Financially, buying a condo was not a good decision for me. I didn't realize it when I bought 12 years ago but it was a terrible time for me to buy a place. It was such a seller's market, I ended up with a real fixer-upper because I was outbid on everything else. If I'd known how much it was going to cost to renovate I think I would have continued to rent, at least for a few years if not longer. If I tried to sell it now I would end up getting the same price I paid back then. I don't even have all that much equity, due to having to refinance with an FHA loan and mortgage insurance to get rid of the original adjustable rate mortgage.

However there are other reasons why I like owning my place instead of renting. And around here rents do seem to increase significantly from year to year, so maybe owning a fixer-upper is not the worst investment.

It's just a complicated decision.

As for retirement communities, I think I would at least consider living in one at some point. But yes it would have to be quiet -- solidly built like the pre-war apartments where I lived in NY and Chicago (she types after turning up the TV volume to the max to drown out the clomp-clomp-clomp of the elephant upstairs...).