Reply to Americans locked into lower mortgage rates have been increasingly unwilling to sell their homes.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m dealing with elderly parents and in-laws at the moment. Both are in big homes where they raised their families. One set refuses to leave…ever. They will die in that house. The other couple is preparing to downsize dramatically and relocate. Why? It’s become dangerous to do stairs, maintaining the house and landscaping coupled with the ridiculous taxes (they aren’t in the dc metro area) is actually quite costly.

I bet if we had better housing options for retirees then more people would downsize. Nobody wants to leave their nice neighborhood with good neighbors in highly desirable areas (read: safe, near good amenities, etc.) for a cheaper, less desirable area. Not everybody wants to live in Leisure World.

And now that prices spiked in Florida and/or their politics went bananas, plenty of folks in the dc area are no longer interested in relocating down there.

DH and I will think hard before downsizing, but I would be up for it if we could make the numbers work and land in a desirable area. [/quote]

Agree with this.  My parents sold my childhood home a couple years ago in part because of the stairs issue, also upkeep.  They were fortunate in that there are a few over-55 type communities in their area with rental options within their price range.  My ILs live in an area that does not have great options for retirees- seems like most stay in their homes until it’s time for assisted living- and their current house is huge.  They say they want to downsize, and have had young families offer to buy their current house, but they don’t know where to go.[/quote]

My parents sold their house and moved into an apartment in DC. It's a nice 2-bedroom in a nice neighborhood, but easily affordable after selling their 4 bedroom house. Elevator, doorman, and they don't have to deal with any maintenance. If the city doesn't feel comfortable to you, there are lots of suburbs around DC with these kind of apartment buildings that are near metro and in safe neighborhoods with good amenities.

[b]Bonus is that living in a place like this ensures you will stay reasonably active -- walk places and be around people. I think often older people get very set in their ways living in residential areas where they drive everywhere and don't really have to make much effort to interact with others. It makes you old faster.[/b][/quote]

I could not agree more with this.  [/quote]

+1, my remaining parent just did this. Selling the house was wonderful and being able to rent in a walkable area locally has been great as well.[/quote]

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