Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (Missouri, Santa Fe)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
[quote=MN2CO;7720188]Wisteria - If you rent, you'll need the mortgage amt + property tax + an amount to put in a pot for potental repairs.
MN2CO, In regard to Wisteria, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the above comment. If you rent, the monthly payment may be a lot cheaper, and you do not pay property tax and repairs as a renter. If your mortgage is say $1000/month (and that does not include property tax, homeowner insurance, water, sewer, etc), and instead you put that $1000/month into a rental (to get you through a couple of years until retirement), you are probably ahead of the game financially (also, a lot of rents where I am in a high-price college area include utilities....you only need maybe 4 rooms, not a whole house)....and when you are ready to retire, off you go without having to unload your house. Of course this only works if you are sure you want to leave your area once you retire, otherwise you may have regrets selling your house. But Wisteria seems to be sticking with the house and location because of her job. It's a simple solution to put the house on the market...no one's forcing her to sell, and who knows, she may get a decent offer...she's in no rush since she has several more years she wants to work. The worst scenario is to be at the point of wanting to move but being stuck for months even years on end if you can't sell. BTW, I still maintain that for women at our age, it may be best to try to sell now. Who wants to be trying to unload a houseful of possessions and a house at age 65 or 70? And as I suggested in an earlier post, when the boomers start unloading their properties to go into 55+ communities or assisted living, there's going to be a huge inventory of houses for sale all across the country, and this, added to a possibly worse economic situation in a few years, may make our home values plummet to below the price we bought at, not to mention not being able to sell at an older age. All stuff to consider...I guess I'm looking at the pictures 10 years out from here...age 60 to 70, having watched my mother and other older women wait to long to get rid of "owning the house" stage....
Forgot to sign the last post I just did re: my recommendation for some women to list their houses now rather than wait.
Wisteria, I agree with everything you say. I know there are probably communities out there for people like us....but don't know how to find them. All I know is that we need to seriously downsize, even if it's to very small quarters, get our expenses bottom line (? get rid of the land line and just use cell, learn to live with less appliances, find a place where the good old senior van can find us, etc). Seriously...not only us, but younger people and men too. We have to make wise choices. I can't see how we can possibly sustain this way of life. For ex, not only are my prop taxes going to jump by 1/3, but my electric bill is ridiculous....i use nitelites after dark, do not use my dryer, have a carpet sweeper instead of a vacuum, etc...and my monthly bill for one is $130! There are areas of the country were electric is much cheaper, along with prop taxes. But we also have to find a state where SS is not taxed. Some states have a "circuit breaker" program for age 65+ to apply for lower prop taxes if they meet the income limits. If we could compile these facts, maybe we could share them w each other. But the downsize part is the most important thing, whether we stay in our current place or move far away
I feel very fortunate. I will turn 58 this month so I have several years before retiring. I bought my small house in 1993 and re-financed in 2003 to a fixed rate 4.75% interest rate. My mortgage is 340.00 per month, prop. tax this year $1,120.00. I just don't like the long hot summers and the hurricanes. If I was not alone, perhaps I would not feel so vulnerable. What to do?
Wisteria - If you rent, you'll need the mortgage amt + property tax + an amount to put in a pot for potental repairs.
MN2CO, In regard to Wisteria, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the above comment. If you rent, the monthly payment may be a lot cheaper, and you do not pay property tax and repairs as a renter. If your mortgage is say $1000/month (and that does not include property tax, homeowner insurance, water, sewer, etc), and instead you put that $1000/month into a rental (to get you through a couple of years until retirement), you are probably ahead of the game financially (also, a lot of rents where I am in a high-price college area include utilities....you only need maybe 4 rooms, not a whole house)....and when you are ready to retire, off you go without having to unload your house. Of course this only works if you are sure you want to leave your area once you retire, otherwise you may have regrets selling your house. But Wisteria seems to be sticking with the house and location because of her job. It's a simple solution to put the house on the market...no one's forcing her to sell, and who knows, she may get a decent offer...she's in no rush since she has several more years she wants to work. The worst scenario is to be at the point of wanting to move but being stuck for months even years on end if you can't sell. BTW, I still maintain that for women at our age, it may be best to try to sell now. Who wants to be trying to unload a houseful of possessions and a house at age 65 or 70? And as I suggested in an earlier post, when the boomers start unloading their properties to go into 55+ communities or assisted living, there's going to be a huge inventory of houses for sale all across the country, and this, added to a possibly worse economic situation in a few years, may make our home values plummet to below the price we bought at, not to mention not being able to sell at an older age. All stuff to consider...I guess I'm looking at the pictures 10 years out from here...age 60 to 70, having watched my mother and other older women wait to long to get rid of "owning the house" stage....
I was speaking of if she rented her place out she would need to cosider all those things to determine a break even point.
I'm just reading about Long Term Health Ins - even though I keep thinking I'm 39, I'm not, and when I read these posts I think what would I do if I got ill and needed just a little assistance. LTCI is expensive. This comminity would also help each of us in that area - people to give that little bit of assistance when needed. We're all independant people but even we may not be able to do it all at some point.
Mike from back east posts under the Colorado forum alot and mentioned that a new community - Banning Lewis Ranch (Colorado Springs) - is on hold due to this economy mess. I wonder if we would sic Wisteria on them (I would be happy to get my corporate cap brushed off and assist!!!!) they may consider finishing this community with smaller homes - for us. Colorado has it all - except an ocean.- low taxes, low cost of living, amazing beauty - and CS has the military there which helps pick up the tab on the excess taxes & other costs that keep the cost of living low.
Just a thought.
Wisteria - your plan sounds wonderful - we didn't burn our bras for nothing!!!!!!!!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,712 posts, read 58,042,598 times
Reputation: 46182
You need to get some help here
NAHC - National Association of Housing Cooperatives (http://www.coophousing.org/starting_new.shtml - broken link)
and the folks here are very helpful too.
You can get a 90% HUD 213 loan with a 40 yr term, you are a co-op, so you run it like a business and each resident owns a share of the project (Not like a condo), thus everyone is 'forced' to be on the same page, and supposedly the members LOVE it (at least USDA stats say this...) There has not been a 213 default to my knowledge, but things are rough all over, so it wouldn't surprise me.
I wouldn't build from scratch, tho that would be nice to get passive solar and less maint. I would convert something from private to Co-op ownership. There are a lot of properties for sale during this opportunity of unknown time span. (Probably short, relative to your plans)
I was speaking of if she rented her place out she would need to cosider all those things to determine a break even point.
NEG: Wisteria posted a few weeks ago that she looked into renting and the rents where she lives are very high - higher than her current costs plus there are issues with being able to have pets. Some places (like coastal CA) are very expensive to live in and the rents show it.
My own plan is relying on my having very low costs for housing. I paid off my house and do not plan on carrying a mortgage in retirement - just taxes/maintenance/utilities. Renting for me is a much more expensive way to go and makes my future life more precarious, not less. Plus rents are not certain - they can go up as soon as the market will bear or if a landlord wants you out.
I bought a LTC policy. I dropped all life insurance in favor of this. My reasons are: being a woman, I have a 50% chance of needing some sort of assisted care in old age. If I need or want to get into a retirement place where they have geriatric hospitals if you need them, they all require this to help pay the freight. When I get old and frail, I wnt to have options - not be at the mercy of whatever is there after they take every cent you have.
I guess I am not so pessimistic and still hoping that there is a better way out of this economic mess. It never did make economic sense to buy high and sell low. Even tho I want to move to an area I will like better than here, I think it is better for me to wait out the terrible market and make my move later if I need to. I can always spend some time visiting places. And I don't hate it here.
Then there is the bugaboo of just not being able to sell even at cost in this market. I'm not willing to do that. I'd rather just keep what I have. Here in the DC area, the recovery spending just might get this local economy going sooner rather than later. I can always hope.
[CENTER][SIZE=6]Celebrating March 8, 2009[/SIZE] As International Women's Day approaches Our dream is for safety, health, daily bread, Equality, happiness and fulfillment For all women everywhere.
Tesaje - I'm with you on the house bit - I'd like to leave MN and start the next chapter, but I'm not willing to sell at the lowest price point. That seems to go along with stocks/bonds - buy high and sell low is a basic no-no in investments (dah!)
My house is almost paid for and one of the benefits of owning is that one day that mortgage is gone and then you only have the basics (tax, util, maint) to deal with. Rent never goes away and only goes up. I'll do the snow bird routine - find a cheap place to rent in the winter in a new place and keep my home here until the time is better. The one problem with that theory - the home ages during that time as does everything in it (appliances, flooring, etc...) and on it (siding,roof). I also have dogs to consider - now I open the back door and they run in a hugh fenced yard - I don't have to walk them when it's raining, cold, dark..... That's a luxury I refuse to give up.
Oy vey - what to do? I'm going to stop thinking about it. Need a break from all this.
Each of us has our own set of circumstances. Here's hoping it works out for everyone.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
NewEnglandGirl responds
