Getting a mortgage after retired??

[albireo13]

I want to retire next year and the wife and I are looking
to move soon ... hopefully last time before a CCRC. 
Anyway, we feel a bit rushed because some friends have argued
to get a mortgage before I retired due to drop in income.
Not sure its true.

Any advice? 

[Dicey]

You might get more hits if you move this question to the Real Estate section. I know there were workarounds involving setting up direct deposits from your equity accounts into your checking account on a monthly basis to show regular income, but that discussion was some time ago and I'm fuzzy on the details.

[L8_apex]

It's certainly not going to be easier to get a mortgage once retired.  Search google for front end DTI, back end DTI, and calculate your numbers and compare to what's generally acceptable.  If you're borderline, ask a mortgage lender.  But to be safe, you're better off just doing this while still pulling in a paycheck.

And don't tell anybody that you'll be retiring soon, the banks want to think your future income will reflect your prior income.

[CanuckExpat]

If you are staying in the same place and you know where you want to live, it will almost certainly make more sense to get the mortgage while you have jobs (like someone said, maybe don't mention you are retiring soon, but they probably won't ask). If you are moving somewhere else, it might still make sense to get a mortgage now, though if it is far away from your work, the lender might treat it as a second home or vacation home, but still worth looking into.

We did recently get a mortgage while retired and have some more details at that link. It's possible, but tricky. The best bet is to look into something called an asset depletion loan. Otherwise, if you are old enough to claim social security or a pension or something, that might help you get a mortgage too.

[rantk81]

If you are retired/FIRE and want a mortgage, I assume that it is just because you want a long term fixed rate loan as an inflation hedge.  This is typically similar to a bond allocation of a portfolio.  My thoughts/opinion on the matter is: to simplify things , I'd forego the mortgage, and use the value of my home to offset what I would otherwise be allocating to bonds in my 'stash.

[Fishindude]

If you have proof of income or resources to pay the mortgage, and are buying a good property with sufficient down payment that the loan will have a little collateral value, I can't see how getting a mortgage would be much of a problem.   I know the trend today is to shop mortgages all over the place, on line, etc. and go with the cheapest, however I think it's a good idea to have a banking relationship with a local bank so you can talk to your banker about things like this.   If they know and trust you, they will find a way to make it work.