Aging in place and landlord exit strategies

[Nords]

It's been a while since I've started a thread here, yet this forum might have more members with the landlord experience I'm seeking.

I'd also appreciate hearing from those of you who have had to personally work through an age-in-place challenge.

Some of you may have already seen this question on the Bogleheads forum, and now I'm trying to widen the audience a little.

My spouse and I own two pieces of Oahu real estate which (so far) have been difficult to replicate. Our rental is much better than our home for aging in place, yet I've had about enough of landlording. I wonder whether we're working too hard for a rental bird in the hand that we might not use for decades.

We're trying to figure out the best way to choose an age-in-place home. We know that we could adapt our current home as necessary, or at least stop using the upstairs bedroom. (Our current home has much better views and a quieter location.) If a health crisis happens, then how much time/hassle would it take to find a place which could be adapted to our new needs & limits?

Is it worth landlording for another 30 years (potentially the rest of my life) to hold on to the ideal age-in-place home? Or is there a solution with less hassle?

We know that a property manager will resolve most of our landlord issues (or at least trade them for different problems). Yet my questions are more about the responsibilities and stewardship of landlords, not the labor. If a property manager is the right answer then that's what we'll do-- but I'd hate to overlook a better answer.

 

[MBAustin]

I can't help with the landlord part, but we remodeled our current house before we moved in to be accessible for DH who uses a motorized wheelchair. Given that the house was dated (30+ years old with minimal updating), we took kitchen and master bath down to the studs and did a lot of other work. We used a contractor although I did a lot of the design using ideas from some Universal Design books. It took 5 months. This is for a one-story house.

If you want to adapt where you currently live, I suggest getting some Universal Design books and look at them for ideas and understanding what is practical and what is not given the current footprint. You may be able to install an elevator or stair lift and continue to use the upstairs. Bathroom remodeling would definitely be part of the job. If you have elevation changes between rooms (sunken living or dining room), I would also eliminate them (our sunken family room was brought up to main level using lumber "joists" for a new subfloor at the correct level - much cheaper than filling in with concrete!). Widen most doors to 36" if possible. Replace doorknobs with handles. Look at access into the house from garage/street - can steps be eliminated using permanent or temporary ramps? Etc.

Good luck with the decisions!

 

[Luck_Club]

Unless you are renting by the week or another short term rental, how much of a hassle is it really to stay a landlord?

I would hold them both, especially if you have heirs who might want your view, but never be able to part with the money to buy it. You should be able to add a lift master for the stairs and some grab bars for a few grand. How much to replace the view and peaceful neighborhood?

Good luck.

 

[Texas Proud]

I will give a couple of thoughts from some of the things I have seen...

You can modify the house you like the best to what you want... this can be expensive though.... when I was looking at houses I came across one that the previous owners had done this.... it was a house with 4 BRs upstairs, including the master... they did not want to move so built a new master off the back of the house that could be accessed through the living room... I was told that the upstairs was only for guests and kids/grandkids... they never went there... the negative is that it looked out of place and when I went outside it was not added very well.... I passed on the place....

As to landlording... my sister had a fear that she would 'lose everything' and kept the first house they ever bought... it was small and cheap... she said she could always move back into it if needed... that was over 30 years ago... she found great tenants along the way and always reduced the price to keep them there.... they were 'handy' and did all the work... all she did was collect the check each month... I know one tenant lived there over 15 years.... also, she did not have a mgmt company... BTW, she STILL owns it even thought they are both retired and have much more money than they want to spend... both have pensions plus what is saved...

 

[Another Reader]

I'm about eight years older than Nords and some of the other original owners in my suburban neighborhood are now 70 or a little older. People have started to retrofit their homes here, but many are now realizing that staying in their homes long term may not be feasible. The problem is not the accessibility of the house, it's accessibility of grocery stores, doctors' offices, and other services that require driving. Some of my neighbors have health issues and no longer drive after dark. Over time, their driving will be further limited.

It's six miles to most shopping from my neighborhood with a 500 foot elevation drop. Medical offices near the "good" hospitals" are more than 15 miles away. My neighbors are slowly realizing that easy access to these places will become critical as they age. No public transit here, leaving Uber as the likely alternative, at least in the current environment. Some people have decided not to retrofit, but instead to move closer to family or near the locations of the things they need.

So, in addition to amenities like view and noise, I would think about where you want to live when your interest in driving and your ability to drive decline. If the locations of the two houses will not suit you in your mid-70's, I would look at properties that would be more appropriate.

Being a landlord is a financial and personal choice. I suspect it's a good time to sell in Oahu, but that's not much help.

 

[W2R]

It's been a while since I've started a thread here, yet this forum might have more members with the landlord experience I'm seeking.

I'd also appreciate hearing from those of you who have had to personally work through an age-in-place challenge.

Some of you may have already seen this question on the Bogleheads forum, and now I'm trying to widen the audience a little.

My spouse and I own two pieces of Oahu real estate which (so far) have been difficult to replicate. Our rental is much better than our home for aging in place, yet I've had about enough of landlording. I wonder whether we're working too hard for a rental bird in the hand that we might not use for decades.

We're trying to figure out the best way to choose an age-in-place home. We know that we could adapt our current home as necessary, or at least stop using the upstairs bedroom. (Our current home has much better views and a quieter location.) If a health crisis happens, then how much time/hassle would it take to find a place which could be adapted to our new needs & limits?

Is it worth landlording for another 30 years (potentially the rest of my life) to hold on to the ideal age-in-place home? Or is there a solution with less hassle?

We know that a property manager will resolve most of our landlord issues (or at least trade them for different problems). Yet my questions are more about the responsibilities and stewardship of landlords, not the labor. If a property manager is the right answer then that's what we'll do-- but I'd hate to overlook a better answer.

Since you have had enough of landlording, I think you should stop doing it ASAP.

OK, now that we've solved that part of the problem...

The question becomes, should you plan to:

(1) age in place in your present home and sell the rental,
(2) age in place in your rental, and sell your present home, or
(3) sell both and buy another home that is suitable for aging in place?

Personally, I'd choose (2). If your rental would be a great place to age in place, and you already own it, I don't see the down side. You can live in an elderly friendly home just as easily when you are young, as when you are older.

Besides, most elderly friendly homes are much easier to navigate if one of you should break a leg or something like that, while still young.

My new-to-me "dream house" that I bought and moved into in 2015, was previously owned by an elderly, disabled woman. I absolutely love the modifications. Some of them are very helpful, and it's nice to know that the other modifications are already done and ready for me later on.

I can't emphasize too much that moving when you are over 65 can be extremely demanding (physically and mentally) compared with moving when you are in your 50's. Been there, done that, and it can be pretty rugged. The mind tells us that we can do things that the body just can't quite manage to do. So, the idea of waiting until a crisis and THEN moving does not sound appealing at all, to me.

One last final observation - - if the thought of living in your rental doesn't "float your boat" right now, due to the lack of view and noisier location, why would your opinion of it change when you get older? If the idea of living there isn't appealing, then I'd move to solution (3) above.

 

[97guns]

Think about location to medical when choosing, some parts of Oahu can be pretty rural. I have lots of family there and the RE market is on fire there, it wouldn't be hard to sell

 

[RunningBum]

I wonder if, in 30 years, there will be so many more advancements in making homes adaptable for the aged that your rental really isn't so well suited by then? I don't know what that would be, and I know there are certain things like one-level living with few or no stairs, and close access to medical, that will always be helpful. Just thinking out loud that you may keep the rental for 20 years and then realize it's not going to work, and you had to deal with continuing to be a landlord.

And is it really well built such that it won't take a lot of maintenance in 30 years when you're no longer wanting to deal with that?

Any chance that you'll want to move elsewhere, maybe to be near your daughter at some point?

Other than that, I can't think of any better solution than a management company. Whether they'll screen tenants to your satisfaction is probably the biggest issue. Which aspect of being a landlord is giving you the most irritation? Or is it a bit of anything and everything?

 

[Senator]

Sell them and do a 1031 exchange to a more suitable property. Rent that property for two years, then move into it.

 

[Moemg]

If I really loved my house and it was okay for aging except for the upstairs bedroom I would stay in place and consider the upstairs as a guest room . That way you could ignore it except when company is coming .As for the rental only you know when enough is enough . Also aren't you too young to be worrying about aging in place ? I remember you as a hip surfer in his 40's .

 

[Rambler]

Interesting thread, and good to see you posting here, Nords...haven't seen any for a while (but I don't hang around as much I used to, either).

A couple of things I learned while landlording:
1) it gets old when you've cleaned up and repaired deliberate or accidental damage multiple times
2) some nice neighborhoods where we've bought nice rentals ended up being pretty slummy after 10-15 years. Not sure about your rental's neighborhood, but I'd hate to see y'all move there to age in place but not be able to stand it because of the deterioration in the neighborhood.

So, if I were to go back to W2R's suggestions, I'd think that I'd take a serious look at option 3, sell it all and go to a neighborhood where you'd feel comfortable aging in place. That said, if you can swing it financially, and if it makes financial sense in Oahu to do so, (and with steadily rising values, I suspect it might), you may want to keep both, rent them both out, and move to the location that suits you best for aging in place. You could of course use an agent if it made life easier for you. Then you could sell down the road if and when it suits you.

We aren't even that old yet, but we've had to begin thinking more seriously about this aging thing as well. With DW not being able to drive yet (started having seizures last year and has been restricted for the time being) and with me having a few potential problems pop up recently, we've had to get more serious with the "what happens if...?" scenarios.

 

[Mdlerth]

Dear Nords,

I wonder if you are confounding two unrelated issues. Perhaps you should consider them separately.

You are tired of landlording. That's simple: get out of the rental business. Sell the property and park the proceeds in some different investment.

You are living in a house that is ideal now. Ergo, stay in the house. A time may come when living in your current house ceases to be ideal. When that time arrives, find the house that meets your needs then.

I think your dilemma arises from thinking you need to choose between the two properties you currently own. Really, there's no end of other options.

Good luck!

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Sell them and do a 1031 exchange to a more suitable property. Rent that property for two years, then move into it.

This makes a lot of sense to me, because you avoid a tax burden twice, and in just 2 years, you end up in the home of your choice.

I had 2 properties in DC 'burbs that were both rentals up until recently. Made decent money from the first one, but would have done much better in the stock market during the 7 years it was rented out if I invested our equity. And would have also saved lots of stress and extra work. The second rental property was our home before we moved to Europe in 2015. We just moved back and it is once again our primary residence. Very happy to be out of the landlording game here. [emoji4]

 

[brucethebroker]

We have a rental with a large, private backyard. Our personal home (4 years, nearly a record for us!) is larger, and is within walking distance to many amenities, but has a lousy yard/view. The neighborhood of our personal home has skyrocketing values currently, the rental sale value is good enough, but not as high.

Similar to you, I am looking at options. All things considered, reducing our rental properties by one is an interesting consideration, if the numbers work. I have looked at the 1031 exchange, but have no desire to buy a new rental and move into it (after a couple of years). What really is tempting, is to sell our current personal home, take the tax free profits, and move into the rental. We would have one less rental, AND escape the recapture of depreciation (while we live in it) and could put the tax free cash into non-real estate investments to replace the lost income. If we age in place in the rental until we die, our kids inherit on a stepped up basis and escape depreciation recapture.

Both the rental and our current home are ranches. Our current home has a basement-the rental has enough land to build a large storage building.

Just a consideration from someone looking at a similar situation.

 

[Alan]

We did the property management thing for 6 years while renting out a house but it was still a hassle for us even though we had good responsible tenants so when they moved out we sold the house.

Both sets of parents loved the houses they lived in and modified them as they aged by putting in downstairs half-bathrooms and a chair lift to the upstairs bedrooms which was certainly no impediment to visitors who came to stay, particularly those of us with children.

This year we bought the house we plan to age in. It is on the edge of a National Park but very close to medical facilities and it has excellent bus service to the larger cities. The house itself has the master bedroom downstairs with bathroom and shower. Upstairs has 2 bedrooms and another full bathroom for visitors. When the time comes we can also put in a chair lift as well.

We had some truly awful news this morning. DW's older sister just told her that her husband has pancreatic cancer that has already spread to liver and lungs and is inoperable so chemo is the only option available. Two years ago they modified the house they love and lived in for 30 years by upgrading their downstairs half-bathroom to a full bathroom with shower. They already have a good size room downstairs that is unused at present and can easily become a bedroom. (Upstairs they have 5 bedrooms). BIL is aged 66 and was one of the fittest folks I know with no family history of cancer, in fact his mother just died about a week ago in her late 80s.

Nords, it is good that you are thinking about these issues now while you are both fit and healthy.

 

[Koolau]

Our foray into the "age in place" issue happened suddenly when DW tore a tendon. We found that our apt. wasn't accessible enough for her needs. We fixed everything and completed several other needed projects at the same time. By the time DW was mended, all the projects were complete. If I'm making a point it would be to decide where you desire to live. Fix it now for the potential accessibility needs of the future. Those needs can come quickly. In the mean time decide whether you want to stay in the landlord business or not. Personally, we did the landlord thing when it was a necessity but got out the minute it wasn't. It's too much like w*rk for me. YMMV

 

[donheff]

As another poster asked is the issue the house or the neighborhood? Most houses can be adapted with stair lifts and the like if needed. Maybe not as well as another house but often good enough for the short period of time before you die from the broken hip. But the lack of good, accessible transportation options can be a deal breaker. The "Village" movement in a lot of urban communities has arisen to help seniors deal with this and other issues that come up in old age.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Save your DD some future stress and sell one and live in the other, modified to your future needs.

 

[MarieIG]

Well, someone like Senator has the experience with the landlord gig. I do recall my DF had a rental in Florida, while we lived in NY. He had an agency, but they were less than stellar. A tenant would tear the place apart, and they would send my father a letter that either he had to fix it or they would hire someone to fix it. He would then spend his vacations fixing that place up. I recall on one occasion he was contacted by the FBI. Seems that one of the tenants (who skipped out on the rent) was a wanted criminal. Perhaps with the credit checks nowadays, that is a thing of the past.

Part II - living at home, to follow under separate cover.

 

[Nords]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm beginning to realize that we haven't overlooked any easier options.

Sell them and do a 1031 exchange to a more suitable property. Rent that property for two years, then move into it.

Selling both properties would certainly happen quickly in this bubbleicious market, yet the one we're living in now is the mythical "forever home". While the rental (and its neighborhood) are more walkable, I'm not willing to give up our home's views and the larger (quieter) lot.

We know that we'd rather own than rent (especially in our elder years) to avoid being subject to a landlord's move-out notice. We've covered the island in search of suitable substitutes, and so far they're all slightly different versions of what we're living in now. We look at open houses every week or two (mostly on Zillow, occasionally in person) and nothing screams "Buy it!!" like our home did 17 years ago. Personally I'd be quite happy to spend the rest of my life in this home.

I can't help with the landlord part, but we remodeled our current house before we moved in to be accessible for DH who uses a motorized wheelchair.
Good luck with the decisions!

The problem is not the accessibility of the house, it's accessibility of grocery stores, doctors' offices, and other services that require driving. Some of my neighbors have health issues and no longer drive after dark. Over time, their driving will be further limited.
So, in addition to amenities like view and noise, I would think about where you want to live when your interest in driving and your ability to drive decline. If the locations of the two houses will not suit you in your mid-70's, I would look at properties that would be more appropriate.

I wonder if, in 30 years, there will be so many more advancements in making homes adaptable for the aged that your rental really isn't so well suited by then? I don't know what that would be, and I know there are certain things like one-level living with few or no stairs, and close access to medical, that will always be helpful. Just thinking out loud that you may keep the rental for 20 years and then realize it's not going to work, and you had to deal with continuing to be a landlord.
And is it really well built such that it won't take a lot of maintenance in 30 years when you're no longer wanting to deal with that?

Think about location to medical when choosing, some parts of Oahu can be pretty rural. I have lots of family there and the RE market is on fire there, it wouldn't be hard to sell

As another poster asked is the issue the house or the neighborhood?

These comments sparked an interesting epiphany. I've been focused on the rental property's more walkable neighborhood: a shopping center a block away, a large municipal park across the street. Yet with autonomous vehicles, Uber, and delivery services... maybe I'm stuck in 1980s thinking. Our finances are not an issue, and when everything is a delivery away then maybe the neighborhood walkability isn't so important either.

Medical is good. Both properties are in Central Oahu (15 minutes apart) and both are a mere 30-minute ambulance ride to Tripler or Queens. Our local clinic is an intern/residency site for the local medical school, and I'm very happy with them. Both neighborhoods are built out and seem stable. Good schools, upper-income families, many long-term residents (40 years or more).

Both properties are pretty much the same for maintenance & repairs. Our home has more yardwork (bigger lot, steep hillside) and our rental has a low-maintenance yard. In any case I'd outsource the yardwork (or cut down the home's 120 feet of bougainvillea hedges) when I feel that I can no longer handle it. No financial issues there either, just a different type of hassle after switching from labor to management.

Neither house really needs remodeling for aging in place, although our home has an upstairs master suite (and two downstairs bedrooms) while our rental is all single-level. We've read about Universal Design for nearly a decade and we've already implemented a lot of it.

Unless you are renting by the week or another short term rental, how much of a hassle is it really to stay a landlord?

BTW, she STILL owns it even thought they are both retired and have much more money than they want to spend... both have pensions plus what is saved...

Any chance that you'll want to move elsewhere, maybe to be near your daughter at some point?
Other than that, I can't think of any better solution than a management company. Whether they'll screen tenants to your satisfaction is probably the biggest issue. Which aspect of being a landlord is giving you the most irritation? Or is it a bit of anything and everything?

A couple of things I learned while landlording:
1) it gets old when you've cleaned up and repaired deliberate or accidental damage multiple times
2) some nice neighborhoods where we've bought nice rentals ended up being pretty slummy after 10-15 years. Not sure about your rental's neighborhood, but I'd hate to see y'all move there to age in place but not be able to stand it because of the deterioration in the neighborhood.

Personally, we did the landlord thing when it was a necessity but got out the minute it wasn't. It's too much like w*rk for me. YMMV

I do recall my DF had a rental in Florida, while we lived in NY. He had an agency, but they were less than stellar. A tenant would tear the place apart, and they would send my father a letter that either he had to fix it or they would hire someone to fix it. He would then spend his vacations fixing that place up.

We did the property management thing for 6 years while renting out a house but it was still a hassle for us even though we had good responsible tenants so when they moved out we sold the house.

We had some truly awful news this morning.

Nords, it is good that you are thinking about these issues now while you are both fit and healthy.

Alan, I'm sorry to read about your BIL. Nobody is ever ready to deal with that.

We're good landlords and we run it like a business, but I've had enough of the responsibility and the stewardship. I especially dislike the "customer service" time pressure to "Fix it now!" (submarine slogan) when a water valve breaks or an appliance dies. It's my personal problem rather than any issue with the tenants, and I don't see any reason to impose that stress on myself anymore.

I'm not leaving the islands to be closer to our daughter, even though I love her! Surfing is a big part of my life and I can't replicate that in Mainland water (or temperatures). I've put a lot of thought into this part of my life, and talked through it with a surfer friend who's in a wheelchair (yet still paddling a surf ski). My spouse feels the same way about island life-- every time we travel we ask "Could we live here?" and the answer has always been "Sure, but why would we want to leave Hawaii?"

We have a property manager in mind if we decide to go that way. They're one of the island's largest, run by a submarine vet and his spouse (who's the daughter of a submariner). They seem to do good work and I think we'd get along.

The question becomes, should you plan to:
(1) age in place in your present home and sell the rental,
(2) age in place in your rental, and sell your present home, or
(3) sell both and buy another home that is suitable for aging in place?

Personally, I'd choose (2). If your rental would be a great place to age in place, and you already own it, I don't see the down side. You can live in an elderly friendly home just as easily when you are young, as when you are older.

One last final observation - - if the thought of living in your rental doesn't "float your boat" right now, due to the lack of view and noisier location, why would your opinion of it change when you get older? If the idea of living there isn't appealing, then I'd move to solution (3) above.

These are great points. I favor (1) and my spouse wants (2) someday, yet she might not execute for >20 years. So far neither of us has found a (3).

Some of our difference of opinion is that she tolerates landlording more than I do. Another part is her comfort of knowing that the rental is an "old lady house" (her term!) to move into at a moment's notice. (There wouldn't be any hassle of scouring the island to find a place, make an offer, and close on the purchase.) But I think she sees herself walking to the rental's nearby grocery store (as I did) instead of appreciating delivery services. That really reduces the benefit of the rental's more walkable neighborhood.

Between our genetics and our family history, it's more likely that we'd get both (1) and (2). I'd age in place in (1) and die here. She'd spend another 20 years doing (2) after I'm gone. Essentially I'd serve a life sentence at landlord with no parole for good behavior.

But as Alan points out, life plans can be disrupted at any time.

Save your DD some future stress and sell one and live in the other, modified to your future needs.

There's a fantasy that our daughter and her spouse would someday move to the islands, start their family, and live in our home to send their hypothetical kid(s) to their Mom's old schools. (We grandparents would move to our rental.) Our daughter says she's at least two years away from starting a family (although I think she plans to involve her spouse in that project...) so we're a couple of decades away from any hypothetical high-school graduations.

Personally I think my spouse is a lot more enamored of that fantasy than our daughter might be. I have unpleasant flashbacks whenever I visit my old high school or college, and I think my spouse has similar flashbacks at hers. I'm pretty sure that our daughter feels the same way about her high school. We parents didn't want our daughter to attend our old high schools or college. Why would our daughter want to send their kids to her old high school to relive her drama & angst?

I'm trying to stay far away from that family-discussion minefield. My spouse and I already agree (and have promised our daughter) that no matter where she and her spouse decide to live, we'll pay for their plane tickets for the rest of our lives. That's a lot easier than landlording, too.

Also aren't you too young to be worrying about aging in place ? I remember you as a hip surfer in his 40's .

Uh, yeah. I'm 56 now. 15 years of ER went fast, didn't it? I'm glad I didn't save it for old age.

Although I am a nuke, and I tend to anticipate and plan way sooner than necessary, in this case it's more about landlording and less about the early osteoarthritis in my knees.

Our tenants have been in the rental for over eight years (100 months!) and they're moving out next week. We have a six-week rehab planned for the kitchen & bathrooms, as well as porcelain tile in every area except the bedrooms. We're also fixing the long-term problems that we couldn't do with tenants in the property.

We'll see how much we enjoy this tenant-turnover part of being landlords. We'll resume our landlording discussion after we get the new tenants settled in, and maybe by then our thinking will have evolved.

 

[W2R]

don't settle! LOL This can be worked through (I think)

Trying to pick out some quotes that I think are important:

the one we're living in now is the mythical "forever home". While the rental (and its neighborhood) are more walkable, I'm not willing to give up our home's views and the larger (quieter) lot.

So you must keep your present home.

Some of our difference of opinion is that she tolerates landlording more than I do. Another part is her comfort of knowing that the rental is an "old lady house" (her term!) to move into at a moment's notice. (There wouldn't be any hassle of scouring the island to find a place, make an offer, and close on the purchase.)

So you cannot sell your rental, either.

I think that since you must keep both houses, and since you are not willing to be a landlord any more, you are in a real bind unless one of you changes his/her mind.

What you need is to get her, or both of you, to change your mind, so try this: Could you have your real estate man show you some great retire-in-place homes right now? Maybe your DW would see that there are many "old lady houses" that she could easily fall in love with. Then maybe you can get the "OK" to sell the rental.

Once the rental is out of the picture, I think the decision will be easier. Fewer "moving parts" make decisions simpler. Either you could:

(a) buy a better "old lady house", sell your present home, and move into the new house (which might be quieter with an even better view), or

(b) start modifying your present home for aging in place.

Either way, your landlord days are over.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just throwing out another thought.... and I did NOT go back to read the OP to see if it was addressed...


Try and trade your rental to your landlord for what you have now.... plus whatever difference is needed to get them on par...


Everything is then taken care of and you are now your own landlord!!!

 

[pb4uski]

Nords, why not try outsourcing the landlording to a property manager for a year or two to get a better sense of how it works for you?

You may be able to have the best of both worlds... stay in your current house but have the current rental on deck if it needed. If it doesn't work for you then you're in the same position that you are today and you can sell the rental and plan how to set up your current home to age in place most conveniently.

 

[Nords]

Trying to pick out some quotes that I think are important:
I think that since you must keep both houses, and since you are not willing to be a landlord any more, you are in a real bind unless one of you changes his/her mind.

What you need is to get her, or both of you, to change your mind, so try this: Could you have your real estate man show you some great retire-in-place homes right now? Maybe your DW would see that there are many "old lady houses" that she could easily fall in love with. Then maybe you can get the "OK" to sell the rental.

Once the rental is out of the picture, I think the decision will be easier. Fewer "moving parts" make decisions simpler. Either you could:

(a) buy a better "old lady house", sell your present home, and move into the new house (which might be quieter with an even better view), or

(b) start modifying your present home for aging in place.

Either way, your landlord days are over.

That's exactly right.

We've looked around during the last decade. We're real-estate junkies and we go to a lot of open houses and home shows. We bought both our properties (after hard, lengthy searches) at large discounts with lots of sweat equity, and we've had a tough time finding our values in any of the other neighborhoods. We've looked from Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Tantalus, Round Top, all the way through Waialae Iki and Aiea Heights and up on the North Shore (Haleiwa, Pupukea), Kaneohe, Kailua, and around to Mililani Mauka. We've seen some very interesting neighborhoods with high-end seven-figure places, yet not enough to evoke that "Buy it now!" reaction again.

A few months ago we were at an acquaintance's party at their $10M Diamond Head home. By "Diamond Head" I mean the ocean is at the bottom of his front yard, and the peak is looming up directly in his back yard. You can look down on his home (and his outdoor second kitchen and his pool and his cabana) from the Diamond Head Lookout, and it's practically at your feet.

We took a long look around that neighborhood-- both in person and on Zillow-- and of course we're priced out of about 99% of it. But it was interesting to see how our he was very concerned about home security: motion sensors, reinforced doors & windows, cameras, expensive art. The home owned him. He has a net worth of at least $40M and yet... he's hostage to several homes and other expensive possessions.

Perhaps our better home for us is out there somewhere, but the bird-in-the-hand syndrome is very hard to give up. The search continues, and if we find something then there'll be another long, thoughtful discussion about trading in our other properties.

We don't seem to be overlooking any other options.

Nords, why not try outsourcing the landlording to a property manager for a year or two to get a better sense of how it works for you?

Yep. I'm going to wait on that discussion until we finish the rehab (mid-September?) and have new tenants in place (October, or November at the latest). By then we might both have new perspectives on how we want to spend our time.

 

[Moemg]

Nords , 56 is still young so you have plenty of time to figure out these problems . Congratulations on your daughter getting married !