I already had a farm house that was supposed to be my retirement house, but I sold it.
I'm actually considering renting versus buying or building. I don't exactly have the need to feel like it's got to be mine. Not here in US and not abroad.I have experience in buying and renting here and there. I've done the math so many times. Not buying ever again, unless it's super cheap.
The rent abroad is so much cheaper than buying or building. If you have investments, landlord will bend over backwards for you as they are not afraid of you falling behind on rent.
The housing prices already peaked 15-20 years ago.
In my retirement location, it's 1600-2000 euros to rent the house and 400k-500k+ euros to buy similar house, same town, walk to the beach. It makes zero sense to buy.
I also want to be traveling while retired and not sit at home.

Choose wisely. Sorting out problems with an old house when you live in another country can be challenging. Also be careful of local laws even when using local attorneys. I have friends who bought a place in Croatia which became a nightmare when it turned out the original paperwork was not completed correctly.

Anonymous wrote:Getting work done in smaller towns and rural areas can be very challenging. Make sure you know what you’re doing if you take on a project.

This may be country specific. I’m the PP with parents in a small town in Italy and it has not been difficult at all for my parents to fix their house. They renovated an old house and no issues at all. They hired a local architect and he worked with local contractors.

Getting work done in smaller towns and rural areas can be very challenging. Make sure you know what you’re doing if you take on a project.

OP what is your race, and what city are you considering?

Anonymous wrote:Friends have a Paris apt. and love it. As for a house to look forward to some day? Watching was is happening in small towns (and not so small towns) in Europe, nope.

What’s happening that makes you say that?

Parents bought a house in Italy and now live half the year there. They love the small town and being able to walk around everywhere and love the tight knit community that has accepted them. But they have worked really hard at taking Italian classes and immersing them selves in the local culture. They bought in a small town because the big cities were too expensive.

Friends have a Paris apt. and love it. As for a house to look forward to some day? Watching was is happening in small towns (and not so small towns) in Europe, nope.

Are you talking about buying a house and retiring abroad or just buying an apartment in Paris that you visit periodically?

My husband and I always like to fantasize about buying a home or moving abroad to Europe when we retire. We're pretty big savers now and it's nice to have some crazy far off dream to look forward to.

If you did it, what was it like? Any regrets or things you would do differently? If you didn't, why not?