Involuntary Downsizing

Two weeks ago I received a letter in the mail stating that our landlord intends to sell the Cloister, so they would not be renewing my lease. However, they were willing to give me first option to buy and they'd take into consideration money saved by not having to put the place on the market and have it sitting empty.

This news came at the worst possible time, because my lease expires in May.  I had been planning to take May-July off work to study for the bar, NOT a good time to be moving.  I wasn't too keen on buying this place (or any place for that matter) because I have a financial plan that will land me a nice place in about 2 years from now.  I asked the owners what they were willing to sell the place for and I scoffed at the quote.  Essentially, these folks bought the property 2 months before we rented it.  And they got a deal on the place.  They're real estate investment types and own 12 other properties in town.  They intend to sell all of them this year.  The "deal" they were offering was $25,000 more than the current appraisal and probably close to $40,000 more than they paid for the place when they bought it just a year and a half ago!  I checked with a mortgage broker and learned that I could qualify to buy the place if I wanted to.  I entertained that option for about a day, the plus being I could avoid the hassle of moving.  But I figured that money could get me a lot more house if I shopped around, especially in this market.  Moreover, if I held out 2 more years like I was originally planning for, I could get even more.  So with that bit of knowledge I knew a move was imminent.

So last week I look out my livingroom window and I see a moving truck in my neighbor's driveway.  A guy pulled up in a shiny black SUV and planted a "For Rent" sign in their front yard.  I ran out and asked about it.  The realtor told me he hadn't even listed the place on the computer yet and the family wouldn't be cleared out and the place cleaned up until mid-December, but if I gave him a security deposit he'd hold it for me for a Jan 1 move-in.  (Most places don't hold property more than 2 weeks, so this was perfect!)  I ran down to my property manager's office and had them draft a letter stating I could end my current lease on Jan 31 without penalty.  This will give me a one month overlap allowing me to move all my stuff into the house across the street in January and give me time to settle before taking time off work.

The only negative is that the house across the street is much smaller.  The place I'm in now is 2600 square feet, the new place is only 1600.  That's 3 rooms worth of furniture the new place doesn't have room for.  A lot of our big furniture won't even fit up the stairs.  So the plan is to use the livingroom downstairs as a storage facility and do most of our living upstairs with only a fraction of our stuff.  On the bright side, 2 years from now I'll have limitless options.

Needless to say, if you think my blogging has been sporadic recently, just wait till December/January.  I'm going to be a busy bunny.

Comments

[J. Go]

Ah, I hate stuff like that.

But here is my unsolicited advice: take this downsizing as a chance to downsize as much of your life as possible.

Try to get down to the bare essentials - believe me it is totally worth it. And you can make a ton of money in a garage sales.

J.Go

[S. Reed]

That's a total bummer, being forced to move. It's bad enough for me having planned it. It sounds like you've worked out a pretty good deal, though, under the circumstances. I'd love having a month to move all my stuff.