayed in our same house for who knows how much longer. Inertia is a strong factor

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Before I retired, I owned a paid off home. I saw absolutely no reason to change my choice on this.

I did want a nicer house, and could afford one, so I took my time to search for and then buy my Dream House. I absolutely love it.

I am such a homebody, and I enjoy owning my own paid off home a great deal.

Instead of I, it's we-- but we share W2R's sentiments. We actually took cash out of our sale in the Bay Area, though, and upsized to our Dream House. We are very happy here.

Renting wouldn't work for us, anyway, as we share our lives with 3 dogs.


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[pb4uski]

In our case, moving allowed us to retire. A year before we retired we demolished and rebuilt our lake home (which at the time was a seasonal vacation home). We moved into the lake house, sold our "city" house and between bumping up our investment nestegg from the proceeds from the sale of the city house and reducing our expenses by only having one home I decided we were set enough that I could retire.

Funny thing is... 4 years later our investments have done so well that we are considering buying a winter getaway place and if we do that we'll be back to two homes again.

 

[Alan]

We always planned to move after retirement, mainly to travel and experience other places. We had lived in a number of places in England, Scotland, Texas and Louisiana but we had lived in the same place for 18 years immediately prior to retiring and were looking forward to trying other places.

 

[FIREd]

We became renters after I retired, when we moved to the West Coast. If money was no object, I would probably own here, but it does not make sense financially for us to do so at this time. I am open to both owning and renting depending on the situation.

Renting does come with a higher exposure to inflation, which can be problematic for retirees, but again it depends on where you live. In many parts of the US, rent inflation has been very tame because there are few limits on new construction. When I look at the rents in my old stomping grounds (SE US), they have barely budged in 15 years.

What has changed after retirement, is my desire for a low maintenance lifestyle. Now that we are free to travel and do whatever else we like, I do not want to be saddled with a large house and yard to maintain anymore. I want to be able to lock the door and enjoy my free time without worry. With that in mind, owning a condo or renting an apartment are both acceptable options for us.

 

[Walt34]

We had a contract on a new one a year before we moved, then sold the old one a few month before moving. This fixed the price of the new house while allowing the price of the old one to continue rising - this was in 2001-2002. The move was only about 80 miles but it was to a different world, which we like much better.

We were used to housing prices in the DC area where virtually all available land has been built on so prices are now almost as bad as CA. For a while in the '80's there was a five year moratorium on new construction because of a lack of sewage capacity, it took five years to resolve because there were two county governments and Washington, D.C. involved in getting an agreement. During that time of course the prices of existing housing and rents skyrocketed.

So we had never seen an environment where housing prices went down, they either paced inflation or rose dramatically. And I once had to leave an apartment because the rent was rising faster than my income so I saw buying as a way to lock in the price of housing, and at that time, in that location, I was right. So the mindset was that buying was better than renting, and bear in mind that in 2002 housing prices were rapidly rising. Who knew they could actually go down?

Knowing what I know now I'd be more open to renting first. We were either diligent or lucky and there were no unpleasant surprises though so it worked out okay.

 

[Danmar]

All of those!

1) Control - - I loved your post on another thread about the sense of control you experience due to owning. Yes, absolutely. I don't want anybody telling me that I can't decorate or alter my home if I want to. I loved being able to install keypad deadbolts on every entry door, for example. I could never do that in most rentals. Nor would I want to, because they were expensive (to me), and if/when I moved that would be money down the drain.

2) Security - - I am a woman and perhaps that explains it? But anyway, I am pretty much of a "security junkie". I like the idea that no landlord can tell me that I have to move out, ever. When I was younger and renting, that did happen and usually at the most inconvenient times possible.

3) Self Expression - - This too, to a lesser extent. I like being able to hang all the artwork I want on my walls. I like being able to use my home gym without worrying about the noise bothering the neighbors through thin walls.

But all in all, I hate to say it but my main reason for liking to own so much is (in my opinion) a female nesting thing. I like being settled in a cozy place that is safe and comfortable and welcoming and mine, where everything is the way I want it, and where I can stay for as long as I might wish.

Well said. I think the nesting thing is important. We just returned to our home in Arizona yesterday and I must admit it was great to be back. My lovely spouse said a couple times that she couldn't believe we actually owned such a nice place. Pride of ownership? Nesting? What's ever you call it, it feels very good.

 

[hnzw_rui]

I bought a place just before retirement to lock in my expense structure going forward. Always rented prior to the purchase.

That's the plan. Move to LCOL area and buy.

2) Security - - I am a woman and perhaps that explains it? But anyway, I am pretty much of a "security junkie". I like the idea that no landlord can tell me that I have to move out, ever. When I was younger and renting, that did happen and usually at the most inconvenient times possible.

But all in all, I hate to say it but my main reason for liking to own so much is (in my opinion) a female nesting thing. I like being settled in a cozy place that is safe and comfortable and welcoming and mine, where everything is the way I want it, and where I can stay for as long as I might wish.

+1000. I'd actually be perfectly happy with a condo or townhouse (with decent soundproofing) but I want something that's mine.

 

[kcowan]

We treat our rental penthouse as our own. We spend money every year on planting the patio. We paint the walls to our taste. I changed the doors to the bathrooms and installed shower doors from Home Depot. I have installed a fountain and lighting on the patio.

Some would ague that I am throwing money away on these improvements. Let me tell you: I have thrown lots of money away on home improvements when I owned (for 30 years). We have been here for 18 years and will probably leave feet first. We just completed another evaluation to confirm that this was still the right decision for us.

So the message is one of mindset. People are surprised to learn that we can sublet our place. I tell them it is much easier than with a condo. And pets are no problem. Covered secure parking for any number of cars. Pool, exercise room, tennis court. Walk to shopping, restaurants, medical services, transit.

 

[Danmar]

We treat our rental penthouse as our own. We spend money every year on planting the patio. We paint the walls to our taste. I changed the doors to the bathrooms and installed shower doors from Home Depot. I have installed a fountain and lighting on the patio.

Some would ague that I am throwing money away on these improvements. Let me tell you: I have thrown lots of money away on home improvements when I owned (for 30 years). We have been here for 18 years and will probably leave feet first. We just completed another evaluation to confirm that this was still the right decision for us.

So the message is one of mindset. People are surprised to learn that we can sublet our place. I tell them it is much easier than with a condo. And pets are no problem. Covered secure parking for any number of cars. Pool, exercise room, tennis court. Walk to shopping, restaurants, medical services, transit.

Keith: Sounds like you have an unusually nice rental place. You also mentioned you are very unlikely to be asked to leave? Congrats. Most wouldn't be as nice as this I would think.

 

[kcowan]

Yes we have to behave ourselves but that seems to get easier as we age. We also know our tenant rights are are not afraid to remind the management when they overstep their bounds. We do it gently.

 

[Tree-dweller]

Why We will likely stick with our paid-up SFH...
Think your rent's too darn high? Just wait http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/20/think-your-rents-too-darn-high-just-wait.html

 

[aja8888]

We sold an older, two story house and moved into a newer, one story house of about 200 square feet less in size. Same community; DW has a nesting habit. Also, one level is easier for DW to manage.

And with one bedroom less (two plus office now), only one child can show up for a stay when things go awry for him or her.

 

[W2R]

Why We will likely stick with our paid-up SFH...
Think your rent's too darn high? Just wait Think your rent's too darn high? Just wait

They do seem to be going up awfully fast. I just checked online, and the apartment I rented until I bought my house in 2002, is now renting for 180% as much as what I was paying in 2002. That's just one data point, though, and I haven't looked at any overall statistics.