Effect of baby-boomers retiring

[FI@35]

On our daily walk this morning, my DW and I were discussing our plans to relocate to the SW next year for the lower cost of living. She was making a case for renting initially but then buying something once we find a town we like. Her rationale was that as the baby-boomers move into retirement, they will buy up all the good real-estate in the SW, driving up the prices out of our reach.

Do you think she's right? I'm curious whether anyone else is taking the approach of buying in a low cost area now to lock in a low monthly payment with the assumption that the baby-boomers will drive up the prices over the next 10 years.

[kaudrey]

I think every generation things about this in some respects.

Example: My parents (who are pre-Baby Boomers) bought land with lake access 25 years ago on the lake we used to vacation on in NH. They bought it then because they wanted to buy it before lake front property went sky high.

13 years after they bought the land, they retired and built a house on it. That was 12 years ago, when they FIRE'd at 57.

If you know where you want to be, I am a big fan of owning vs renting, but I guess I don't think of it in Baby Boomer terms yet.

Karen

[TomSimpsonAZ]

Is this post 10 years old?

It has already happened!

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomSimpsonAZ Is this post 10 years old? It has already happened!

Not everywhere....yet

In my low cost part of the SW (south TX) it isn't so much the baby-boomers buying and driving up prices as individual speculators investors from both coasts.

Builders of tract homes have, for the first time ever, begun including clauses in their purchase contracts to discourage investors from buying large numbers of new homes. Some individuals have attempted to buy 12 to 15 new homes in a neighborhood, striking fear in the hearts wallets of local developers who know large numbers of rentals will scare off indivdual buyers.

The residential RE market has really heated up this year, both figuratively and literally. Prices are up about 10% over the past 12 months and builders cannot keep up with demand. A recent article in the paper reported plans to build 100,000 new homes during the next 10 years on the western edge of San Antonio.

Yes, I know this is probably chickenfeed compared to what's happened elsewhere, but the RE boom bypassed this area until now. We're always way behind here in flyover country.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo! Builders of tract homes have, for the first time ever, begun including clauses in their purchase contracts to discourage investors from buying large numbers of new homes.* Some individuals have attempted to buy 12 to 15 new homes in a neighborhood, striking fear in the hearts wallets of local developers who know large numbers of rentals will scare off indivdual buyers.

also builders don't need their own buyers going into competition with them before a project is sold-out.

my brother bought two parcels on a lake in tenn. one direct lakefront, the other across the street from the lake but with a slip at the local marina. he thinks he'll build both, sell one and eventually retire to the other. he & sil looked in sw but they worry about future water wars there.

before reading all the information the good people on this forum share about investing, i would have only thought owning property was required. now i'm considering maybe getting rid of the house in a year or three and living overseas for a few years. then moving onto a boat, then move back ashore when i'm too old for boating. my brother is very upset that i might not purchase even some land after i sell the house. we were both conditioned that real estate is the ultimate security.

for now i'm not so sure how i feel about being sans real estate. i'll have to see how comfortable i get with investing and to that end i am studying studying studying.