Many retirees are having a tough time extricating themselves from the massive homes that seemed such a good idea at the time—but as age and infirmities encroach, now appear to be folly. (Photo: Shutterstock)

A decade and a half ago, Big Homes were the Big Thing as retirees rushed to sink lots of money into the massive Sunbelt homes they perhaps had dreamed of for years. Real estate was booming and it was all too easy to follow that dictum memorialized on cutesy plaques in souvenir shops: “House—a hole in the ground surrounded by wood into which one pours money.”

That's turned out to be literally true in many cases, according to a Wall Street Journal report that says that many of those same retirees are having a tough time extricating themselves from the massive homes in lush locations that seemed such a good idea at the time—but as age and infirmities encroach, now appear to be folly.

It's not just that the homes are large, often some distance from the nearest conveniences (supermarkets, hospitals, entertainment) and fraught with caretaking chores that now may be beyond the abilities of their aging owners. It's also that those owners aren't finding buyers, because younger people Just. Aren't. Interested.