Many retirees arehaving a tough time extricating themselves from the massive homesthat seemed such a good idea at the time—but as age and infirmitiesencroach, now appear to be folly. (Photo: Shutterstock)

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

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

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

So at a time in their lives when they might actually need tocash in on their multimillion-dollar dream homes, lots of retireesfind themselves waiting for any show of interest as those housessit on the market, creating their own glut even as prices areslashed—sometimes by as much as half, leaving the owners literallyin the hole after spending so much to build them.

Younger people have loads of reasons not to be charmed by thevaulted ceilings and chef-ready kitchens of homes perched onmountaintops or hugging beaches that promised solitude once but nowcry of isolation. And it's tough for people in their 70s and 80s tokeep up with even the most basic of regular chores, such as haulingthe trash cans up a steep 100-yard driveway or doing routine poolmaintenance—not to mention that stairs, however beautiful andcurving, may now present an insurmountable obstacle to residentsaged beyond their use.

A report from Business Insider highlightsnumerous reasons that younger people might not want to saddlethemselves with such beautiful albatrosses. Down payments, studentdebt and preferences for rentals in cities coupled with vacationhome getaways have all contributed to what the report characterizesas “millennials wiping out starter homes.”

In the second quarter of 2018, the report says, first-timehomebuyers needed 23 percent of their income to afford anentry-level home; that was up 2 percent from the year before. Ifyou need that much, it's not a step too far to decide to continueto rent and to save up for a bigger, grander home—if not amultimillion-dollar mansion far away from everything else—andthat's what many millennials are doing.

And that is those among them who can actually manage tosave up a down payment. Too many others are so burdened bystudent debt that buying a house is a foggy image off in thedistant future. And lots of young homebuyers underestimate what it will cost them to keep ahouse, making it less likely they'll bite off more than they canchew the next time they go home-shopping.

Factoring in their concerns over the environment—the energyfootprint of a big house and a long commute—and theirdisinclination to own cars, as well as the need to hold downmultiple jobs or have one or more side hustles—and it looks as ifthose mega-residences are liable to stay on the market for quite awhile longer.

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