Posted on 06/10/2025 9:31:54 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Exactly right. Know quite a few friends and families that moved out of the city to nearby rural areas that allowed them to easily commute to work. Then as the “rural” areas they moved to became first suburbs then incorporated and then part of the growing cities...many decided to just deal with it. The smarter folks moved far enough away to never have to deal with the encroaching incivility of unknown neighbors and greedy developers. It’s just a little farther to drive but MUCH quieter.
Unless you buy wisely.
My parents had an elderly couple for friends. The wife came down with dementia and it was too much for the husband to handle. They bought a 2 br suite in an assisted living center memory wing. There was some formula for returning the money if sold. It was something similar to that mentioned in the article. I don't know what the monthly fees were, but the facility had full time staff..
We bought our home in 1985, and paid off a 30 year mortgage in 20 years. We did not use the equity in our home as a ATM. We are in our 70s and our only home expense is property tax and insurance, which is roughly $200 a month, an amount we can easily afford.
This was not by accident or good luck, it was part of the plan we set up over 40 years ago.
Agree 100%. I’ve posted the same for years.
This is America, it’s a free country, act like it. Why spend hard earned money to live under control of a bunch of “Karens”, which is what most HOA type structures become.
I know that some of the senior living arrangements in this small communuties are already priced outrageously & well beyond my means. I get offers to but my home, but I have to live somewhere & right now this is my best best, owning my own home. Wondering if the thought isn’t to maybe buy up whole communities this way & then set up HOAs & soon after everything goes down the toilet for seniors just trying to live out their remaining days on this earth.
Your proerty tax & insurance is only $200 a month & that’s it? Don’t you have utilities & other small “niceties” like cable TV, internet, etc.? If you honestly get by on $200 a month, I’d like to know how.
Retire overseas. It’s the only way to have a decent living on middle class income. Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines are my top preferences.
“her monthly maintenance surged from $1,395 to $6,500”
Maintenance and HOA fees are how they gouge residents.
My preference is to never buy into a property where someone else is in control and can charge fees.
That is the exact issue with any condominium or similar arrangement where there are “community fees”.
Technically you own the property but because of those fees you do not control it.
Any agreements you may sign do not bind future owners of the condominium—so the current agreements cannot protect you.
That issue is why we never bought a home in one of those communities—and never will.
A lot of truth in that. My wife has my dream home in Thailand (I’m not allowed to own property there) and our monthly expenses on property tax and insurance are zero. We plan to move back sometime after our daughter turns 16, it’ll save me about $20K a year.
It's important to me to not just fuss at the Dims and their stupid warmageddon cult energy policies and hope they stay out of power so our energy costs don't keep rising through the roof. My retirement financial planning is a little more secure if I don't have to buy as much energy to live comfortably. In a rented home I wouldn't have converted my HVAC to a variable speed heat pump, converted my water heater into a hybrid water heater, added a bunch of insulation, and installed a lot of solar and batteries, and added two charging circuits to charge an EV that we do most of our local driving in. (18K miles per year of home charged miles.)
My home was in an HOA. Thankfully, about 8 years in, we voted to abolish the HOA. The vote was 90-10. I’m proud to say I was part of the BOD that did the work to remove both the HOA and the CC&Rs.
We had no common property. That made it much easier.
I like southern Thailand with its mix of Muslims (stable ppl) in a Hindu nation. Also Penang, Malaysia and Toba, Indonesia. There’s a Christian community around lake Toba and Bali is Hindu. The good thing is airfare is cheap between these locations and I qualify for a retirement visa where they have them.
Medical would be in Kuala Lumpur but new hospitals are going up in Thailand and Indonesia.
I’m big on fresh fish, chicken and vegetables without the chemicals and additives the US uses. Seed oils are becoming an issue tho.
$7 dinners is retirement friendly to me. But I need to use a scooter if I’m living out of town. Or just a lot of Grabs.
They have a whole lot of massive earthquakes in Indonesia NO THANKS!!!
$6,500 a month “Maintance fees”? It that is really for property operation and maintenance, something is very wrong. Perhaps she should compare with other residents and get local news/rabble rousers/the DA to investigate what the new owners are pulling.
It’s close to impossible to buy in Florida without an HOA. Luckily I only pay 135 a month. The amenities are pretty awesome. 2 golf course, three clubhouses, restaurants, 3 pools, every sport possible and much more. It’s gated with 2800 single family homes.
They own the physical trailer, but not the land.
Apples and Oranges.
The only cost to owning a home is property tax and insurance.
Everything else are bills you would have to pay if you owned or rent so I did not include them in my summary.
But of course you already know that.
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