To Rent or Not to Rent: That Is the Question
Category: Retirement Real Estate
February 3, 2022 — Chances are that for most of your life it was drilled into you that home ownership is the road to economic security. Pay off that mortgage, count on rising property values, and someday you will have accumulated substantial equity. But now that you are approaching your retirement, it might be time to re-think that belief.
Our friend Ray brought to our attention a thought provoking article in the NY Times that makes the case that renting a home can be more appealing than owning one. Renting means giving up the prospect of investment gains, but more than makes up for it with hassle free living and not having to come up with big down payments and closing fees. Younger people like millennials might not have much choice in the matter, due to soaring costs of real estate, the difficulty of funding down payments, or qualifying for a mortgage. But many retirees are attracted to the rental option for a variety of reasons, which we will explore here.
Comments on "To Rent or Not to Rent: That Is the Question"
Jay Smith says:
Good article but one thing you don't point out is the kind of landlord you get. We've rented for the past 10 years and have had two really great landlords and one lousy landlord. The great ones were responsive in getting problems fixed and maintaining the property while the lousy landlord wouldn't spend a dime to replace the 30 yr old carpet or upgrade the appliances. Also, if you're sure you want to stay in the area you're renting, try and work out a deal with your landlord where you can lock in a lower rent by doing a 2 or 3-year lease. If you're a good tenant, meaning you pay the rent on time and don't bug him/her too much, your landlord will be overjoyed to keep you.
Linda Hammond says:
I am interested in retirement homes and would like to know about rental communities.
Please send information about these communities or articles to read about information.
I would like to sign up for Top Retirement information
Thanks
Linda Hammond
Marcie Katcher says:
I could not find the advanced search function on your site or with the link you provided. Can you detail how we find rental communities with single family homes in your database? Thanks
Judy Richardson says:
I love living in an active retirement community. I am so glad to be out from under our moneypit housse. The only thing I really miss is my garden.
Moderator Flo says:
Hi Linda
If you click on the links in the article and the ones under Further Reading you can find more information about renting.
Hope this helps!
Jane at Topretirements says:
Hi Linda,
We would love to have you join Topretirements.com. The link below will take you to a page through which you can create an account as a new member:
https://www.topretirements.com/Login.html
Jane at Topretirements says:
Marcie, the link below will take you to our Search page, and when you scroll down to the middle of that page you will find Search Communities by Amenities and Much More. From there, choose the State you are interested in, and then choose Rentals which is found under the Type of Community column. After you click on the Go button on the right, a list of communities will come up which you can then scroll through and click on the ones that interest you.
Hope this helps.
https://www.topretirements.com/Browse.html
RichPB says:
This article mostly focused on build to rent although some parts apply to renting in general. As a home owner with lots of equity in our paid-off home, I would like to see more of the plus/minus of renting at retirement age. There is some of this in the comments, but frankly the one item about bad landlords is enough at this point to keep me in my "sunk cost" investment despite the fact that it represents almost 50% of my "wealth". I have no interest in moving from rental to rental in search of a good landlord.
There is also no mention of the possibility of continually rising rents other than the reference to longer term leases. What are the expectations and probabilities?
Sure, living in my "perfect for me" home I must find resources to care for my home (and I have bounced from person to person or business for years in search of competent, reliable and reasonable cost landscape care), but we haven't moved during our 19 years of retirement and the jobs have gotten done. There are good contractors out there. Still, my house is too big for us and on three levels. So renting/leasing is a valid option.
Jan Cullinane says:
I addressed this topic (among many, many others) in my upcoming book, The New Retirement, 3rd edition (available for pre-order on Amazon, and the book will be available wherever books are sold on May 10th).
A short excerpt (I visited this one in person): Coastal Run at Heritage Shores, a 55+ development within the larger Heritage Shores community in Bridgeville, Delaware (note – only an hour’s drive to the ocean). The master-planned community of Heritage Shores offers one-to-three-year rentals managed by Allen & Rocks, Inc. https://homes.heritageshores.com/for-rent
Two other useful sites:
NexMetro (Texas, Colorado, Florida, Arizona): https://nexmetro.com/about.php
Christopher Dodd (Arizona and Texas): https://www.christophertodd.com/;
Hope that helps! Jan Cullinane, author of The New Retirement, 3rd edition, available May 10, 2022
Editor's note: Thanks Jan, you are always helpful!
Louise says:
Before you sell your house and decide to rent, read this article:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/rents-reach-insane-levels-across-us-with-no-end-in-sight
Areti11 says:
My husband and I live in a 55+ Resort apt community in San Diego CA. Our rent was only increased by 6%. Retirement communities don't usually increase at a high rate. We also enjoy not having to pay HOA dues,taxes, insurance and maintenance costs. Maintenance is done within 24 hours...alot less work overall....