Column: Retirees trade houses for freedom — and sometimes motorhomes

Over the last year, we have noticed a remarkable trend among our friends who have reached retirement age. They are not just leaving their jobs. They are leaving their houses too.

What is causing this trend? Exhaustion? Longtime homeowners are suffering from burnout! Years of supporting and maintaining a house have taken a toll. They want freedom from the almost-constant demands of their domicile.

Just think about it. By the time a person is ready to retire, they have been owned by an average of 3 1/2 houses and spent 20-40 years serving their various tax deductions.

If a homeowner is lucky, they will have the house paid for when they retire. Of course, “paid for” means only that the mortgage is satisfied. Houses are never satisfied.

Former neighbors of ours retired, paid off their mortgage and made plans for a life of leisure. Unfortunately, their house had its own plans. After several golfless, leisureless months spent doing endless jobs around their house, our neighbors rebelled! Determined to be free, they sold that house and bought another.

We think the strain of 30 years of homeownership was just too much for them. In their haste to escape one house, they jumped right into the clutches of another. They bought a motorhome! A house is a house, whether it sits on piers or rolls on wheels. We think of those neighbors often.

Laura Moore can be emailed at lehmoore1@gmail.com.