Yet another post today.

I know this is my 3rd post today, but forgive me…I have a lot to say.  This time I am asking for your advise.  We will be moving in a little over a month to a small town about 2 hours from where we are now.  Our current house has been on the market for about 4 months.  We’ve had some people come to look, but nothing too serious.  We found a house in our new location that we really liked, but we simply can’t afford two mortgages right now.  So…we’ve been stuck in the frustrating and confusing land of the in-between-and-undecided.  A while back, we had an offer from the owners of the “new” house we like: if we would buy the house, they would be glad to rent it from us until we moved.  Although that sounded like a pretty good idea, it still left us in a  place of having to pay 2 mortgages.  Our income will be *very* tight for the next few months, and that just wasn’t going to work.   Marshall will get paid here at the end of June, and our next paycheck won’t come in until mid-to-late August.  That’s a long time to spread a not-so-much amount of money!

So…now we have a new proposal.  Let me see what you in the blogosphere think of this: The owners of the “new” house are willing to rent the house to us, starting July 1st!  We would write up a purchase and sale agreement in which we would negotiate all the normal stuff-a price, closing costs, inspections, etc.-and then we would also submit a lease agreement talking about the length of rent-time, amount of rent, and such.  The lease price would be more than our current mortgage, but the house is bigger and nicer.  And, hopefully, we wouldn’t have to do that for too long.  We have briefly talked to the bank about getting some money to bridge the gap between residency and real, full-time practice, and they seem willing to help us out as best they can.  So, to me, it seems like a win-win situation.  The sellers have a definate buyer; we have a definite home in a good town with a good school district; and we don’t have to move but one time!

Here’s where you come in.  Do you see anything wrong with this idea?  Does it seem to make sense?  Be a good plan?  We want to do what is best, and it seems like this is about the best possibility, but we don’t wan to over-extend ourselves or do something blatantly stupid.  I’m going to attach a few pictures of our current house and the “new” house, so you can get a feel for what we’re talking about here. 

Current house: 3br, 2ba on two levels.  It’s in the historic district, which I love.  It has cool textured paint in the kitchen/dining room that I will miss terribly.  And the way the morning sunshine comes through the big windows in there…love it! There are gorgeous camellia bushes/trees in the backyard that make me smile every day when they are in bloom.  The basement/lower level is something I worked very hard on and am pretty proud of the way it turned out.

     
             

“New” house: 4br, 3ba on one level with a bonus/playroom above the garage.  It has a big kitchen, which I don’t have now and miss.  It has a pretty big backyard, but no fence(which we’ll need with the dogs…but that’s easily remedied, right??).   It has a nice partially covered deck in the back, with all the things that you would need if you wanted to put a outdoor patio kitchen back there.  There is ample storage space-some in a crawl up attic space, and some in a walk-in attic space.  Oh, yeah!  It also has a garage, which I’ve never had before and always wanted!  🙂

             

Ok…I have to admit that in these pictures, it pretty much looks like the same house.  I never really noticed that before…oh, well.  Let me know your thoughts anyway!  🙂

No Responses to Yet another post today.
  1. Jessica Jackson
    May 24, 2008 | 3:44 pm

    Hi Bridget! I felt compelled to comment on this one, since we’ve had similar conversations recently. Is Marshall going to have an immediate income, or is he going to have to build up a practice? Do you have some wiggle room on your house, where you could take less if the prices continue to drop? Will Marshall’s anticipated income be enough to cover all of your bills including the 2 houses if your current home doesn’t sell by the agreed on date?? If not, are you comfortable renting out your house to make up the difference? If the answer to those questions are all “yes” then I say ” go for it”! Good Luck!