Flexibility of renting

[pedorrero]

This is a great thread! Another option, for the Terhorst-like who has really de-cluttered and will be on a long trip: sell existing home or let current rental lapse, put all your crap in a self-storage (if good friend or relative garage or basement is not available for free), and be gone for your trip. Come home and everything is still in storage ... hopefully. A local friend or kin folk might have access to the storage if it were need for records, whatever.

 

[kramer]

This is a great thread! Another option, for the Terhorst-like who has really de-cluttered and will be on a long trip: sell existing home or let current rental lapse, put all your crap in a self-storage (if good friend or relative garage or basement is not available for free), and be gone for your trip. Come home and everything is still in storage ... hopefully. A local friend or kin folk might have access to the storage if it were need for records, whatever.

Yes, this is exactly what I am doing. My total US overhead for worldwide travel will be around $125/month, which includes excellent US-based health insurance, storage, car registration, on-hold car insurance, and permanent SkypeIn number (a US phone number that anyone can call to reach me anywhere in the world or leave voicemail). As near as I can tell, these are my only recurring costs (OK, I also pay $20/year for Yahoo mail and $100/year for online Wall Street Journal). I leave for a long trip to Asia in 6 weeks.

For records, I will be scanning in everything this month. So I will have access online if I need it. I want to be to the point where I could file taxes from anywhere which means that I will need access to all of my cost basis records. I don't need that flexibility for this trip, but it might come in handy in the future.

Kramer

 

[simple girl]

The furniture issue is something I need to consider.

The idea here is to

1) Rent a place for 2 years or so.
2) When lease ends, spend 2-4 months travelling the US.
3) Come back and rent a new place for 2 years or so (Im thinking houses, not apts)
4) When lease ends, maybe rent an apt in Paris for a couple months
5) Come back and rent a place for a year or 2.
6) Maybe spend 2 months in the Carribean and then 2 months travelling Europe
7) Come back and rent a new place in Florida.

ect.....all open to complete flexibility of course, depending on health, seasons, what other relatives are doing.

I hadnt thought about renting furniture, but I believe thats fairly expensive to do for 2 years at a time. I think when you rent furniture, you actually pay enough rent to buy the furniture in less than 2 years. It seems that paying to have it moved and stored would be cheaper, but I'll have to look into that. I did see a really cool highrise on Hollywood beach that was furnished so if we were going to stay there for 2 years, we could just sell everything and plan on re-buying new stuff 2 1/2 or 3 years later.

I just think this sounds like so much more fun / adventuorous than just living in the same house for 30 years. Im doing pretty close to that right now.

We've been thinking of doing something very similar. We get tired of being in one place for too long. The furniture/storage issue is tough. We could sell everything and rent furnished, but not sure if we want to give up some sentimental items. We are considering storing some things at a relative's house - but offering them some monthly $ for doing this so that it isn't as much of a "burden" (offering less than normal storage fees, though).

Another option we are considering is doing housesitting for a while. I've been checking out sites like this (House Sitters & Sitting from Housecarers .). Seems like a really cool way to see the world rent-free! And if you can live somewhere free, that would more than make up for the storage costs.

 

[landover]

Renting is good but there is one problem, landlord comes up with one or another excuse to keep the deposit. As you may recall, I moved back to my original country, my landlord kept the money, I am not in position to fight back although I spend close to $500 to clean the place up. Although most of the claims are frivolous but I am not in a position and don't have time to fight ( and in ER I guess there really will be no time for this kind of w**k). I should have done what other suggested, leave the house as it is, let them clean/whatever. And these people were speaking from their experiences.

landover...

 

[chinaco]

Renting is good but there is one problem, landlord comes up with one or another excuse to keep the deposit. As you may recall, I moved back to my original country, my landlord kept the money, I am not in position to fight back although I spend close to $500 to clean the place up. Although most of the claims are frivolous but I am not in a position and don't have time to fight ( and in ER I guess there really will be no time for this kind of w**k). I should have done what other suggested, leave the house as it is, let them clean/whatever. And these people were speaking from their experiences.

landover...

It has been awhile since I rented... And I have rented multiple apartments and some houses. Owned by corporations and individuals. I have never had anyone not pay back my deposit. Perhaps I have been lucky.

 

[Orchidflower]

You are more than lucky. I wish I had been.
3 years ago I rented an apartment near the Drake Hotel in Chicago, which is at the end of north Michigan Ave. in the Gold Coast from Draper & Kramer Realtors. The walls of the apartment were supposedly 18" thick, but noise was still coming from the vents. Not horribly upsetting, but I was a little surprised seeing as how thick the walls were. I guess I figured that the vents would be taken care of also.
Draper & Kramer in Chicago, however, has a little scam going: EVERY tenant who moves out of this tony building is charged another $800 for new carpeting. They "claim" you ruin their carpet. Every tenant ruins their carpet I think not.
Anyway, they threaten to put this on your credit report. So, now I am not able to travel up to Chicago to sue them for this, and it is still on my credit--even tho I have no animals, don't drink, had no company...but I somehow magically destroyed their carpet. Can we say "scam"?
Then I rent a top floor in a two flat in Chicago after that. Mom has a stroke, I have to move 3 hours away and help the landlord rerent the place so he doesn't lose a penny. He says he will give me back the security. He swore he was so honest and I didn't have to worry. Does he give it back? No. I have to take that one to Small Claims Court and get it back. Luckily, this one happened first and I was able to go back and forth then. Anyway, I got my $1,000 back from Mr. Crooked Landlord. I guess he figured I wouldn't fight him seeing I was 3 hours away. I could then...later I was unable to, tho.
Six months later after suing Mr. Crooked Landlord, Draper & Kramer pull their crap, I get their letters about needing new carpet, and I could not go back and forth to Chicago to sue them due to my elderly parent needing more assistance now. So, now I have a bad mark on my credit for something that was not done! There was NO ruined carpet...not even a tiny spot was ruined.
So, have you been lucky to get your security back? Hell, yes!
No more renting for me in America. I'll buy my own place, have my own control and not have to go thru rental hell again, thanks.

 

[Orchidflower]

You are more than lucky. I wish I had been.
3 years ago I rented an apartment near the Drake Hotel in Chicago, which is at the end of north Michigan Ave. in the Gold Coast from Draper & Kramer Realtors. The walls of the apartment were supposedly 18" thick, but noise was still coming from the vents. Not horribly upsetting, but I was a little surprised seeing as how thick the walls were. I guess I figured that the vents would be taken care of also.
Draper & Kramer in Chicago, however, has a little scam going: EVERY tenant who moves out of this tony building is charged another $800 for new carpeting. They "claim" you ruin their carpet. Every tenant ruins their carpet I think not.
Anyway, they threaten to put this on your credit report. So, now I am not able to travel up to Chicago to sue them for this, and it is still on my credit--even tho I have no animals, don't drink, had no company...but I somehow magically destroyed their carpet. Can we say "scam"?
Then I rent a top floor in a two flat in Chicago after that. Mom has a stroke, I have to move 3 hours away and help the landlord re-rent the place so he doesn't lose a penny. He says he will give me back the security. He swore he was so honest and I didn't have to worry. Does he give it back? No. I have to take that one to Small Claims Court and get it back.
Luckily, this one happened first and I was able to go back and forth then. Anyway, I got my $1,000 back from Mr. Crooked Landlord. I guess he figured I wouldn't fight him seeing I was 3 hours away. I could then...later I was unable to, tho.
Six months later after suing Mr. Crooked Landlord, Draper & Kramer pull their crap, I get their letters about needing new carpet, and I could not go back and forth to Chicago to sue them due to my elderly parent needing more assistance now. So, now I have a bad mark on my credit for something that was not done! There was NO ruined carpet...not even a tiny spot was ruined.
So, have you been lucky to get your security back? Hell, yes!
No more renting for me in America. I'll buy my own place, have my own control and not have to go thru rental hell again, thanks.

 

[kramer]

So far I have always gotten my deposits back (or virtually all of it) and had great landlords (very professional people). I am thinking back through my last 5 places or so. I am waiting for the deposit back on the place that I just left in Silicon Valley. But I was paying $1000/month for a couple of years there and the deposit is $600. So, in the scheme of things, it is a small amount ($25/month) even though I expect all or most of it back.

Also, I always get the carpet situation straightened out before I sign an agreement. This is a classic gray area. It is one of the few things not specified in California law, for instance (according to my understanding). When I signed my initial lease, my landlady had told me that they have to clean the carpet themselves (because they use a certain process) and that I would have to pay for it when I leave. I had no problem with that. But when I saw her just before I left, she said that she would pay it all since I lived there for more than a year. Of course, I am sure there are landlords out there who are out to keep those deposits . . . I just do not think it is typical.

I also try to be real professional with landlord/property-manager. Once a property manager wanted me to pay for something (she left a message) -- I can't remember what it was but it was ridiculous. I politely asked in my return message why and briefly presented my case to not pay and asked politely if she could explain to me from her perspective about why I should pay because I would really like to understand. She called me right back, apologized for even asking, and asked if I had had training in negotiations. I'm sure that if I had lost my temper or been rude it might have turned out differently.

Kramer

 

[MooreBonds]

i like the idea of renting especially when considering travel because i'd rather not have to worry about leaving the house empty, especially a house here in south florida where summer hurricanes are a concern.

the more i consider it the more i love the idea of renting fully furnished apartments for 3 months to a year at a time in lots of different locations around this country and around the world. my only big concern is sleeping in someone else's bed (i've always been particular about my bed) but i'll learn to deal with that. maybe packing my own 600-thread counts will help (i wonder if i can find that in one size fits all).

ps. if you're looking to rent on the water this season i happen to have a house for ya (who needs craigslist when i have the e.r. forum).

Although I'm a long way off, I have toyed with the idea of renting (both while w*rking and when finally self-FIREd). However, have you done some sampling of what furnished places cost to rent? About how much more than unfurnished do they cost? Also, while you don't have furniture and appliances to move, you might be surprised when you start packing up all of your little odds and ends (that little picture you found in Europe, that coffee maker you like, the family heirloom vase, etc.), and realize that it's not so simple as the theory might suggest.

And I'll keep ya in mind on the house on the water in case I'm in the vacation rental market.