We get to move again. The little house we are renting has been sold and we need to move by the end of October. We knew the house was for sale when we rented it, we just didn't anticipate that it would sell within a week of us moving in. We know the new owner and he is a great guy and this will be a perfect house for him, but it still means we need to move.
Our house in Holland still hasn't sold yet, so we have given up h0pe of being able to buy something anytime soon. We also don't want to move a third time this school year, so we have decided not to rent another house that is also for sale (not a lot of options there anyway). Thus, we have decided to become long-term renters, which has significantly narrowed our prospects. Essentially, we have two possibilities to choose from.
House A is smaller and older. It is in a nice neighborhood and right by Jon and Maria's school. It has no basement and a funky layout, but the rent (albeit higher than we are paying now) is the lower of the two options (big plus). It does have two bathrooms. One concern is that the appliances are quite elderly and the property manager told us that this landlord does not supply appliances so if the refrigerator or stove should stop working, we would have to replace those items ourselves. Also, the kitchen has no counter space to speak of.
House B is brand new and quite large. Honestly, it is nicer than any of the houses we've owned. It is quite near Dordt. There isn't really much neighborhood yet, although there is a park nearby for the kids. The rent is higher for obvious reasons. Jon and Maria do get "door-to-door" bussing and that would continue if we moved to this house. It is by the public middle and high schools, so there is a lot of traffic around at the start and end of school. If you decided to come visit us, you could stay with us since there is plenty of room. You'd just have to bring your own bed :-)
So, which would you choose?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Kath: It is like a logic problem on the newspaper puzzle page! There are pluses and minuses to both and I think you'd be happy in either one. My vote for what it's worth would be House B (though I'm not looking at it), neighborhood, rent, and two bathrooms. I could stay in a local motel :)Would you lose that great Kid program at the local church with House B?
ReplyDeleteI just realized I typed House B, when I meant A -- age or finger flexibility ?
ReplyDeleteYes - Kid Zone continues no matter which house we choose. My note makes it sound like they are far apart, but really they are only a couple miles apart. House B is on the north side of the central city area and House A is more toward the center of the city, Sioux Center not being much of a city in terms of what us city-folks consider a city.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should also add that House B has 3 bathrooms.
ReplyDeleteIs House A smaller than the house you are renting now?
ReplyDeleteHow long is a long-term rental (6 months, 9 months or a year)?
I believe I would choose House A mostly because of cost. Don't get the bigger house just to have room for visitors (I learned during my year away that people intend to come and visit but they don't usually, for many reasons. they can use a hotel if they do visit).
Hopefully an appliance would NOT break while you are there, but there's always Craigslist... or there's an extra refrig at your house here in Holland...
House A is a bit bigger than the house we have now, although not much bigger. The lease would be for a year at both places.
ReplyDelete3 bathrooms is too many to clean anyway... ;)
ReplyDeleteHouse A. Go for Character and I like "funky layouts". Money is money and saving a bit of it when you can is always a good thing to do. No one cares the size of your house, you just need enough space for a family. How many bedrooms in House A? Will a butcher block fit? You can get one on wheels to help with counter space. Although, if it's small where will you keep all your stuff? IF you have to put it in storage then that can be costly and a hassle. Although it may give you a change to declutter.
ReplyDeleteok, I'm no help. Send pictures, we can pick the one that's the cutest.
Love ya
Sis
Old and funky does not necessarily equal character:-) It can also just mean old - as in ratty and worn-out.
ReplyDeleteBUT cheaper does mean cheaper and, as everyone points out, that will probably be the deciding factor.
I am guilty of ocassionally thinking that at 45 years of age with a good education and a decent job, I deserve nice (within reason). Not very Calvinist of me, I know.
For what it's worth, we lived for a year in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with three children and that was AFTER we had moved into our present house. I, too, would go for A ... you'll have more $ to spend on life and fun.
ReplyDelete