We own the home outright, no mortgage. The repair and maintenance expenses are sporadic and extreme. $6k here, $8k there, without warning. Rent increases are d

We own the home outright, no mortgage. The repair and maintenance expenses are sporadic and extreme. $6k here, $8k there, without warning. Rent increases are definitely something to watch out for, but in another six years we will no longer have any school-age children, and our ability to move around without regard for school districts increases dramatically. In 30 years, I will have exceeded my life expectancy at birth, although I hope to still be kicking, obviously. I will probably be retired in half that time. I've watched my parents end up in a house far too big for them after kids moved out, and they downsize to another house that ended up still being far too big for them. My willingness/desire to rent may be a reflection of my phase of life more than anything: when I was very young, I rented because I wasn't yet sure I wanted to be locked in somewhere for decades. Then I owned a house for decades until a divorce, rented while I figured out what my life was going to be like again, and now another marriage and another house, but my future looks like it will be a lot less locked in, a mirror of my youth. We intend to travel extensively, spending just shy of six months overseas. At that point we don't need to be paying expenses for a place in which we're not living.