3 Reasons You Should Never Buy a Home in Retirement

Planning for your future retirement will require you to take a holistic approach to your finances. Not only do you need to consider whether you have enough money to get through your daily life, but you also need to figure out what that daily life even looks like when you become the captain of your own ship.

Will you go part-time? Will you be traveling or starting a business? All of this should be taken into account when planning your financial future. And since home ownership often accounts for up to half of a person’s living expenses, it’s also important to consider whether you’ll even own a home in retirement.

While I am a strong proponent of home ownership, I recognize that it is not for everyone. So here are some reasons why you shouldn’t buy a home in retirement.

1. You want to travel

There are many specific financial reasons not to buy a home in retirement, 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 want the freedom to live in Airbnbs, or buy an RV and drive it all over the planet, or spend half the year on a cruise ship and the other half visiting the grandchildren.

Even if you get a mortgage with one of the best mortgage rates, it’s still an additional expense that could end up tying you up rather than freeing you up.

2. Cost of owning a home

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

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

And that’s not all. There are also maintenance and emergency expenses, which Anga estimates will be approximately $2,458 and $1,667 in 2023, respectively. If you’re not even home for most of the year, it becomes harder and harder to justify spending money on a home. This is especially important when your budget is tight and you have to make a lot of difficult decisions about money in general.

3. The amount of time and energy consumed by the house.

However, owning a home requires more than just money. It also takes time, which you may not have a lot of if you have a long to-do list in retirement. Even if you can do the maintenance and repairs yourself, you may not want to. And cleaning a house much larger than you really need? Forget it.

According to a 2022 Angi survey, homeowners spend about 44 hours a month—the equivalent of an entire paid work week—on maintaining their homes. If you don’t enjoy owning a home, you probably won’t enjoy maintaining it.

This also applies to things like traveling or simply doing what you enjoy. The home you own is your problem and your commitment, and you will have to balance its needs with your own.

Not everyone can own a home in retirement.

Owning a home is not a guaranteed solution to every person’s financial problems in retirement. For many people, a home can become an extra headache that they don’t want or need. But if you are of the opposite opinion, go ahead and check out our list of the best mortgage lenders to help you buy the home you will retire in.

Whether you’re renting or buying a home in retirement, you should consider all your options to ensure you’re making a decision that’s right for you today and in the future.