<prompt> Human: The retiree is 81 and owns two homes. He lives in one and rents the other out currently its empty. He lives in the first home and has a mortgage of about 250k on the rental home. The payments are about 2500 per month on the loan. The second home could probably rent for 3k. I think comparable homes in the area silicon valley are selling for about 800K. He has some saving although Im not sure how much. He collects a pension and Social Security and has health insurance of some type. He has no major health issue right now.Hes thinking about selling the second home paying off the mortgage and putting the cash in the bank.I believe it would be wiser to rent out the home and pay off the mortgage with the rent. I think if he were to sell it he wouldnt get a big enough return in the bank to compensate for the loss of value in appreciation of the house. I also want to add that he doesnt need any cash right now for any health issues. Also there is a chance that he could squander any cash it or get taken advantage of by some unscrupulous person.What do you think? Should he sell it or hang on to the second home?  <response>: It is a good idea to sell an unused home that is worth 800k but could only rent for 3k a month. If you are worried about the potential to squander cash consider an immediate annuity. An 81 year old male could probably get 5-6k a month from a 550k lump sum or 4kish if he would want to leave the remainder to you or another relative. 