Sell my house?

[cptacek]

I am changing my work schedule to 4 10 hour days in a couple of weeks, as well as moving 2 1/2 hours away. I'll be driving in to work on Monday mornings and driving back home on Thursday nights. So, I will have to stay somewhere for 3 nights a week (M, T, W). This will continue until I can find another job (hopefully telecommuting, with the same pay and benefits) so I don't know how long this arrangement will last. I'm thinking of selling my house and just staying in a hotel for those three nights.

Here's my thinking: I pay the following every month (these bills are directly related to the house, and are my actual expenses since my roommate moved out in June - pansy, she liked heat and A/C, and was home a lot more than me, so the expenses used to be higher ):
House payment: $757.15
Internet, cable, phone: Ranges from $96.71 to $151.07. (Depends on when they bill me)
Gas: Ranges from $14.85 to $24.56
Electric: Ranges from $17.63 to $89.20
Water/Sewer/Trash: Ranges from $28.38 to $41.35

Plus, my house insurance this past year was $850. My taxes are included in with my house payment every month.

So, at a minimum, I am paying $914.72 a month, at a maximum, $1063.33.

Let's say that I only pay the minimum every month.

$914.72*12+850 = $11826.64 for the year

There are ~159 Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in a year. Of course, I wouldn't have to stay ALL of them...I have 2 weeks of vacation I can use, and I'm sure that while using those vacation days, I will cut down on the number of nights in the hotel.

So, if I can find a hotel for < $75 per night, I would be better off getting a hotel for three nights a week instead of keeping my house.

Would you do it? What am I not thinking of?

[scfr]

Not sure how the RE market is where you are, but since things are taking much longer to sell on average, and you do want to sell eventually, then in your shoes I would go ahead and put the house on the market and keep living in the house until it sells.

Once the house does sell, instead of a hotel, what about a little studio apartment with a month to month lease? Would that be less expensive? [Also - You could leave things there instead of having to pack & unpack all the time, and you could do homecooking instead of eating out.]

[jIM_Ohio]

If you get sick for 3 weeks and cannot work, what then?
In your house you have a pantry and place to store food. A refrigerator and microwave. If you have a hotel, will you have these same things? If not, food expenses might increase (you can only buy for 3 days, and things like Milk which need to be cold would not be available to you).

[simpleyme]

my mom lived in a locally owned hotel while her house was being built they had weekly or monthly rates that were way cheaper than nightly

[atomicrc11]

I travel a good amount, and I tend to stay at places like Candlewood Suites. This is a long stay hotel, and has a refrigerator kitchen and more. If you ask, they actually have monthly rates which tend to be less than their advertised daily rates. The place I stay at in Ohio is around $60-$70/night and averages $55/night or less if you prepay for an entire month. If you only stay 3 days, it would be in your price range, even with taxes included.

[cptacek]

atomicrc11 - I don't think the long stay hotels would work. I was figuring < $75 a night for the 3 nights, not for all 7 nights of the week. I think if I paid for a month, that would be $55 * 30, right? They wouldn't let me just pay for the 3 nights I stayed.

jimOhio - If I get sick for 3 weeks, I'll be at home. I'm getting married next week, and he has a house 2.5 hours away from where I work, and we're keeping that one - that's where I'll be the other 4 days. I'm not thinking about getting rid of my only house. Just the one close to MY job.

But food costs are something I'll have to consider. I've gotten better lately by making a casserole on Monday and eating on it all week (gets boring, but it is cheap) and I couldn't do that anymore.

Also, moving in and out every three days would stink. But, I'd have a maid! No more cleaning!

I think I'm waffling because I don't know how long this situation will last.

[simpleyme]

I guess I misunderstood I thought you were selling your only home

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by cptacek

I'm getting married next week

CONGRATS!

So sorry you will have to start married life by living apart for half the week.

Best wishes!

[cptacek]

Originally Posted by vsjhoc

CONGRATS!

So sorry you will have to start married life by living apart for half the week.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the congrats. Yes, being apart so much at first is going to be hard, but it will be practically impossible to get a job with the salary/benefits like I have out there in the sticks . We figured it would be better for our long term goals for me to stick it out until I could find something else.

[zetta]

How about renting a room in someone's house? At $75/night, 12 nights a month will cost you $900. A neighbor of mine is renting a bedroom out for $600/mo. You'd then have a place to store food and kitchen access. Might be worth looking into.

[Scanner]

I was thinking of renting a room from someone too (who wouldn't want a roommate that's gone a lot? That would give you some bargaining power) or maybe going with a trailer.

[zetta]

One thing that just occurred to me is that your utilities will be lower from only using them 3 days a week (although you depending on where you live you might still need enough heat that your pipes don't freeze.) Also, you could consider cancelling cable, internet, and phone -- use a cellphone, get a bunch of DVD's for entertainment, and do your email while on break at work.

[RedHotLama]

I agree that you should look at renting a room short term, you should be able to find a room for $500 ish max per month, and im sure the person would love you being gone 3/4 nights a week.

Is it possible to make any money renting you house and have tenants pay utils in your area?

[buzz]

Renting a room was my first thought also. But rather than responding to an ad, I would try placing my own ad. I'm sure there is a senior couple that would welcome the extra cash for a minimum intrusion. You are not moving in, you just need a place to crash 3 nights per week. I'm thinking you could find a good rate if you pursued it diligently.

[cptacek]

I've been sorta doing this the last few months of the year...I had a lot of vacation to use up, so I worked 4 9 hour days and took Friday off for Oct/Nov/Dec. Those minimums I sited above came mostly from me only being at the house 3 nights a week...but I can't get any lower on the water usage (I'm at the minumum charge), the lowest electric bill was $17.63 and $7.50 of that was the minimum charge, etc.

I could get rid of the cable and internet. (but ick! I know. It is only for 3 nights. I could suck it up)

I had a Cingular phone, and it didn't work at my fiance's house (my new house next week) so I got an Alltel phone, and it works at his house (and surrounding area) but sometimes not at mine. So, I would need to keep the phone line.

Renting a room from someone sounds like the best plan. I was thinking about renting a room out to someone else in my house, but I don't know how long this situation will last. I didn't want to invite someone to be my roommate, get a new job a month later and then either kick them out or not be able to sell the house for 6 months. I think I should perk the place up a bit and try to sell it, and when it sells, find a room to rent.

I agree with you, buzz. I was kind of hesitant to respond to a Craig's list add on something like this, either looking for a roommate or becoming one myself. But placing my own add with my own requirements might be the best way to go.

[mom-from-missouri]

As an RV person, let me ask you this. Do you and he like to camp? If you do and are planning on getting a camper in the future, you could stay in it for much cheaper than a hotel. Some RV places will let you set one up on a temp. perm. base for $30 to $50 a week. We have a friend who works out of state and this is what he does. He doesn't have to pull it back and forth as he just leaves it there. He bought an older camper and when he is on vacation they use it for the family.
The second option would be to rent a room from someone. I would avoid the hotel bit--too costly. I used to rent room during the summer term to teachers going to college for CE credits for $15 a night.