Cut-Throat
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Is this the Woodlands area just north of Houston? --- If so, I thought those homes were Multi-Dollar McMansions?
How much to budget for retirement home
- Thread starter corn18
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Is this the Woodlands area just north of Houston? --- If so, I thought those homes were Multi-Dollar McMansions?
We lived there for 12 years and that is just what we used to say to keep the riff raff out
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
There are some McMansions around here, but not in most Woodlands neighborhoods. Like here's ours:
WHTheWoodlands
Homes in ours ranges from low $200's to mid $300's.
+1. I too am in the process of closing on a retirement home and I used 10% of net worth as a guide. The home I found came in at 8%, but I will put in another 2% in renovations so I’ll be right on target. Real estate prices are pretty high in this area ($400-700 per sqft), so I did not get as much house as I would have liked. But this is where I want to live, so I am happy nonetheless.
Hopefully, if I can retire to a Kentucky piece of property in the 50-100 acre range, and have a running farm/homestead like we do In Northern Ohio on 10 acres, but with far fewer expenses, and way less taxes.
My dream home could be 1/2 the size of my current 2000 SF farmhouse, and I would be perfectly happy with a 1 story floor plan, and a full walk out basement. Of course this also includes an animal barn, and a shop/barn on the property....lots of foreclosures from people who still tried to make a go out it WHILE working.
My dream home could be 1/2 the size of my current 2000 SF farmhouse, and I would be perfectly happy with a 1 story floor plan, and a full walk out basement. Of course this also includes an animal barn, and a shop/barn on the property....lots of foreclosures from people who still tried to make a go out it WHILE working.
COcheesehead
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
What blew my mind is the cost of building vs buying existing. Its a 50% premium to build in our area.
We started out going down the design/build road and it just got crazy. I commend anyone who sticks through the process. Whacky builders, whacky designers, constraints from local planners. We went through two builders and 2 different lots. We finally said "enough!" We luckily got all our money back. We ended up buying a home that is only a year old, but about $100/sq ft less than what a new build would have cost. We are doing a light remodel, sticking about $25,000 into it, but it has the location we were looking for. Its hard to remodel location.
Offgrid Organic Farmer
Full time employment: Posting here.
Our current home is assessed at $90k. It has an interior of 2400 sq ft, with an overall roof footprint of 4900 sq ft [which includes a 4 vehicle carport and wrap-around porch on all four sides of the house], 2bdrm, on 150 acres of dense forest land, with 1/4 mile of river frontage. We have grid power, AND we have solar-power with batteries. Our taxes are $850/year.
We have lived here for 13 years. We know a few people who have retired in this area, to buy 3 or 4bdrm farmhouses on 80-acres of land, turn-key farm operations, for $80k.
We have lived here for 13 years. We know a few people who have retired in this area, to buy 3 or 4bdrm farmhouses on 80-acres of land, turn-key farm operations, for $80k.
W2R
Moderator Emeritus
Wow - - I never heard of this guideline. Just HAD to try it, so after reading your posts I figured out my net worth and the percentage.
It works! My retirement house is 9.78% of my net worth. It really surprised me to discover this.
Teacher Terry
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I have lived in many different sizes through the years so I knew 1400 would be plenty big for 2. It also has a 1 car garage and a large shed. It was important to us to have a guest bedroom.
steelyman
Moderator Emeritus
Good for you! I hadn’t heard of this rule of thumb either. I do recall reading somewhere (no idea where) something about shooting for home equity of about 1/3 of net worth but that may have been directed at the early-stage people (vs retirees).
W2R
Moderator Emeritus
Yes, and in my net worth computations I was including the hypothetical lump sum value of my monthly SS and pension deposits, which I would not have had earlier in life. Otherwise the percentage would have been higher.
Shabby
Recycles dryer sheets
You are about to get 3 pages of answers asking for more info. But, like you, I know where you are at when you ask things like this, so allow me to help with my 2 cents.
I am in a larger home now as well that should sell for about 900k. I would like to downsize to get additional money to invest and have a smaller space to upkeep. Like you I was unsure of where, but made a list of the top 10 choices. Researched a lot! I plugged in $600k for my final home. Felt I could get a decent home anywhere I would want for that. Size of home will vary on location, but $600k seemed solid.
Not that you asked, but here was my location list in no particular order:
Charleston SC
Delray Beach, FL (Likely my winner)
Pinehurst, NC
Tampa, FL
Jacksonville, FL
New Orleans
Denver
San Diego (North Solano Beach)
Arizona-Phoenix
Sonoma or Napa
Shabby
Recycles dryer sheets
OMG, even the Wikipedia page for Southlake, TX has pics of these homes on it. LOL. Impressive!
Needless to say that house here in Seattle would be $4MM+
steelyman
Moderator Emeritus
Makes sense (I hope hope nobody steers this into net worth calculations). It would be interesting to use both as a means of bracketing a price range for a purchase/budget.
Rustic23
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
You might have just ask "How long is a piece of string"
It's up to you and you spouse if $500,000 is enough. In my neighborhood it is twice a much as you need for 2,500 sq. ft. brand new. However, if you want it on the lake, then it may not be enough. On the golf course, some where in the middle. So the long and short of it is??
It's up to you and you spouse if $500,000 is enough. In my neighborhood it is twice a much as you need for 2,500 sq. ft. brand new. However, if you want it on the lake, then it may not be enough. On the golf course, some where in the middle. So the long and short of it is
??
NorthNola
Dryer sheet wannabe
You’ve probably thought of this but I think where is much more important. I’ve had my vacation/retirement home for about 12 years. Actually just upgraded to a bigger condo. But I spent about 2 years reading and studying up and visiting on the where. That helped me plan for the how much. There is so much about the decision that isn’t just money related and I’ve read a lot of posts on this site where the retirement transition is more difficult because of moving to a new area. Im not a golf or beach person so easy access to restaurants, music, theater, low cost museums and ways to get involved in the community were important so I picked the city based on those factors. Unfortunately I have family members who chose based on price and didnt do their due diligence on activities, churches, neighborhoods and the change has been rough. It’s a big decision. Good luck with your choice!!
OP
OP
corn18
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Moving to San Antonio. Del Webb. 1900 sq ft. $285M. Big enough for me and my girl friend.
$285M? Yikes!
Interesting I just searched my county, 182 listed above $500k, 86 of those above 750k. I live in one of 2 states friendly to middle class not getting squeezed out by upper...supposedly.
I would be lucky if mine sold for $500k, but I know I could sell tomorrow for 450.
1076 total for sale in the county. So 85% of the folks in my county live in homes less than 500k, or said another way, the top 15% live in 500k plus homes. SO close to top10, lol.
jkern
Full time employment: Posting here.
Just a little funny (maybe envious) to me when people say they can get a nice house almost anywhere for $500K. i live in the SF Bay Area.
Offgrid Organic Farmer
Full time employment: Posting here.
I agree.
In this area, you can buy a huge farmhouse on 80+ acres for under $100k, which is why we have the highest percentage of retirees of any state.
flintnational
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WestUniversity
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Size wise and price wise we will probably end up in a house similar to our current one, which is paid off. [emoji106]Our 3-5 year plan is to move to a much smaller town. We’ve been looking at everything from buying a lot in an acreage development and using a custom home builder to buying something as is. We’ll see what the next several years brings...
