At this point, with so much of a turn-off and fear of housing, I do not want to own. The thought of owning a house is repulsive to me, today. My landlord and I are signing a 2-year lease at current rent. I am comfortable and happy with my deal. If I had $800K cash, I would not use it to buy a house. I would wait 5 years and get a $1.6 mil house at the coast for $800K. I would still seek that sweet deal, and am willing to wait for it. Maybe because I love where I live, and I don’t care whether I own or rent.
I think it’s sweet that your kids want to own your homes, and I never wanted to say anything against it for sdrealtor, because I didn’t want to upset him. But really, how likely is it that your kids and their wife will decide to stay in SD? Your sons may get job offers of their dreams in Florida, or the new wife may get a surgery position of her dreams in Connecticut, or your son may get a promotion which takes him to San Francisco, and then he will leave the childhood house….I wouldn’t count on them staying in the family house. This is rare even in Germany these days, which is my heritage and my uncle and greataunts stayed in their parents’ homes and died there. However, the next generation is mobile, and goes where the job takes them. The job-for-life dream has disappeared, and everyone is mobile now. So I wouldn’t make my decision on where my kids might live, or make them feel guilty for not wanting to stay…Just a thought. Please don’t be upset by this suggestion. It’s just a possibility to consider.