Moving to another state - Rent or Buy first?

[HeatherH]

What say you, ladies?

When we moved to B'ham in 2005, we went ahead and bought. Thankfully, we landed in a terrific, terrific area - in fact, an area I would have chosen had we rented and scouted around for a while.

Looking like we're going to move again this summer - and wondering if we should rent this next time? And HOW do you find a reasonable rental for a family of 7? Or do we just take the buying plunge?

Opinions?

[Stirsmommy]

we rented a house for a few months when the kids and I got up here. It was being sold so my furniture could hide its bruises but I had to have it showing ready all of the time. Since it was tiny we didn't have much that we had to take care of at anytime. Most of our stuff that wasn't essential or school related was in storage. I am glad we did it. When we came up I wanted to live out of town and a few other things were on my must have. After a month of real winter weather my priorities had change and I needed to be in town close enough that I could get to people and my road would be cleared of snow! Plus it gave me some time to kind of see the areas and what living in each would be like. That only lasted 3 month because once I moved in and fixed up the little house it sold. We had found our house by then so it worked out for us. Maybe if you are moving near one of us on the board we can give you hints if you really need to buy right away.
Melissa

[Wendi]

Many markets are great for buyers right now, so in that sense it could be an excellent time to buy. On the other hand, some people recommend renting first when you move to a new area, until you know what neighborhoods you like best.

If you can afford to buy, and can get some good advice about areas to look in, maybe you should go for it. When we moved here four years ago, we bought a house right away. It's appreciated quite a bit, so even though the market is "soft" now, we still have great equity. We're glad we bought then, because we wouldn't be able to afford our neighborhood now. (Our house is one of the smaller homes in our neighborhood.)

Are you able to travel to your new area to look at houses? Do you know someone there who can advise you and recommend a good realtor?

Wendi

[Tutor]

The pros of renting first are an opportunity to hunt around and get to know the area before committing. The negative is that it is temporary, it will feel temporary, and you will have to move again.

The pros of buying right away are that you'll only have one move, you don't have to worry about the large family factor, and housing prices are favoring buyers right now. The negative is that you won't be familiar with the area and may buy in an undesirable-for-you area.

I prefer renting first (we moved 1000 this past summer and are renting right now) just so I can really get to know the area (like alternate routes to work, etc) and use that info in my search. It also gives us time to get to know people and find out about possible good deals we might not have heard of from a realtor.

We have four kids and found our rental (and the rental at our last place) by contacting churches in the area and asking if anyone knew of houses for rent that would allow 6 people and a dog. We received quite a few tips and a great deal on a place. I also asked on the boards here and received some wonderful leads from these ladies (an gentlemen) as well.

Happy house hunting!

[Pster]

You might be able to find a great house to rent because people are willing to rent vs selling their houses. That would probably put you in it for a year tho. Renting isn't fun - the whole not feeling like it's yours....etc etc. I know with just my 3 kids I'm worried about them "wrecking" the house before we move out!!

On the other hand - the timing is GREAT for buying. Lots of people trying to sell!! Low interest rates. I'd really suggest if you "could" to probably buy something. Course if you don't know the area - that will be tough. Try real hard to get to know the area - ask around - go out with realtors if possible - but I have no idea how long the housing market will be in a slump like this - it'd be great if you could take advantage on the buying end!

(we are renting - moved to whole new big city - our lease is up in Aug so we are thinking about what to do all the time!)

[Kendra]

We were really, really glad we rented first. The town we moved to was poorly planned and had nice pockets next to really seedy neighborhoods. We wouldn't have known how to purchase strategically had we bought right away.

We had a 2yo and a newborn at the time, so we left a lot of things packed up before making our permanent move.

HTH!

[elegantlion]

We moved a couple of years ago. It was a long distance move and we found a great neighborhood and a great deal on a great house.

Problem, is now almost two years later there are many things that tell us this is not where we are going to stay. Now we are planning on selling in the near future. I'm not looking forward to the whole process again so soon, and wish we had just rented. :o

So I vote for the renting.

[Elinor Everywhere]

We've moved several times, and have always bought right away. But we were fortunate in that we were either relatively close to the new area and knew where we wanted to live, or, in the 2 moves that were quite far away, we were able to take a trip and investigate the cities. We talked with new coworkers and asked about places that fit our lifestyle, and we spent a lot of time just driving around, getting a feel for the place.

All three times we've ended up in great neighborhoods, BUT, I really think renting first is a better idea. Buying a "mistake" is costly, and not just financially. My dh's company does our packing and moving, and I know a big part of our decision was that we simply didn't want to have to do it ourselves if we rented first! :eek:

[tess in the burbs]

unless you have lived in the area before I would suggest renting. we have moved a lot in our almost 10 years together and we have always rented first, even when we moved to a town we had lived in before!

I know it's a pain to rent and then buy and have to move again, but it gives you time to talk to people and find the nicer areas you would want to be in. You may find a higher concentration of homeschoolers in the area or more homeschool opportunities than in other areas and that may influence your decision.

we bought our second house in an area of the town we had lived in before that I never thought I would live in....it wasn't until we rented in the area that we realized how wonderful it was and cheaper than the other side of town we had lived in years before! renting has it's pros. Like the pool in summer :p

[8FillTheHeart]

How much time have you spent in the new location studying the area and house-hunting?

We just moved into a new home last week. This move was 9 hrs away from where were living. I spent huge amounts of time here. I spent 100s of hours on the internet researching the different areas, pre-selecting homes to see, and really trying to understand the city in general. I must have seen over 100 houses in person. I drove from the houses we were considering to dh's work and ds's school so that we knew realistically what the commutes would be.

Ultimately for us the decision came down to settling on one of 2 homes that we considered possibilities but not exactly what we were looking for (both were in the same neighborhood.....it was the neighborhood that I kept coming back to. There was something about the neighborhood that kept attracting me. :) ) or renting a furnished executive apartment for a month or two to see if anything new came on the market (our relocation package allowed for storage of our belongings for up to 2 months)

We decided that renting would push our stress over the top. The houses we had narrowed it down to were both fine and we could easily make them home. I am still in the middle of unpacking and even though this house is nothing like our old one (which I absolutely loved and it broke my heart to leave), it is starting to feel like home and the kids love the change in lifestyle. (before we were on secluded acreage on the side of a mountain......now we have a completely level yard on a cul-de-sac with neighbors all around.)

I am glad we are settling in. When I was younger, moving didn't bother me so much. (this is our 8th state-to-state move.) It has been much more stressful this time around. Also, it is definitely an excellent time to consider new construction. We have always bought older homes in established neighborhoods b/c I love big trees and the older neighborhood feel. But builders are fairly desperate to move homes right now. We were able to negotiate a fantastic price and when it was appraised for our mortage, it appraised significantly higher than our offer.

[Brigitte]

We are most likely going to rent when we move this summer. We are moving back to Virginia, but not to an area where we have lived before. Since neither dh nor I are tied to a particular city for work, we are picking a town we like, but we don't know a whole lot about it. So, renting is the most practical thing we can do right now, even though we are in a pretty good position to buy. We also believe that the market will still favor buyers 6 months from now and at worst will be pretty neutral in a year. I am going to look at rentals and homes for sale on Tuesday (anyone in Abingdon, VA want to advise me???:).

I think the decision has to be based on how much you know about where you are going.

Good luck with the move!

PS - Momof7 where in Va. are you?

[HeatherH]

the overwhelming opinion is to rent. My dh and I are very "planners", and truthfully, the thought of moving temporarily and then moving again is VERY stressful . . . . . .

I will be sure to ponder all this. We'll see if a job offer comes through! If not, it may be back to CT, where we were before all this started. Although, truthfully, I'd LOVE to stay south. BRRRR. . . . . . :D

[Sara R]

and whether or not there was a real estate bubble there. People keep saying that it's a "great time to buy now," but that isn't necessarily true. It may be better now that it was a year ago, but it will be even better in a year or two or three. From everything I've read, it looks like the pain from the bubble is just beginning. Prices are estimated to drop 30% from their peak. These bad loans were available nationally, and the foreclosures from these crazy loans are only beginning.

Compare rent prices to a regular amortizing mortgage payment. If the house payment isn't that much more than rent, and prices haven't gone sky-high recently, go ahead and buy, maybe after renting for a short time to check out neighborhoods. But if it's a place like California where house payments are way more than a mortgage payment, plan on renting long term for a few years until house prices drop to where the median house is affordable on the median income.

If you rent long term, might be good to check out the landlord's mortgage and financial situation and make sure that house won't get foreclosed on...

[Josie]

Momof7 hit the nail on the head when she talked about stres. Which option will be the least stressful for you? I would contemplate that question and then do what I had to do to make it work. Can you go to the new city for a few days or a couple of weeks to scout things out?

Josie

[Josie]

I agree with Sara R. If you rent make sure you check out the landlord. As Sara R. mentioned, check out the financial aspects, but remember to check out the service side also. Ask for the names of the last couple of renters and see how things went for them. Did the repairs get fixed in a timely fashion? Did they have to beg to get the landlord to even believe there was a problem? Having good service can make the world of difference when it comes to your happiness at the temporary place. Check to see if there is a renter's organization in the area and talk to them to see if there have been any problems with the landlords.