‘A paid-off house used to be a great thing’: Gee, Ursula warn of WA’s shifting retirement landscape

An op-ed in The New York Times recently argued that the housing crisis is also a retirement crisis, in which homeownership, traditionally relied on to pay for retirement, can no longer be counted on.

As retirees continue to deal with taxes, insurance, maintenance, and downsizing costs, which all keep climbing, the idea of a home that is paid off is no longer a secure way to retire.

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, co-hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, emphasized the financial strain of buying a home in King County, whether the buyer is young or old, and questioned whether they should be pulling for record home prices or be happy to see a dip.

“If you’re 50 years and older, and you are deciding to purchase a home in King County, that decision is a very risky decision unless you have maybe you sold another home, and you can put 50% down on this new home,” Gee said. “We talk about housing, and we always talk about the youngsters and how tough it is for them to get housing. It is tough on them, no question. But we’re not talking about the people who retire with these very high mortgages, the paid-off house and property taxes, which, by the way, have been luckily capped here in this state.

“But there are other types of taxes that we have been talking about, be careful having that $6,500 a month mortgage after the age of 50, because you wanted to get in that real nice house that you fell in love with,” Gee continued. “I just think that equation: buying in your 50s, closer to retirement, and maybe buying in your early 30s are two different things.”

Both hosts question whether a home alone can fund retirement in WA anymore

Ursula explained why she doesn’t think owning a house is enough to keep up with her spending in retirement, while Gee noted that he would continue to rent despite his current income.

“Unless you have an incredibly high-paying job and one that has so much job security, I cannot even fathom a $ 6,000-a-month mortgage and making that work. That’s tough,” Ursula said. “One of the things I look forward to is a paid-off house, and one of the benefits of getting longer in the tooth is that we’ve been putting into it for quite a while. We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, but do I feel like we can bank on just our house to make us through, and make us keep up with our retirement spending? No.”

“Even with the income I make right now, I would rent,” Gee said. “Because again, whenever you plan to retire, that’s subjective. I’m talking about someone who finally started to make that income and qualified to get that loan. I just wanted to speak to that, and the whole retirement plan, which used to be a paid-off house. Used to be a great thing.”

Gee asks an ‘uncomfortable’ question about the housing market

Gee asked whether Ursula would like to see the housing market remain remarkably high or experience a slight dip that would allow younger homebuyers to enter the market.

“I want to ask: let’s get uncomfortable. Which one do you want? Prices to keep going up so the younger folks can’t get in, or do you want prices to either remain the same or drop a little bit?” Gee asked.

“I actually want prices to go down,” Ursula responded. “That’s as someone who is about to be fully paid off, and the reason I say that is because I also see the consequences of people not being able to get into the market. I also have no plans of selling. Of course, you want to see that your investment is good, but now I’m seeing young people, including my own sons, who want to get into the market as well, and a lot of family, friends, and others, people who text us who would like to get a chance to get in the market, and they can’t.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.