Back. And, A Question for You

I just don't even know where to begin. The default setting seems to be eating toast and watching Pomplamoose videos on YouTube, so...yeah. I guess I should start with the overdue library books and the baskets of clean folded laundry, the diapers waiting to go in the dryer, the breakfast dishes. I should start with the real estate agent who's waiting for me to schedule viewings (on which subject more below). I should start with getting some things together to send to the people who were so generous while we conducted our whirlwind tour of Tornado Alley. But all I really want to do is sit in a quiet tidy place and not do much of anything at all.

Visiting a gravely ill parent is sort of unspeakably difficult, especially if you missed out on a lot of the intervening decline. Emotional tectonic shifts combined with the riptide drag of a bunch of little kids who want you right in the here and now, providing crackers and strawberries and little plastic toys, they cause you to kind of lose your train of thought permanently. That train derailed and rolled down an embankment and took out a rusted old water tower on the way down.

It was way harder because Sean was away until the day before we left -- I've been on solo parenting duty for nine of the past eleven days, I think. Boo frickin' hoo, I know, but it contributes to the overall...wha? (Although there was a high point: Jenn came to visit, and Sophia has requested her immediate return.)

So that's what's going on. My tether to the right-now is pretty thin, so I have to do just one thing at a time: put a dish in the dishwasher. One folded shirt in a drawer. One email. One library book in the car. Making the choice to be here, to stay here, that's the thing that can keep you alive.

* * * *

In other news: I need your wise consult, internets. We recently learned from our landlords that the house we live in is going to be sold to someone who will most likely tear it down and build new on the site. Our lease will be honored through its end in July, but not renewed. There is also, the landlord mentioned, the possibility of the buyer providing some sort of financial incentive for leaving before the lease runs out.

Hmm.

What kind of incentive, we asked -- and got back "Well, what were you thinking?" as a response. And what I'm thinking is that the buyer is hoping that we'll open the bidding pretty low. And I want to make sure we get as much as is fair out of this, because we were really not as ready to buy now as we were going to be in a year (we'd thought about renting for 2 years to save up a down payment).

So we're wondering what to ask for. One suggestion was to ask for the amount of our rent per month, for each month that we leave early. So if we left six months early, six months' worth of rent money goes to us. No, it's not entirely logical, but it's a starting point. Clearly we'd want to prorate it so that the sooner we leave, the more we get, but how much per month is fair? 

For reference purposes, if someone is buying a house in this neighborhood for a teardown, the lot alone will run you upwards of $200K, and probably closer to $300K. Our rent is $1350 a month (and we will NOT be buying in this neighborhood, as much as I love it -- gentrification hath progressed too far). Would $1350 per month early be too much? $1000? What do you think?

Comments

[janell]

If you don't ask, you don't get. ;) If someone is building their dream house where you currently are laying your head...$1350 a month to get in their sooner might be totally worth it to them. Esp. if they have kids, and want to get a start before the new school year begins.

[Heather]

Exactly what Janell said. If you don't ask, you don't get. I like 1350 a month, but PLUS a flat fee to cover the move (though I know it's not really the buyer's fault that you have to move in the first place). Like a flat 1 or 2K?

[gretchenosis]

here's my thought: what about four months of rent. first and last, plus security deposit and one more month for a 'moving fee'. it's what you'd have to put up for a new place, plus the 'moving fee' for the trouble. a little less than six months, and it might seem more reasonable to them.

[Karen]

I would take a more "real cost of this change" approach. If you were planning on renting for 2 years to save on a downpayment, what is the amount of downpayment you will not be able to save because of this sale? And I also note that your landlord only signed a 1-year lease, so I think you can only count the difference in downpayment savings up to the end of your lease.

If you go into a home purchase needing a larger mortgage, there is a cost to that extra debt. That's what I'd ask for.

On another front, the neighborhood you're renting in sounds like it is probably pretty tight, at least among the owners who've lived there longest. Is there a chance there is another house available for lease, so you don't have to make a purchase right now? If you can find a lease, and if it happens to be higher than your current rent, ask for the difference in your negotiation with the buyer of your current home.

[yasmara]

Long-time reader, first-time commenter...AIM HIGH! They are going to try to talk you down, after all.

[Jo]

Karen, we do have some down payment ready, so it would actually make more sense for us to buy sooner rather than spend the money on moving and renting longer (not to mention the cost to my sanity!). It would be easy enough to find another rental, but financially it makes more sense for us just to go ahead and buy.

And thanks, y'all. Keep it coming!

[Mandy]

Aim for high, but stop short of unreasonable. I think the monthly rent figure is entirely reasonable.

[Angela]

Monthly rent is totally reasonable, you should start the offer at the high end of what you would want, and then let them work you down, the worst they can say is no, and you're not out anything if they do say no, so you might as well start high. good luck!

[wavybrains]

I would open the bidding at the $1300 figure and let them talk you down from there. If you start at $1000 they are still going to talk you down.

However, is the buyer just an individual or is it a contractor/firm/builder/flipper? If either the landlord or the buyer is a company, I might investigate if they have another property for sale that might suit you. A killer deal will serve you more in the long run than a cash incentive. If the buyer is a builder, they might have a property that they need to move and it would be a win-win situation.

[Sabrina]

Having worked in real estate, I'd say asking for your monthly rent is just the STARTING point. You are making things very convenient for them if you leave early, and very inconvenient for you, having to pack and move unexpectedly. I've seen monthly rent PLUS the expense of a moving company. And it worked, the buyer ( a company) happily paid to get the renters out of there so that they could take over.

[allison]

go for more. Moving expenses + enough to get you to the down payment would be awesome. You can DO it!

[Jenn (dish)]

Awww--I wish I could come back soon, too, as I didn't have nearly enough time to hang with you all. Given my love of spelunking and the plethora of caves just north of you, I wouldn't be surprised if we managed to spend a few days in the area next summer. And we would certainly make sure to show up on your (shiny new) doorstep!

[Amy]

Oh, man. That SUCKS that you have to move again. I was in a similar situation once and I hated it. We ended up somewhere a million times better than where we got kicked out of, so it all worked out in the end.

[ozma]

The gravely ill parent thing is knocking us for a loop as well. I don't even know how to go into it because it is so hard to really face.

I don't know what to advise about the incentive! But I hope you get what you ask for--sounds like a very good incentive, to me.

[Janna]

I vote for aiming high in the form of what you need for the downpayment plus moving expenses - that way its based on the reality of what the early move is going to cost you, rather than rent which is an arbitrary number to be paid to you. (I mean its arbitrary in that its unrelated to your costs, it just happens to be the rent number, if that makes sense.)

[Mary]

I clicked on a Pomplamoose link weeks ago & spent a couple hours watching them. They're great and were much more enjoyable than what I was supposed to be doing. Good luck on the housing situation. Aim high.