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W2R · 10-20-2014, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gauss

There were many suggestions to rent in the other thread during the interim. You seemed to reject these then. ... There might still be time to reconsider this strategy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

We have good strong reasons for it and I am pretty categorical our rejection of the idea because I've found people get downright rude about not taking their advice about it. I generally try to say "interesting idea, but no thanks - next suggestion please" but for some reason some folks seem so emotionally invested in other people renting before they buy that they cannot move past a polite demurral (like the one above).

What ARE the good strong reasons for it? Surely you wouldn't be the first person to put cats in a boarding facility during a move (assuming you cannot possibly find a place that will rent to cat owners - - Extended Stay America is one chain that advertises that they are pet friendly, for example). Surely it isn't the "moving twice" thing, if you put everything in storage so that there is no unpacking to be done until you are settled. With everything in storage, your brief rental stay will be more like a vacation experience than like renting.

I don't think it is that "some folks seem so emotionally invested in other people renting", so much as the fact that moving doesn't have to be this impossible. The problems you have mentioned that prevent you from renting appear to be easily overcome, or else they haven't been completely communicated. I have known people who put their cats in boarding facilities just to go on a vacation. Is the problem that they are old and sick? If so, anything you do is going to be difficult, boarding or not.

bUU · 10-20-2014, 10:12 AM

We're not worried about renting for a week or two or even three. The La Quinta will work for us. It's the "rent for six months" ideas that we reject. No way are we caging our cats for six months. That's cruel.

Major Tom · 10-20-2014, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

And that's the rub: People want to judge the reasons based on their personal priorities rather than ours. It's a bit like telling people they're silly for buying a high performance car since it isn't frugal. Some people value high performance. Some people value frugality. Neither are wrong.

Without an explanation I hope you'll forgive me for guessing that your reason for not wanting to rent is based on illogical and purely emotional reasons rather than sound and practical ones.

It's OK - we get it. You don't want to rent, for whatever reason.

daylatedollarshort · 10-20-2014, 10:14 AM

We had our pets stay with relatives while we rented. Personally I didn't find moving twice all that stressful. We put most of our furniture in storage. The moving van line people dropped it off at the storage place and we hired some local moving company to fetch it out after we bought a house. You have to do what works for you but for us I don't remember this as a super stressful period like you are describing your move, and we were both working full time.

If we downsize we already decided we'd just move to a Residence Inn type place that accepts pets while we house hunt. With being able to house hunt during the weekdays as well as weekends it seems like it wouldn't take that long to find a new place to live.

bUU · 10-20-2014, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom

It's OK - we get it. You don't want to rent, for whatever reason.

Precisely. Like I said: "interesting idea, but no thanks - next suggestion please"...

Major Tom · 10-20-2014, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

We're not worried about renting for a week or two or even three. The La Quinta will work for us. It's the "rent for six months" ideas that we reject. No way are we caging our cats for six months. That's cruel.

There are rentals (both apartments and houses) that accept cats.

bUU · 10-20-2014, 10:17 AM

So anyway. Looks like the sellers are going to drag this out until the evening.

W2R · 10-20-2014, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

We're not worried about renting for a week or two or even three. The La Quinta will work for us. It's the "rent for six months" ideas that we reject. No way are we caging our cats for six months. That's cruel.

When my parents moved to Hawaii back in the early 1960's, there was a six month quarantine on all pets entering the state, for rabies (because it was non-existent in the islands). We put our sensitive, sweet, spoiled little toy poodle in quarantine. They actually WERE caged there, as opposed to many humane boarding facilities that allow the animals to run outside for a while each day. We visited her every day, and probably spent more time with her in quarantine than we normally did. She was just FINE and perfectly happy. It's not cruel to put an animal in a good boarding facility, especially if you make the time to visit that animal each day. Cats in particular are often so much more independent than dogs.

It is quite possible that you would find and close on your new house in a month or two instead of six months. Or find it, put it in escrow, and rent it from the present owners within a week. This is why an extended stay motel that accepts cats, such as the chain I suggested or the one Daylatedollarshort suggested, might be the perfect solution.

2B · 10-20-2014, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

And that's the rub: People want to judge the reasons based on their personal priorities rather than ours. It's a bit like telling people they're silly for buying a high performance car since it isn't frugal. Some people value high performance. Some people value frugality. Neither are wrong.

Clearly, you need to find someplace, anyplace that you can buy and move right into. If necessary, pay over the asking price to get the quick closing date. If this doesn't work, back out of the deal on your current house. I agree it would just upset your cats too much to move twice even if one of the moves was into a furnished weekly rental.

Yes, I am being snarky but that's what I'm hearing. Go for it.

bUU · 10-20-2014, 10:55 AM

That's not snark. It's petty rudeness.

Texas Proud · 10-20-2014, 10:56 AM

Wow.... all this in a few hours....

First, it is only one day to wait... don't worry about it...

Second, if you still want to worry you can do something that was done to me when I was selling my house... a buyer had three houses that they liked... so they put in an offer for all three houses and said the first one to accept their offer was the one they would take and the other two were rescinded... they also put in really low offers for all three....

That does two things.... first, you find out if someone is waiting like the empty house... second, it tells the sellers that their place is not the only bid that is out there....

I actually did not hear about the bid until a few days later... and someone had accepted it the same day....

bUU · 10-20-2014, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud

a buyer had three houses that they liked... so they put in an offer for all three houses and said the first one to accept their offer was the one they would take and the other two were rescinded...

Wow, that's ballsy. I don't think that's even legal anymore is it?

aja8888 · 10-20-2014, 11:00 AM

Ah, stress.....last November we closed on a house nearby in a downsizing event. Houses were on the market just hours then. We put our house on the market and had an offer (full price) in one day from an investor. Took the offer and got the process going.

Well, the investor kept stalling the closing and we had moved into the new house already. This went on for two months when I told them I was not going to extend further and asked for another $1,000 for my time. (I had a vacant house at the time)

Got the "one Large" extra, closed the deal, etc and all was good, but it took two months longer. Apparently the buyer had his funds "offshore" and it took a while to get them (what??). Real estate deals can be a pain in the @$$.

BUU, hang in there and have a nice cup of coffee!

jon-nyc · 10-20-2014, 11:14 AM

Maybe you can get flexible terms from your buyer?

W2R · 10-20-2014, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort

We had our pets stay with relatives while we rented. Personally I didn't find moving twice all that stressful. We put most of our furniture in storage. The moving van line people dropped it off at the storage place and we hired some local moving company to fetch it out after we bought a house. You have to do what works for you but for us I don't remember this as a super stressful period like you are describing your move, and we were both working full time.

If we downsize we already decided we'd just move to a Residence Inn type place that accepts pets while we house hunt. With being able to house hunt during the weekdays as well as weekends it seems like it wouldn't take that long to find a new place to live.

When we were planning to move to Springfield, that was what we thought we'd do, too. Either that, or we had our eye on a nice apartment complex and planned to ask them if they would work with us on breaking the lease early if needed. We investigated storage facilities early on, and found a good one with rates we could afford. We also determined how to find some (insured) "strong backs" quickly to help us load and unload our rental truck. At our age, we don't need to be doing that.

I have moved 28 times in my adult life so far, and have done interstate moves not only with our dog but also with macaws, parakeets, and lots and lots of saltwater fish. The latter are delicate and present their own challenges, but we didn't lose even one fish. I know that in general this group is not only well traveled, but has a lot of frequent movers in it; some contract employees move quite frequently, as do those in the military and certain other occupations that are well represented here. They know a lot more than I do about moving with pets.

There are some great things about moving, including the fact that when it is all over it is behind you!

Some parts of the experience are hideously stressful and best forgotten. But the excitement and adventure of moving should never be forgotten. This can be the experience of a lifetime and I hope it is for you, too, bUU.

2B · 10-20-2014, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

That's not snark. It's petty rudeness.

I'm not intending it to be rude. I'm telling you what I'm hearing from your posts. You don't have to take anyone's suggestions or ideas but why ask for them if your mind is already made up? To me, it appears it is.

bUU · 10-20-2014, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jon-nyc

Maybe you can get flexible terms from your buyer?

They'll likely have no problem with it drifting out a week or so, but we're bumping up into Thanksgiving. They probably won't go beyond Thanksgiving.

We've got movers coming in on Thursday to provide estimates. We're going to ask specifically about what we've read about the difficulties scheduling movers for holiday weeks and the last week of the month, on short notice due to pushing out a closing like this. We've figured that in the end we might have to move out earlier than our closing and have the movers store our belongings for a little bit of time until our closing in GA happens.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2B

I'm not intending it to be rude. I'm telling you what I'm hearing from your posts. You don't have to take anyone's suggestions or ideas but why ask for them if your mind is already made up? To me, it appears it is.

Because there are more things to discuss than just the one idea you seem to want to be the only one we'll consider. Again: "interesting idea, but no thanks - next suggestion please"...

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R

There are some great things about moving, including the fact that when it is all over it is behind you!

Some parts of the experience are hideously stressful and best forgotten. But the excitement and adventure of moving should never be forgotten. This can be the experience of a lifetime and I hope it is for you, too, bUU.

We're looking forward to that release of stress when an offer we make in GA is finally accepted.

W2R · 10-20-2014, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU

We've got movers coming in on Thursday to provide estimates. We're going to ask specifically about what we've read about the difficulties scheduling movers for holiday weeks and the last week of the month, on short notice due to pushing out a closing like this. We've figured that in the end we might have to move out earlier than our closing and have the movers store our belongings for a little bit of time until our closing in GA happens.

Well there you go!! You and kitties can check into an extended stay place in Georgia and relax there until your Georgia house closes. That's great. Also most movers will store stuff for longer if necessary (for a reasonable fee), until you call for it. I did that once, when the Navy was paying for our move. After I had found and taken possession of a rental house and then called the movers, they brought everything over the next morning bright and early. Piece 'o' cake (just bring money). Even if your GA closing takes a month or more, you will be fine.

daylatedollarshort · 10-20-2014, 11:38 AM

Some people here moved into an RV after downsizing, if you are looking for unique ideas. We have friends that lived in an RV for 6 months between moves. Otherwise I'm not aware of too many unique options you probably don't already know about. Most people seem to either buy first then sell the old house, sell the old house then rent or live with family and then buy, or try to do both buying and selling in close proximity.

What do you do with your cats when you go on vacation?

bUU · 10-20-2014, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R

Well there you go!! You and kitties can check into an extended stay place in Georgia and relax there until your Georgia house closes. That's great. Also most movers will store stuff for longer if necessary (for a reasonable fee), until you call for it. I did that once, when the Navy was paying for our move. After I had found and taken possession of a rental house and then called the movers, they brought everything over the next morning bright and early. Piece 'o' cake (just bring money). Even if your GA closing takes a month or more, you will be fine.

Yeah I'm definitely not worried about a week or so in a hotel. I'm a little worried about a month. No one is picking up the bill for this move. Even so, that's still probably less than $2000. We can hack that if we have to. Does anyone know if any of that expense is deductible. (I know the meals we eat out as a result of the delay in closing are not deductible.)

I was actually surprised at how little movers reportedly charge for storage. We'll get hard numbers from the movers on Thursday of course but our realtor said it was on the order of $80 per week. Very reasonable if that rate is correct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort

What do you do with your cats when you go on vacation?

They house sit for us. (And we have a human playmate come visit them once a day.)