Category: Retirement Real Estate
November 6, 2019 -- Millennials and GenY and Xers can get a little tired of us baby boomers. Now some experts are seeing yet another problem we seemed to have created. By staying in our homes longer than expected, we are disrupting the housing market. According to research by the real-estate brokerage Redfin, homeowners are staying in their homes 5 years longer than they did in 2010. The typical stay has now lengthened to 13 years. That has led to a tight real estate market with record low inventories of homes for sale.
Many folks expected that by now baby boomers would have downsized, moved to warmer climes, or headed to a 55+ community. That should have led to a big supply of larger homes on the market, to be purchased by younger families wanting to move up. While many of us have moved, more are staying put than predicted. The result is a market disruption. Families that need bigger homes for their growing broods are finding a tight housing market, with fewer homes for sale than expected. The inventory of homes on the market is the lowest in 37 years, according to CoreLogic Inc. Smaller inventories keep prices high. Boomers are affecting the market for smaller homes and condos too. Because inventories are tight in all kinds of markets, there is pressure on both older and younger buyers. Although home equity-rich boomers are more likely to come out on top in any bidding war, they are reluctant to pay high prices for a smaller home.
Adjusted for population, t
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Published on November 5, 2019
Comments 42
Category: Retirement Real Estate
Oct. 23, 2019 -- Many of the 10,000 adults who retire each day are interested in relocating from where they live now. The 55places 2019 National Housing Survey asked nearly 3,000 recent and prospective homebuyers to reveal what's important when looking for a home, community, and real estate agent, as well as other relevant aspects of the homebuying process. The respondents, 97% of whom were over the age of 55, provided some interesting insights into what drives their relocation preferences.
Top reasons 55+ homebuyers are moving.
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Published on October 22, 2019
Comments 9
Category: Retirement Real Estate
May 29, 2019 -- We are grateful to Brigitta for suggesting this article on the pitfalls to look out for when buying a home in the Southwest. Here is what she wrote a while back:
"I've been receiving your newsletter for a couple of years. However, I don't think I've ever seen an article about the differences in building practices in different areas of the country. By that, I mean as someone who has lived my entire life on the east coast, I am quite familiar with how homes are/were built going back to the 1700s when my area was settled. I'm also familiar with the types of "pests" and environmental issues, i.e., radon, asbestos, buried oil tanks (for heating) that that NJ homeowners look for. Now, I am interested in purchasing a home in AZ and I realize I don't know ANYTHING about typical building practices- pro/con, types of homes that one might want to stay away from or might WANT to consider, pests typical to the area, environmental issues, etc as I do about the east coast. "
Thanks Brigitta! It is such a good question we will expand this "pitfalls" article to the Southeast and Florida as well the Southwest, since these are the most common places for retirees to be moving to, and where they tend to lack buying experience. As always, we are hoping for additional Member Comments to make sure we address all the important risks to worry about.
The Southwest
The desert and mountains present inherently different hazards to those found in the Southeast. The Southwest's powerful sun and high temperatures present other differences. This first section will discuss the home buying hazards that can exist in the Southwest. Although many problems in a home can be corrected if you spend money and time, but it is always nice to find a property that doesn't need work.
Arizona beauty
Flooding is possible in the Southwest, especially in areas of low elevation and along large rivers. Geological hazards, including avalanches, earthquakes, landslides, and rockfalls, also occur throughout the Southwest, especially where there is rugged, mountainous terrain. FEMA maps can help alert you to those areas.
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Published on May 28, 2019
Comments 32
Category: Retirement Real Estate
May 11, 2019 — The National Association of Home Buyers (NAHB) reports that the market continues to be strong for 55+ homebuyers and renters. While many baby boomers will not be moving soon, there is a significant segment that is seeking a change in their living arrangements. “Overall, demand for…
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Published on May 10, 2019
Comments 26
Category: Active adult communities
May 8, 2019 -- Chances are you aren't looking for the most expensive place to retire. Most people are looking for the opposite, a 55+ or active community where they can retire and stretch their savings and social security into a comfortable retirement. But just for fun, here's a look at where we might retire if we were to suddenly join the ranks of the 1%. Which one would you pick?
We looked around in researching this article and were amazed at how little good information there is on the ritziest places to retire. 55places.com had an article on the topic, but the communities on its list barely approached the mid-range of pricing. The same can be said for a very similar list put out by ThinkAdvisor.com. Our list is by no means complete, but we think it is a lot better. If you know of a super-expensive retirement community, please suggest it in the Comments section below.
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Published on May 6, 2019
Comments 10
Category: Retirement Real Estate
April 15, 2019 – The controversial bills advocated by online short term rental companies have apparently faded away in the Florida legislature. If passed, HB 987 and SB 824 would have taken away local control of transient rentals from local governments in the Sunshine State and given it to the…
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Published on April 15, 2019
Comments 7
Category: Home Owners Associations
March 10, 2018 -- Bills proposed in the Florida legislature would remove local control of short term rentals offered by companies like Airbnb, HomeAway, etc., and place it in the hands of the State. The online companies are lobbying for passage of the bills, since that would open up all areas of the state to rentals as short as one night. Local communities oppose the bill because they would lose the right to regulate what is often a problematic issue in many communities, particularly resort areas. It is a complex issue with the same people often having two different opinions on it: while at least half of the population would be happy to use one of these services for a short term vacation rental, but the vast majority of homeowners are against having them in their own neighborhoods.
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The bill is euphemistically called "The Private Property Rights of Homeowners", SB 824. The bill's sponsor is State Sen. Manny Diaz Jr,. of Hialeah. If passed, it would give the Florida legislature the preemptive right to regulate vacation rights - local governments would have to abide by whatever the state decides. A group in northern Florida has been active in the fight against it. That organization believes that each local community knows best what should be permitted when it comes to rentals, citing many problems such as noise, traffic, and general mayhem when vacationers invade local neighborhoods. The problem is made worse when absentee owners buy up large number of homes and/or apartments and rent them out. That has a deleterious impact on affordable housing.
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Published on March 9, 2019
Comments 2
Category: Retirement Real Estate
March 6, 2019 — You might call this article, “SALT in the Wound”. The federal tax law that went into effect last year capped state and local tax (SALT) exemptions at $10,000. It was feared at the time that this decrease would depress real estate values in some high tax…
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Published on March 5, 2019
Comments 2
Category: Retirement Real Estate
October 16, 2018 -- Here is a conundrum facing many retiring baby boomers, particularly those from the Northeast. You dream of escaping cold winters and snow, and replacing those annoyances with warm winters, sandy beaches, and being outside in shorts all year round. But, the Eastern and Gulf coasts of the U. S. come along with a big problem - hurricanes! This article will explore the issues associated with retiring to an area prone to hurricanes, a danger that recent history has shown to be a growing and very serious threat.
To tackle the issue we’ll break it up into three parts: what to
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Published on October 15, 2018
Comments 33
Category: Retirement Real Estate
August 11, 2018 -- For most of human history the most common housing model was for multi-generations to live under the same roof. In a typical scenario a widowed grandfather or grandmother would be living in a home with one of their married children, along with the children of that union. The generations chipped in to support the others - whether it was cooking, childcare, or financial - and typically enjoyed the benefit of living close together. The phenomenon became much less common in the 20th century. The advent of Social Security and financial independence of the elderly was probably one reason, and as nursing homes and assisted living became more common,
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Published on August 11, 2018
Comments 5
