slightly adjacent topic: downsizing
I kinda want a smaller condo or small house in retirement. Ideally lock and leave, but I could make do with turning the water off in a house.
We would try to save the difference, and use that money for a family vacations (like a week long Neuces river rental or beach rental) on our dime when the kids are older or maybe with grandkids. But I keep penciling the math, and I don't see a huge savings. Our house is smallish (but NW Austin, so the value is the lot), so realistically a smaller place only nets us $100-150k equity. Gotta live somewhere. The difference in taxes is often soaked by a HOA fee. I suppose its the utilities and cost of maintenance we'd benefit from. I dunno. Might make sense just to fix up this place (its a one story).
I almost... almost... see the logic in a 55+ active retiree community with gym, pool, etc. Paying rent is a drag, but basically all costs would be predictable and no big maintenance hits.