OT - WWYD? Temporary Living Arrangements UPDATED Post

[MTW]

I'll try to keep this short. We own a lot and were planning on building a house there but didn't want to start the process until we sold our house. After 18 months we sold our house on 9/3. The day we had a sales agreement, friends of ours moved from the development that we are building in...even though they hadn't sold their house yet. It had been on the market for 6+ months. We signed a month to month and low and behold, they sold it on 10/18 (two weeks before they were going to take it off of the market for a few months!)

Long story short, we need some place to go until our house is built - hopefully 6-7 months. We have 2 options and I can't figure out which one I want but we have to make a decision by this evening. Here are the options.

1. House originally listed for 600K now listed at 430K. It's gorgeous and totally worth the money if it were not for location. But we're just renting and it's approx 1 mile from our building lot. They want $1000 per month but it's month to month and we could be in the same boat we're in now...scrambling to move...IF they find a buyer. House is 2 years old and wonderful and sits on 11 acres.

2. Empty house for sale 250K and sitting, I called the realtor and they would be willing to give us a lease through May and take it off the market through March. $1100 per month. 1/2 mile from building lot. House built in the 50's-60's and looks like it. The bathrooms are in horrible need of upgrading and the kitchen cabinets are original to the house. When I pulled out the drawer I realized that their not even on tracks. I wouldn't want to put my silverware in the drawers. BUT we would be guaranteed a place through May and there is little to no outside maintenance.

Both houses are in my son's school district and neither would be riding the same bus (which I was trying to get...)
I'm really hung up on this one. Asked the parents and mom said one, dad said the other. Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. At least it may help me figure out what I really want if I get defensive of one idea or another.


P.S. The really nice house was our only consideration until Monday when the builder thought he had it sold....then the buyer backed out.

 

[happily single]

I totally understand where you are coming from; I'm in a very similar situtation.
But, I'm confused-didn't the first house sell?
Although you don't seem to like the 2nd house the fact the realtor will take it off the market says a lot. Although houses aren't selling as fast as they used to I wouldn't want to chance having to move again and then again if the 1st house sold.

I moved into (and am in the process of moving out) of a house which needed much updating. I hated it for the first two weeks, crying I hated it so much, but then I hung my pictures and got into the groove of things. I'm thrilled to be moving but in the meantime I did make the house work.

I vote for house 2

 

[tlbwriter]

I'd go for the 2nd house - I would be the person who would lie awake at night worrying that my house would be sold out from under me. However, if it's only going to be off the market through March, that could still happen. Does the builder who owns house #1 have any other houses you could move into if that one sells? Can you find another option that isn't for sale at all? Do you have a contingency plan in the event that it takes longer to build your house?

 

[laurafergie]

I also vote for house number 2. You can stand an old kitchen for 6 months, and you wouldn't have to worry about scrambling to move during a very stressful time of building your own home.

 

[DVCLiz]

I'd choose the first house - I'd rather be in nicer surroundings during the build (which will probably last longer than you think at this point.) I'd take the chance it wouldn't sell.

 

[herdtoDisney]

I'd go for the second house. It will be off the market-the first house, being on the market, they will be leading buyers through who knows how many showings. I wouldn't want strangers walking through my home seeing all my stuff at who knows what hours.

We rented a house temporarily once on month to month-well, they wanted it back earlier than they thought and it was a scramble and stress to move. I know the second house is older with a cruddy kitchen-BTDT. There are nice baskets that fit in drawers (I know what you mean about not wanting your silverware in them...) or even some temporary on-counter solutions. And contact paper works wonders, lol. I just would not want to chance another move.

 

[NVDisMom]

I would be making a list of pros and cons for each house. From what you wrote, mine would look something like this:House 1- Pros:New, clean, $100 less Cons:still on market- which means you have to keep it show ready and you might have to move. House 2- Pros:Will be taken off market for 5 months of 7 month lease, closer Cons: Older, needs repairs, probably less energy efficient, $100 more, and YUK!

For me, in this horrendous market, I would take the gamble and hope that the house either doesn't sell or you could possibly work with the buyer to rent it until your house is done. The yuk factor will almost always get me. I would feel the need to take a week before we moved in to thoroughly clean or hire someone to do it. That means more money on top of the extra $100 a month and likely higher utility costs. Plus, if something breaks, will the landlord likely fix it or tell you to live with it? The older the house the more likely things will stop working. Before I made my final decision I would want assurances from the owners that the houses are in god standing with the bank and check with the county for any liens or notices of default. It would suck if you had to move for a bank to foreclose.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'd take the risk of house one.

 

[Darcy03231]

I would go for house #1, but I would only move those items in that were absolutely necessary. The rest of my belongings would go into storage. That way if I had to move again, it wouldn't be too bad.

 

[scrapquitler]

I also vote for house number 2. You can stand an old kitchen for 6 months, and you wouldn't have to worry about scrambling to move during a very stressful time of building your own home.

I agree with this.

Or find somewhere that is just being rented month to month, without having to worry about it being on the market at all.

 

[ajh88]

I'd take house number 2. If they aren't going to re-list it until April, the odds are that you would be able to stay through the end of your lease in May. I didn't get the feeling of "yuck" from your post - just that the house is dated and could use some upgrades. Yuckiness can always be cleaned too - I don't consider my drawers yucky but I still put contact paper and silverware organizers in them before I put my utensils in there!

I would just rather have more peace of mind not worrying about if the house would be sold out from under me any day, if it were me.

 

[MTW]

Thanks! You guys have definitely got me thinking of some things I hadn't. There is definitely a chance of foreclosure on house 1 but the loan is with BOA and I've heard that they have stopped all foreclosures due to the fact that apparently banks were foreclosing and not doing all of the necessary paperwork.

I have a call into house 1 owner to see if he would consider taking it off the market temporarily if we offered to pay more in rent.

House 1 is beautiful but I think house 2 is more stable. It's not a "yuk" house (other than the pet stains ALL OVER the lower level -it's a tri-level - carpet. It's just not ideal. Until house 1 came available I had convinced myself that house 2 would be fine. Two days ago at this time I wasn't sure that I had any place to live and now we have decisions to make! There is someone else who wants to rent house 1 so we have to let him know ASAP.

 

[wlake]

I'll put in my two cents for house 2 as well. Even though it's only a half mile closer to your building lot, you'll be at the lot at least once a day to check on things, and closer is better. Just think how much better your new house will look when you move into it from something out-of-date!

 

[horseshowmom]

I'm with the votes for the second house. I would move as little as I absolutely had to into it (no hanging pictures on the wall, very little of anything). I would look at it as a make do situation for the time being.

There's a good chance you won't get your house built by May though. You may need to factor that in too.

 

[Hannathy]

I vote for house 2. Do you really want to add the stress of keeping a house show ready to the stress of building anew house AND on top of those 2 stressors add in the it might be sold and we have to scramble again.


Nope in my book 3 strikes and your out and house 1 has 3 strikes against it.

Go with house 2

Also with house 1 you are always going to be worried about a kid or a pet or a husband spilling something and staining something or chipping something in an expensive house that has to stay pristine to sell. Does your son need this stress to go along with moving?

 

[bumbershoot]

Do you really want to add the stress of keeping a house show ready to the stress of building anew house AND on top of those 2 stressors add in the it might be sold and we have to scramble again.

Really good point.

When I pulled out the drawer I realized that their not even on tracks.

Grew up in an old house (20s, not even 50s), and that is VERY common. And frankly, drawers on tracks, in my experience, come OFF the tracks and become very frustrating!

Icky house can be cleaned; you could even toss a couple hundred at a cleaning crew to do a serious and stress-free job of it.

House that's not luxurious will make your future house feel swanky once you move in. House that's fancy might make you spend more than you planned, or will make you sad with your planned house if you don't have a place as fancy.

house 2 or short term rental apartment.

 

[bettymae1121]

Housing markets, even in good years, tend to either slow down or stop completely in winter as most people don't want to move in bad weather or pull their kids out of school mid-year. I'd take the chance on house #1 not selling until early spring at the earliest.

 

[rubato]

I vote for house #2. You will have a beautiful house in 6 months to enjoy. The location and situation are better for you in house 2.

 

[MTW]

After sleeping on it and stressing about not hearing from the owner of house #1 I had pretty much decided on house #2 - just for the lower stress level if nothing else. Got a call from house #1 owner at 11:00am this morning and he got an agreement and a check (most importantly) from the people he had originally tried to sell it to - so even though I had 90% made the decision, the decision was 100% made for me.

Thanks for your insight - it's always good to have people to bounce ideas off of or to think of things I hadn't!

Hope everyone has a great Halloween Weekend!

BTW - called the realtor and set up the lease to start November 8. Ready to move again!