housing choices, HELP!

[emily_in_nc]

I would go with the house. My DH and I have been on a de-cluttering/downsizing and simplifying kick for the past year, and it feels SO good. We've gone from a 4 BR, 2.5 bath house with a 3-car garage and outside shed on 11 acres, but far from everything and a 59-mile round-trip commute for me daily; to a 2 BR/1 BA apt. with no garage, 21-mile round trip commute for me, on the busline, walkable/bikeable to lots of great places, stores, and restaurants, and I'd have to say that our quality of life has improved immensely!

Sure, there are things I don't particularly love about apt. living (having to dress to take our dog out each morning rather than just letting her out back into the fenced area in my jammies being high on the list), but overall, having a smaller place to clean and take care of is a huge plus, as is being closer to everything. Having a shorter commute to work has given me more time every single weekday to do things I'd rather be doing than wasting time driving and/or sitting in traffic. Having less stuff has been liberating and enlightening too!

In our 1100 sq. foot apt. we have 6 bikes, other hobby stuff, and the three of us (DH, doggie, and me), and we're doing just grand. If I were single, I'd live in an even smaller space. I feel like I used to be owned by "stuff", and now I feel much more in control of everything, somehow. But that's just me - everyone is different, and the noise of the house for you might indeed be enough of a negative to rule it out. Is there another apartment option closer to your work and less $, by any chance?

Like someone said, don't count on your house selling anytime soon. I don't think many people are moving to the Gulf these days. If Katrina wasn't enough, the oil spill has certainly depressed the market there even more. If it does sell; great, then you can get your dream place, but until then, I'd go for the less expensive option, even if it means living out of Rubbermaid containers for awhile.

Good luck!

[Trek420]

I would go for the smaller place too. Meanwhile de'clutter.

I did not think I have much stuff in the first place but I'm de'cluttering even more to sell. All I need is art, books, bikes and my dog after all.

In terms of your Gulf home I hope it sells soon but the market is ... well you know.

Maybe it's different down there (and in the PNW) but homes don't sell as much in winter. It seems here in sunny CA anyway that likely buyers go "OMG it's raining, let's stay inside".

I'd want to see the property in dark or rain. Every home looks great in Spring or a sunny day, let's see it in bad weather.

But maybe that's just me

More people look to buy in Spring and Summer especially if there are kids involved it's less disruptive to their school year. Hopefully you may find people planning ahead.

With banks taking longer to close a loan will people start looking earlier? Hmmmmm, everything is different now.

Either way you may have the Gulf house a while (hopefully not) so I'd go for the savings. Then if you find a qualified buyer who's planning ahead .... woot! New bike.

[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.