I regret selling my house and downsizing to a rental. Is it too late to go back?

afeera.net2 hours ago

1 5 minutes read

Over the last decade, as the costs of home ownership have gone up, a debate has raged about whether it’s more economical to buy a home or rent.

But what if you’ve already done both? Sometimes retirees who downsize to a rental find they miss having a home of their own. The problem is that once you’ve made the move, it can be hard to go back.

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Let’s consider Peggy, who is 67, living alone, and divorced with adult kids. She sold the house where she lived for decades and raised her children, and moved into an apartment when she retired three years ago.

But now she’s thinking of buying again, either in cash or with a mortgage. She has $500,000 set aside from the sale of her previous home, and believes her other investments can carry her through to age 90.

Peggy has a lot to think about, but she’s in a great position. If she chooses to buy a home, she may not be left with the highest net worth at the end of her life so she should focus on all of her goals, including leaving a legacy for her kids and making sure she doesn’t put more of a burden on them as she ages.

The benefits of buying

Peggy has already gone through the trouble of downsizing. She decluttered and dealt with the headache of putting her old house on the market, considering offers, and paying legal and agent fees to close the deal.

Now she wants to backtrack. She feels cramped in her tiny apartment kitchen with its dated appliances, and can hear her neighbor’s conversations through the walls. She has filled her balcony with plants, but yearns for a backyard vegetable garden.

Peggy can afford to buy a house if she wants to and there are some definite advantages in doing so, such as being able to decorate it however she likes and finally getting her backyard back. If she pays in cash, she’ll still be debt-free, and will likely be able to get a discount and expedite the purchase process because of the simplicity of an all-cash offer.

There’s not a huge case for her to take out a mortgage right now. The average interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.45%, according to BankRate (1). And, Peggy should keep in mind that renting is less expensive than owning a home with a mortgage in all major American cities, according to a LendingTree analysis (2).

A reader recently wrote in to MarketWatch with a similar scenario to Peggy’s, and was advised that taking on a six-figure loan after retirement isn’t always a wild idea (3). It would leave Peggy with more cash on hand to invest, potentially growing her wealth so she’s able to leave more to her kids. But as an older person, she’ll have less time in the market to realize those gains, and may have less appetite for risk.

A not-so-simple calculation

A key consideration for Peggy is how long she plans to stay in her house if she buys one. Conventional wisdom says it takes five years to earn back in equity what you paid in the form of a down payment, closing costs and agent fees. But that advice is out of date. Property taxes, utilities, and insurance have all gotten more expensive, while home appreciation slowed to just 2% in 2025. To make back what you put in, you should plan to stay in your home for at least 10 years, according to Realtor.com (4).

Redfin puts the historical average American home appreciation from 1967 to 2024 at about 4.27% annually (5), but there are always ups and downs.

Given Peggy’s age, she won’t have the luxury of riding out the down years to come out ahead. Sometimes the transition to old age can happen suddenly, like with a fall or a diagnosis of dementia or cancer, which may mean that Peggy can’t wait for the optimal time to sell her house. And if that happens before she is 77, it’s likely she could lose money overall.

As Peggy gets older, routine home maintenance will become more challenging, so she’ll need to budget for repairs, snow shovelling and grass cutting. And there’s always a chance of an unexpected expense like a new appliance, roof or furnace repair. That’s a tough pill to swallow as a homeowner on a fixed income, but a non-issue for a renter.

And if Peggy passes away or becomes incapacitated while she still has the house, she will be leaving her loved ones to deal with a big logistical and financial headache.

Also, if she chooses to tie up $500,000 of her net worth into a house, she may need to adjust her withdrawal rate from her retirement savings to make sure she does not outlive her money. Otherwise, down the line, she may need to look into making up the difference by tapping into her home equity with a home equity line of credit or reverse mortgage.

Peggy believes her retirement savings (other than the money earmarked for the house) will last her to age 90, and roughly a third of middle-aged women will live that long, according to research published in the British Medical Journal (6). She needs to prepare not just for illness or disability, but also for the best-case scenario. She could have another 30 years of healthy life ahead of her, and paying for all the fun she’s going to have could get expensive!

The upside of downsizing

Peggy learned a hard lesson too late: Selling your longtime family home is a major milestone in life. It’s not just financial; it’s emotional, and you need to think it over from all angles before you take the plunge. Getting back into home ownership may be a bigger commitment than you want to make during your retirement years.

Luckily for Peggy, she has options. As a renter, she has the flexibility to move when she wants to. And with $500,000 stashed, she can afford a nicer unit: Maybe one on the ground floor of a house, which would be great for aging in place. She could even rent a small house, perhaps in a lower cost-of-living area, and plant her dream garden again.