Meet the boomers who are leaving their big homes
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Mark and Kathy Swartzendruber "couldn't be happier" with their Chicago house that boasts a yard, a tree-lined street — and just over a third of the square footage of their old place.
Why it matters: With empty nesters hogging family-sized homes, we talked to some who have downsized or are thinking about it.
The Swartzendrubers, who left behind a nearby four-bedroom home last year, put 50% down and still had funds left over from the sale to add a two-car garage and remodel the smaller pad's bathrooms, among other improvements.
What they're saying: "Think about where you really spend your time at home. For us, it's my home office and the kitchen," Mark Swartzendruber says.
- The 61-year-old tells Axios the couple considered moving to the suburbs but "the combination of higher taxes and higher interest rates wouldn't be a downsize in cost."
Reality check: Many older people are on fixed incomes, and those who own homes are often staying put because they're mortgage-free or have a low interest rate.
- Baby boomers with empty nests own over 28% of America's homes that offer at least three bedrooms, according to a recent Redfin report.
The intrigue: Robyn Hansen's 79-year-old mother bought her daughter's Minneapolis home — and acquired her 2.5% mortgage rate.
- So-called assumable mortgages are hard to obtain but allow Hansen's mother to live on the first floor of a familiar house and avoid stairs.
Housing costs aren't the only hurdle. Purging or packing decades of belongings can be overwhelming.
- It's why Linda Leahy hired someone to help sift through her and her late husband's stuff before buying a one-bedroom Chicago condo. "Eleven years and a second late husband, I need her again," Leahy says.
The latest: More seniors are ditching homeownership entirely, with some moving into swanky apartments loaded with pools and other perks.
Case in point: No home, no lease, no storage unit, no problem for Gary and Judy Kelly, who have been traveling the world since early last year.
- Everything the couple owns fits in two suitcases and two carry-ons.
- "The anxiety of giving away a lifetime of stuff was tempered by the anticipation of the adventure we were undertaking," Gary Kelly tells Axios.
