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Moving Again - After Only Two Months

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    Moving Again - After Only Two Months

    The current Washington commute is totally unacceptable after years of financial and personal misery in Colorado, so we are about to move from provincial Puyallup to Renton and thus much closer to Zombie13's very demanding job in Kent. Additionally, he has been told that he will soon be assigned to a location in Renton which will shorten his commute there a little bit more, best case scenario. (From Kent to Renton the driving time is between 25-30 minutes, a vast improvement over the 60 minutes + he has to endure 20 days a month now.)
    His current commute is one hour each way every day as working from home is simply not an option with this company (supposedly though, on extreme weather days (i.e., severely rainy and low visibility or rare snow days when the gridlock traffic roads present clear driving dangers, he may be allowed to login from home.) From Renton (once he is ensconced there), that will add another twenty to thirty minutes , meaning he could be in some of the worst traffic in the US for three hours each and every day as long as he works for his company - not reasonable or acceptable given his age (53 in December and the fact he is not getting any younger), so this is a necessary step in improving our lives as the move away from crappy Colorado was designed to do.
    Puyallup is a decent place to live, just too far from a job with little flexibility or downtime. The modern rambler (ranch) is a most welcome respite from the endless stairs I was subjected to in our former two-story house, and I like having everything I need on a daily basis (i.e., kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom and full bathroom and multiple closets) all on one level, but at just under 2000sf, it is clearly too small, and we are visibly cramped.
    The new rental, by contrast is a large rambler with a large basement at over 3200sf and beautifully customized with very unique features like a huge gorgeous built-in curio cabinet, perfect for our many expensive - looking glass figurines and family heirlooms. The bathrooms are elegant and the kitchen while built more than twenty years ago is visually striking and the fireplace features real stonemasonry and an adjunct area that can be used as a pizza oven. The whole house screams refined character, the basement features a large disco ball and a small dance floor, a wooden radio room, perfect for VO, a wet bar with plenty of built-in liquor bottle and glass cabinet storage, a second small kitchenette ,etc. There are two gated outside decks, one a small veranda outside the master bedroom sliding glass screened door, the other, open and wrapping around half the main level. And the lush, almost two-acre yard is totally surrounded by mature trees and wildlife. (We saw a brave doe looking for food last weekend!) This home sits near a small lake on a private road. Best of all, the rent is only $125 more each month than our current house and the laid-back landlord, himself a cat person, doesn't mind three cats and has no concerns about nail holes in the walls or the older carpets in the house.
    The only drawbacks? We will have to move in at least two years or less as the large property will be developed into four smaller lots for sale.
    And, of course, breaking the lease. The terms are we must give them 20 days' notice, professionally clean the carpets, pay a relisting fee and continue paying the rent until they find other occupants, which means we might be on the hook until the lease ends at the end of April 2023.
    Fortunately, we have more than enough to double pay if we must and this breathtaking house was at a once in a year find. (It was listed last Monday and already had four other applications besides ours.)
    When we flew here in April on the company paid five day housing hunting trip, the Bk13 was not yet closed, my husband's FICO score was below 700, no verifiable proof and history of the new job's annual pay raise (both required on many rental applications) beside the offer letter, we had two barely adequate to drive cars , we still owned the Colorado house and still owed on two 401K loans, so a mortgage payment and monthly rent for a house here was just not advisable or doable with the limited 401K funds we then had at our disposal. Thus, we didn't have much choice in rental location, and this was the one property management company glad to rent to us under the many above listed prohibitive financial concerns. In other words, we took what we could get.
    Luckily, much has changed since then -we have two much newer cars, one credit building auto loan, a real Capitol One unsecured credit card with a pretty high limit, and a much higher FICO score.
    And before anyone mentions partially paid company temporary housing as a better initial option, I must add that we needed a local street address to buy both cars and establish local residency, two crucial pieces of the puzzle to raise our credit scores and our cats needed more space than a tiny hotel room/one bedroom apartment would have allowed.
    Normally we wouldn't have the extra proceeds to take the chance and move twice in less than three months, but we have learned that life is too short to waste precious hours in traffic and live only to get to and from the job site, leaving only the weekends for short day trips and exploring the new area.
    Last edited by Barbisi; 07-29-2022, 03:23 PM.

    #2
    Barbisi we are all expecting an invite to the new lovely property and dancing in your basement!

    While it's not ideal to get up and move so soon and the penalty of paying until they find another renter (my daughter's apartment has the same penalty) it sounds like it totally makes sense.

    The first thing I thought was renting the house you did was like a place to escape. Limited time to house "shop", limited options with the BK still open and lurking, though it the end was definitely in sight. You found the best rental you could in the time and circumstances.

    I am happy you are able to find a better place and can afford the penalty.

    Life after BK can be interesting for sure! I never thought I would find myself feeling confident to find a different line of work which can be at home or mostly at home using the knowledge and skills from the last 30+ yrs working directly with patients, families and health care professionals and make a fairly similar income. I am working towards that goal, getting educated and sprucing myself up since like Zombie13 I am not getting any younger (turned 58 this month).

    It is wonderful to have the disposable income back and just simple things feel so wonderful. Like I said we are not going hogwild, but it's great to be able to pull out the debit card and pay for that pair of glasses for my husband that has a complicated prescription that costs more even with insurance or my chance to get back to wearing daily wear contacts because I can afford it.
    I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

    Comment


      #3
      Oh Barbisi I was going to say don't get too excited over that Doe. I know how cute they can be, but they are part of my daily life. They are not so cute while eating your plants and running in the street! You probably don't need to worry about plants, but look out when driving. Since we live in an urban suburb the deer have become street smart. It's amazing sometimes to see them look both ways or wait to run across the street. But there's still always the few who are reckless in their behavior! I don't find Does so cute anymore unless there's a baby running behind them or nursing while standing in the creek. We live two houses from the creek/park. The fawn are definitely cute, but just like human babies they grow up and aren't so cute anymore! And it is awesome to see the huge Bucks, there's the one I call the Hartford Deer. He stands on the street corner just like that deer from the commercial. I don't remember if the Hartford deer was on a street corner, but it's the same stance. He's large and in charge. As long as he stays away from the car I can appreciate him.
      I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

      Comment


        #4
        @Barbisi..All I can say is WOW!!! New place sounds great and I totally understand the commute. Sounds like you’re both doing great. The rental market is still hot..so hopefully your Puyallup place rents quickly. Being out of BK has wonderful advantages. How are you doing as our heat wave nears ending?
        Filed Chapter 13 - 07/20/12
        Discharged 8/2/16

        Comment


          #5
          Carmella ..how are you? Sorry to post on this thread.. What training are you doing? You can do a private note if you prefer. Glad you’re doing well.
          Filed Chapter 13 - 07/20/12
          Discharged 8/2/16

          Comment


            #6
            Carmella, you are so funny, you gave me a good chuckle!
            Yes, you are so right about the compressed timeline. We simply didn't have the credit scores and the income verification backup to try to get the more competitive rentals in Renton/Kent in mid- April. The actual closing didn't come until late May.
            As for the doe, I know they're not as innocent as they look, LOL! We will really have to protect the three fur babies from any and all wildlife and more importantly, predators, like coyotes and bobcats.
            sophieanne , thank you! The only real downside to this gorgeous house is the lack of central AC or any kind of real cooling. (Only an older, smaller but still working ceiling fan in attached to the huge ceiling in the very large living room.)
            The awful current heatwave is over (?), and we have purchased two portable AC units, which will arrive later this week and hopefully they will cool the main level enough.( We also intend to buy and have 4-6 ceiling fans installed.) The basement is much more comfortable, but I do not intend to spend much time down there as the master bath/bedroom/closets/kitchen/dining room and living room are all on one level as my current health dictates.
            Last edited by Barbisi; 08-01-2022, 12:23 PM.

            Comment


              #7
              Barbisi Good to see you guys can handle the financial punches a lot better after shedding the Colorado CH13 trustee and the unsecured creditors from your life. Newer cars, portable ACs, paying double rent if needed, moving costs, etc.

              I think you guys timed both the job change and the house sale perfectly. Even if you have to pay double rent, your window of escape may have been short due to the looming recession, the downturn in the real estate market, and tech layoffs. I bet that iBuyer would have offered a lot less today.

              Comment


                #8
                Thanks, flashoflight!
                I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head - had we waited, the investor would have walked away, and the house in its decaying state would have just sat there on the market, losing value and continuing to cost us money every month.
                There are still 8 (!) neighborhood houses for sale and all of them are updated and in better condition than ours was at the time of the sale. Yet nearly all have had a couple of price adjustments downwards since their inital listing, some as high as 30K or more and some have been available since February, even before we sold our house in May!
                BTW, our 1975 house sold only 5K above asking price, proving the bidding wars are a thing of the past, at least in that area for now. This investor was able to totally renovate everything (all bathrooms, the kitchen, the railings, total repaint, new SS appliances for the kitchen, all carpets, all wood floors on the main level and tile in the bathrooms, all recessed LED lighting and something we certainly couldn't have done with our very limited budget, all popcorn ceilings on both the main and upper level were completely removed, a fully updated central AC/ heating unit replaced the worn-out furnace/swamp cooler equipment, all the older doors/ door knobs were replaced, etc.)
                All these projects had to cost a lot more than the original 30K 401K loan amount we had at our disposal and still she only was able to make a total sales profit of 159k, which is less than we were able to walk away with. Out of that 159K, she had to pay for all those materials, labor, the buyers RE agent, closing costs/fees, etc. I don't see how she could have cleared even 100K!
                Yes, I think we did time everything about as well as we could have, and we were very lucky the downturn and recession didn't happen earlier this year!
                Last edited by Barbisi; 08-01-2022, 05:19 PM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Barbisi The window a/c will work. We have a large one in our living room and a large one upstairs in our dormer. Plus a small one in each of the two downstairs bedrooms. Having the two large ones on the thermostat setting keeps the house cool and the two smaller ones are used when it's really hot or as needed. The electric bill isn't as high as you might think so that's good. Our electric bill was higher when my daughter and all her electronics lived here. I reallly can't believe how much electricity she used and at her apartment she uses more than my husband and I do here.
                  We have coyotes around here, too. No bobcats! I have to keep my eyes open and I don't let the little dog outside alone. I have only seen a few in the early morning and only one at a time!

                  Keep us updated as you move!
                  I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

                  Comment


                    #10
                    sophieanne Carmella - yeah we made it through the heatwave... yknow, the landlord said, when I said, man it's hot! ... he said, yeah but it doesn't last that long here. That was before we got the portable ACs. With no cooling man it was rough! We never used portable ACs before; glad they worked!
                    flashoflight - yes we discuss that often - that we sold at the 'maximized profit' time. Barbisi kept saying, at the time, 'now is the time to sell and bail'. and she was right! The investor sold it at 705K or so, I think, which is really good for that area. As Barbisi mentions in her post today (oct 6 2022), the Puyallup house was rented again, hot damn! So we didn't have to absorb 20K which would have totally sucked.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Zombie13..thanks for the update. Now we’re into a pleasant and unexpected extended summer 😊. I’m glad the first rental got rented again..I would’ve called shenanigans. Hope all is well in your new place and at work.
                      Filed Chapter 13 - 07/20/12
                      Discharged 8/2/16

                      Comment


                        #12
                        sophieanne - thank you! Yeah huge relief on that house getting rented, phew! I liked the summer except that last part with all the smoke uuuuugh! And thanks flashoflight ! Yep; Barbisi was saying all along, we need to sell that CO house ASAP because prices are gonna go down!

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