3 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy a House When You Retire

Planning for your future retirement will require you to look at your finances holistically. Not only do you have to think about whether you have enough money to sustain daily life, you also have to understand what that day looks like when you’re the captain of your own ship.

Are you going to take a part-time job? Are you going to travel or start a business? These are all things you need to consider when planning your financial future. It is also important to consider whether you will own a home in retirement, as home ownership often accounts for half of a person’s living expenses.

While I am a firm advocate for the power of real estate ownership, I also recognize that it is not for everyone. Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t buy a home in retirement.

1. You want to travel

There are many concrete financial reasons why you shouldn’t buy a house when you retire, but perhaps the most important reason is that you don’t want to be stuck in one place. If your retirement plans include travel, you need to have the freedom to live in Airbnbs or buy an RV and drive it across the planet or spend half the year on a cruise ship and the other half visiting your grandchildren.

Even if you get a mortgage with one of the best mortgage rates, it’s still an extra expense that binds you rather than frees you.

2. Cost of owning a home

Buying a house is one thing, owning it is another. Depending on where your home is located and what type of home it is, you may find that owning a home has significant costs.

For example, the cost of homeowners insurance is simply too high right now in places like Florida and the Texas Gulf Coast. Even in Missouri, homeowners’ insurance rates have skyrocketed, and we’re not even in a tornado zone.

And that’s not all. There are also maintenance costs and emergency expenses, which Angi estimates will be about $2,458 and $1,667, respectively, in 2023. Even if you’re away for most of the year, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify spending money on your home. This goes doubly so when your budget is limited and you have to make a lot of difficult choices about money in general.

3. The amount of time and energy a house consumes

But owning a home requires more than money. It also takes time; If you have a long to-do list in retirement, you may not have much time. Even if you can do your maintenance and repairs yourself, you may not want to. And are you cleaning a house that’s much bigger than you really need? Forget about it.

According to a 2022 Angi survey, homeowners spend approximately 44 hours per month (equivalent to an entire paid workweek) maintaining their homes. If you don’t enjoy owning a home, you certainly won’t enjoy keeping it all the time.

This also goes back to things like traveling or just doing whatever you want. The home you own is your problem and commitment, and you will need to balance its needs with your own.

Owning a home in retirement is not for everyone

Owning a home is not a guaranteed solution to everyone’s financial problems in retirement. For many people, housing can be an additional headache that they neither want nor need. If you disagree, go ahead and Check out our list of the best mortgage lenders to help you buy your retirement home.

Whether you rent or buy in retirement, you should look at all your options to make sure you’re making a decision that’s right for you now and in the future.