Many seniors opt for apartment living but if you just can't
bring yourself to accept all those sacrifices such as space, choosing your
neighbors, a garden, etc., there is an alternative to staying in that nice
expensive home.
We lived on a beautiful ranch, 30 acres, modern brick ranch
house, pool, outbuildings galore, but when we no longer wanted the daily grind
of caring for all the animals it just didn't make sense.
We didn't want an apartment and didn't want the upkeep costs
of maintaining what was actually an estate.
But we had planned ahead and also owned a tiny very old farm
house on 2 acres right next door, we had rented it to a reliable older man who
reconditioned the house in exchange for free rent and who was conveniently
ready to move on (to take care of his elderly parents in fact) a year before we
sold the ranch.
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| Inexpensive Older Home just off a major highway. |
My point is that either by relocating to a reasonably
prosperous but inexpensive area such as central PA or many other places, you
can buy a livable old home for less than $50k and NOT feel you had to spend a
lot of money on upkeep because it just wasn't cost effective.
Around Punxsutawney (only mentioned because I am familiar
with the area) there are many senior services such as free transportation and a
decent health care system but you can buy a ready-to-move-in home for as little
as $30K with taxes running in the low hundreds.
This wouldn't have been practical for many people just a decade ago because they would miss the convenience of city shopping but now online stores are bigger than any shopping center and delivery is often free - combine that with wireless or satellite internet and having a rural or semi-rural home base is much more attractive than previously.
And, do you really want to spend a lot of time and money keeping up with suburban neighbors because your house is so valuable?
Some people do. We didn't.
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