Question Rent or live "Rent Free"

[Horse of Course]

I hope you all can give me some good advice!

We have started to look for a rental home. I'm getting really tired of the looks and discouragement I'm receiving when I tell them about our pending BK and foreclosure. I understand the concern, but it's still really hard to deal with.

We found a house that will work for our family. It's not the best house. but it has a nice yard and in a good neighborhood. The best part is that the house is all one level (which is hard to find where I live), and the rent price is very decent and would be helpful for us to start saving money. Matter of fact the rent is half of my mortgage. They are willing to rent to us with 3 months rent up front.

We made our last mortgage payment June 2008. We are getting loads of phone calls every day from the bank.

My question is should we try to stay longer in our house so that we can live "rent free" or should we take this rental house (with a lease starting 1 Nov.)?

Thank you!

[liz417]

Since you have had such a hard time finding a place because of your pending BK and foreclosure, I would vote that you take this rental ASAP because I wouldn't want to live not knowing if I had a place to stay next month.
I vote "yes"...

Good Luck!

[epiphany]

I would take the house ASAP. You don't know when or if you will be able to find something else if you wait.

ep

[NowImDownInIt]

Take it from someone that is borderline homeless at the moment, TAKE IT!! You may not have the same opportunity in a few months..

[Medora]

Yes, if it's a house you feel you could be happy in, take it. The peace of mind of knowing you have a place to start over is priceless.
We're going to start looking well before we have to, because of the challenges we'll faced with newly trashed credit, and because we have certain requirements about area, size, pets, etc.
Also getting a good price will balance out in the long run over the few months of free rent.
Good luck on your fresh beginning!

[TiredOfItAll]

I vote for "take it ASAP". We converted our chapter 13 case to a 7 back in early September....we are giving up our home. We found a rental very quickly that we really liked and knew we would be comfortable in for a few years until we are ready to buy again. I know we could of stayed in our house quite possibly until spring and saved a good deal of money. Mentally, for us anyways, it was far better to make the move now than to remain in a home we knew we would no longer own. It allowed us to make a clean break. Plus, we were afraid to pass this home up and not find one nearly as nice for the right price later on down the line, so we jumped on it.

[CindyLou]

I'm not in the majority vote. You can get almost ANY place for 3 months rent up front. I would live rent free and save your money!!!

[boiler704]

getting a good price will balance out in the long run over the few months of free rent.

not necessarily true. Depending on how long you plan to stay in the house and the cost you might save more living rent free. For example if your expected rent (DC area) is $1200/month then each month you live rent free is another $100/month you can afford on rent. Also a lot of the homes going into foreclosure are rental properties people bought as investments so there are plenty of people desperately looking for tenants trying to stay afloat.

However since you mentioned you have kids if the house is in the school district you desire then it might be worth moving now.

[Doghouse]

Also from someone that is about to be in the same boat, it depends on your situation. I stopped paying last month and plan on living here rent free for the next 6 months minimum. I can move into a house almost exactly like mine because there's been a lot of foreclosures and short sales and homes on the market for months and months in my city and especially in my zipcode. So lots of people are renting their homes and as Cindylou mentioned earlier, almost anyplace will rent to you if you are willing to pay 3 months rent upfront. I hope to rent another house and not an apartment.