Rustico, not morbid at all. We’ll all die so it’s good to think about it.

My auntie sold her house at 82 years old because she couldn’t deal with the garden anymore. She’s now 84, does not take any pills and is still alive and kicking. If I had not talked her out of it, she would’ve bought some overpriced condo.

Anyway, she now shares my dad’s house and spends 1/2 of the year traveling. I told her to enjoy herself, spend all her money and not leave anything for anyone. But that’s very difficult for her to do because the only thing she spend money on is food. She loves to eat all kinds of exotic (but healthy) stuff.

She’s too old to travel by herself now, but if she were younger, she could rent in London, or Sydney, or Paris for part of the year. Wouldn’t it be great for a senior to rent in Rome and study art and Italian (universities are virtually free in Europe and the rent/buy delta is even greater than in America)?

I do think that seniors who sold should rent because in a market that will stagnate for 10 years +, there’s no upside to buying.

Nodunk, you can rent a downtown condo for 1/2 the cost of buying and use the difference to enjoy your retirement ($3,000/mo for $1 million condo at The Grande). Then watch the listings for the right time to re-enter the market. If you’re worried about decorating requirements, decorating a downtown condo you rent vs. decorating a condo you own is exactly the same thing. The advantage of renting is that when your current kitchen is out of date, you can easily move to another unit that has better cabinets and granite. 🙂 If your view is ever obstructed, ask for a rent reduction or move to one with a better view.

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Homeownership is like a religion that is deeply ingrained into us. But if we think of housing as a commodity called shelter, we can then more easily look for the best value for our money.