housing choices, HELP!

[JennK13]

DH and I moved at the beginning of the year. A little background, we moved from a 2600 sq ft house with three car garage in CA with 2 weeks notice 3 years ago. needless to say, we didn't have time to get rid of a lot of stuff in that amount of time. we rented a house that was 1800 sq ft, with a large unfinished basement in addition to that, and 2 car garage. It housed our stuff perfectly.
Last year, we decided to move to a cheaper place to save money. That meant "smaller". It took me a while to find a place within the area we wanted to live in our new price range. in the mean time, we got rid of a lot of stuff. I mean A LOT of stuff. DH thought I was a hoarder, but my thought was if it's been in the basement the last two years and we haven't touched it, it's gone! I actually sold a lot of stuff on Craigslist and made a couple hundred dollars. we found a 1200 sq ft condo with a BIG 2 car garage right where we wanted to live. Maybe we're lucky, as we've been here 9 months now and it's really quiet - we don't hear anything more than people outside like we would hear on a regular residential street. The design of these condos is great, though, as the garages are all on the first floor, with ranch style condos above them. Our "joint" walls are the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room, so we don't hear anything.
At any rate, it was refreshing to get rid of so much stuff. the only thing we miss, as stated by another person, is having to get dressed to take the dog out. By the way, we have 2 cats and a golden retriever and we all fit fine here. But we don't spend a lot of time inside the house anyhow.

[bmccasland]

Since starting out on my own again - I've had:

800 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment (2)

1500 sq ft 3 bedroom house, but I only used two of the bedrooms, while living there I took possession of the lovely bedroom suit that belonged to my grandparents (4 poster double bed, chest of drawers, dresser, vanity & bench, plus a cedar chest, and a quilt rack). House was on a fish hatchery, nice and quiet.

1160 sq ft, 3 bedroom/1.5 bath house - started aquiring lawn care stuff

960 sq ft, 2 bedroom/1 bath house - traded the push mower for gas. I should mention I felt cramped the entire time I lived there - not enough space for my sewing room creativity.

When it comes to pack-ratting I admit to two faults - books and fabric. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, some of the stuff I've been hauling around is now in a dump in Louisiana - they were in boxes on the floor of my garage, which flooded, then the moisture wicked up, and then molded. Yucky. Does wonderful things to your psyche to see your childhood toys covered in mold.

What I'm trying to say is, I haven't lived in large homes, or when I did, I didn't even occupy all the space. But given the opportunity to spread out I can. If I had floor-to-ceiling bookcases, I wouldn't need as much floor space!
And I would, one day, like to have a sewing room again. I had that in my California house, it was wonderful. (the 3 bed/1.5 bath place).

[emily_in_nc]

Just to add one more comment. When you said:

"I can afford to pay the mortgage + house rent without dipping into savings if my Louisiana house isn't rented out. Not so sure about paying the extra $400 per month for the larger apartment."

That to me is crux -- if you don't sell or rent your Louisiana house in a timely fashion, would you putting yourself into financial difficulty if you take the apartment? You should be able to work out a budget to determine that -- you need to be sure before you take the pricier apt., unless you can afford to dip into your savings without it being a problem. If the numbers don't look favorable, then rent the house and plan on finding a larger place once you do rent or sell your house. That's just practical. Yes, it's a pain to have to move twice, but it's also a pain to be broke.

Let us know what you decide to do....

[indysteel]

I agree with Emily. How confident are you that you won't have to bring money to the table to sell? Unless you have a fair amount of equity, that could be a concern as well--in addition to carrying costs. I sold recently myself, and while I got a small amount at closing, I did sell for less than what I bought the house for in 2002. It hurt.

If it were me, I'd sacrifice some space in the short term until you're able to sell.

[artifactos]

I'd go with the house and spend some of the money I'd be saving for the first month or two on getting some shelving units for the garage, nice bookcases, and perhaps some other storage solutions that would help you deal with the small amount of space.

[jessmarimba]

do you have the dimensions for the rooms at the house? If you can play around with it on graph paper it may not be as small as it seems. I mean, obviously the square footage is set, but some living arrangements can seem larger or smaller depending on room design built-in storage space. My house is something like 980 square feet but was built before closets were invented and has no attic, so it gets a little cramped. My old apartment was smaller but had more efficient storage and an open floor plan.

[ClockworkOrange]

So Beth, what have you decided on?

Whatever you have chosen to move to, I'm sure you will soon make it feel like home.

Clock

[bmccasland]

So Beth, what have you decided on?

Whatever you have chosen to move to, I'm sure you will soon make it feel like home.

Clock

The little house. The part about being able to pay both rent and mortgage without dipping into savings could become important. Just haven't told the apartment complex people yet - The apartment won't be available until Nov 5 anyway.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for the update, Beth. I think you made the most practical decision, and hopefully one you'll be happy with. Keep us posted as you settle in and form an impression of the new place. I'd give it three months to know if it's a good match or not. At least for me, the first two months in our new place, I felt kind of disoriented, and it didn't feel like home at all. It takes awhile to settle in, psychologically as well as physically.

[bmccasland]

Doesn't quite help my feelings towards the roller coaster ride that I now get to deal with a dieing kitty too. The Vet gave Herald days to weeks to live, as we have no idea how long the mass has been growing or how fast it will continue to grow. So this week I get to try to confirm with whoever actually has my belongings - I want to talk to a human, NOT look on some stinking website - to arrange delivery of my belonging to the HOUSE not the apartment. AND hope that Herald will at least live one more week. Oh and get utilities transferred to my name. And maybe, could the sun shine? Please?

[PamNY]

Beth, I'm so sorry. So much to deal with at once. Hugs to you and kitty, too.

[KnottedYet]

(((((Beth))))))

I'm so sorry.
Hang in there, and call me if you need help. Heck, you have a whole squadron of Seattle TE'ers standing at the ready, don't be shy.

(And, no, the sun will not shine until February or so. You might want to buy one of those light-box thingies to get the light your brain will need, and take about 3-4x the daily recommended amount of vitamin D. I'm serious. Honestly, I'm not kidding at all. Costco has both the light-boxes and the gigantic bottles of vitamin D.)

[smilingcat]

Oh I'm sorry to hear about Harold. And all while moving. He has had a wonderful life with his wonderful mom. It's far more than most can ask.

I wish you get to settle down in your new house sooner. And I'll keep you and Harold in my thoughts.

Sincerely,

smilingcat

PS yes the light box is a wonderful idea.

[XMcShiftersonX]

I'm so sorry your kitty is not doing well. That's one of the hardest things to go through. Not to mention to juggle all of these big changes at the same time. Hang in there... things will settle in eventually. And your kitty is very lucky to have had such a great mom that has given him a wonderful life. Make sure to cuddle him lots in the time that you have left! Sorry that the sun won't be much help in lifting your mood until spring.