Moving tips (specifically going into a short term rental)

[teachermom2834]

First off I will start with disclaimer that I know people will come on and say not to do this - that they planned on going into something short term and ended up not being able to find a new home and ended up in a jam for a long time. Point taken. I understand that risk but still think this is the way we are going to do this. I don’t see us ending up without a house to buy long term but if we did we could accept that. So now that part is out of the way. 
 

We are finally going to list our house in a few weeks.  House are selling in days in our neighborhood for what seems like silly prices. So we plan to list and be ready to get out and go somewhere short term. It is just dh, 15 yo dd, a 10 pound pup, and myself. We are really low maintenance. No special needs, no special diets that require lots of cooking equipment, etc. We will travel light and are good at just making do. 
 

So we plan to go into a short term furnished apartment or AirBnB and just let the moving company hold most of our stuff taking only the most important items and what we really need for the day to day functioning. 
 

What do I need to be thinking about? I have thought of a PO Box for the mail would be best and I’m keeping a list of things I think we would need in an apartment and miss if we didn’t have them for a few months. Advantages of an apartment vs an Airbnb type rental? Thinking of having utilities included in an Airbnb as well as an option of only doing a month vs 3 months at an apartment? 
 

Any thoughts from BTDT? I know this will be annoying but I don’t want to coordinate buying and selling at the same time. Both times we have done that I felt like we made concessions as sellers that weren’t very reasonable just because we felt we had to have it go through and both times we felt so pressured to find someplace to go we didn’t make the best choices on purchases and settled on some things that were not ideal because we just had to buy. I do not want to repeat that and would rather be inconvenienced for six months (or longer) than make a bad purchase or not be comfortable with the sale. 
 

We really have very few possessions. We invested our limited resources in people not stuff and the people launched. The stuff left behind is mostly broken and going to the curb. We are practically starting over as far as physical goods. 

[YaelAldrich]

Take a typical day and carefully scrutinize the things that you use and things that will be useful to you. Do it once or twice on weekdays and once Saturday and Sunday (if religious services are part of your weekend). Then you know what you need to take with you or buy for your in-between living. 

All utilities including  cable, internet,  and mobile need to be included in your calculations. 

Good luck! 

[Bambam]

Random thoughts:

I would be tempted to reserve a spot where I could put commonly used items but not every day items (so no bathroom supplies!). We've done this before a move, I used masking tape to portion off a part of our foyer and anything you needed for the first 2-3 weeks of our move needed to be put in that section (it was in the corner of the staircase, so not really in the way). 

As for rental, I'd just do a quick search now to get an estimate of what is available now and how much it would cost. Long-term stay Airbnbs take a significant portion off the total, but it is still very pricey.  I have a friend who travels for business and prefers to stay in those, but the prices she (company) has to pay are $$$, which is also what my youngest experienced for a summer internship in a major metroplex.  Apartments here usually aren't just available whenever you need them - it may be a month or two or six before you can get the apartment you want. I don't know if furnished apartments are the same way or not - we've only dealt with unfurnished. 

Airbnbs often have all the basic kitchen stuff (but no exotic coffee machines, stand mixer, etc) - so you wouldn't have to pack any of that stuff (unless you can't live without your stand mixer!).  Hosts are generally great about taking care of any issues very quickly and easily. 

Most Airbnbs that we've seen have been not connected to other units, so noise isn't an issue from neighbors like it might be for an apartment. 

Because I am like this, I would have to do the finances of living in an undefined short term place vs. just selling our house for $10,000 less than I wanted. If I'm spending $14,000 on six months of furnished living, I'm not coming out ahead financially unless I have plenty of money and just don't care. 

[Lecka]

I have stayed in short-term housing.

In ours basic kitchen items were provided.  I hadn’t known exactly what would be provided and it turned out I didn’t need to have brought anything, so the stuff I brought took up too much room.

On that note, will the kitchen be full-sized or apartment-sized.  It seems like some of my things were not proportionally the right size and were too big.  The smaller-sized items worked better with the kitchen.  

Second, we had little closet space.  And, we also had to store our suitcases.  It would have worked better if we either didn’t need to also store our suitcases, or if we had just packed less.

 

Three, we did not need any cold-weather items.  But I have known a lot of people who have to re-buy winter items because it gets cold and they can’t find or can’t get to them.  This is a known issue.  
 

Four, are you going to keep some things in the trunk/s of your car/s.  If you’re organized this can work really well for things that are needed but don’t have to be brought inside.  There are some school or work or “outing” items that can be purposely stored in the car/s if that is something that would work.  
 

I just remembered this, but I think the dishwasher was small, too, so it’s like — it’s just something where you don’t need as much dishes.  
 

Edited:  we were in an extended-stay hotel type of place, for a few weeks, just my husband and I and my oldest son who was a toddler.  We had a nice time.  We had some level of room service, I was not washing our bedding and we knew we wouldn’t need any bedding.  I don’t remember the details on that but I think it was mainly just that they washed the bedding once a week or something like that.  

Edited July 3, 2023 by Lecka

[Lecka]

I’m going to add…. The refrigerator was also a smaller size.

It wasn’t a problem but it was even like — if I normally store leftovers in one size, because it’s what I’m used to, maybe that size of container is just too big.  
 

All of this worked fine for us, it was just three people and one was a toddler.  It was just different.  I had never lived as an adult with a smaller-sized kitchen, I wasn’t used to it.  

I think we might have done things like get half-gallons of milk and the smaller coffee creamer, to have them fit in the refrigerator.  It can matter with condiments I think.  
 

I am not remembering us having any other issues.  I believe we used a laundry room.  I believe there was a locking cabinet to store cleaning supplies.  
 

We were on the ground floor, which we had really wanted because of having a toddler. 
 

We were in a one bedroom, full bathroom (with a bathtub), living room with couch, coffee table, and tv.  The bedroom had a good sized closet and chest of drawers.  
 

The kitchen I remember as being very small but easy to use and functional.  
 

I think there was a tiny kitchen table in the kitchen, I’m not sure now.  I think it might have only had two chairs.  I think we ate on the coffee table in the living room.  My son didn’t need a high chair.  

[Lecka]

I would NOT have wanted to cook a holiday meal there, but it was totally fine for us.  
 

We would have needed to get a smaller cut of meat probably, which would have been fine for just the 3 of us.  
 

It would have been fine to make and take sides.

 

But I would have needed to adjust the size of everything, compared to what I would be used to doing!  
 

Or I would have needed to plan ahead for some work-arounds.  
 

But I would not have been able to just plan for “this sized pot, this size casserole dish” all fitting on the range or into the oven.  
 

Edit:  but we were there over the summer, it was a non-issue.  We had a place to grill outside, too.  

Edited July 3, 2023 by Lecka

[Annie G]

Air bnb and extended stay places have basic kitchen stuff, but you’ll probably want containers or ziploc bags to hold leftovers, or things like a chip clip to keep chips fresh.  Dh has done some short term living when he’s started a new job and we came later after the house sold, and containers to hold leftovers so they could be reheated in the microwave were heavily used. 
 

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

Thinking of having utilities included in an Airbnb as well as an option of only doing a month vs 3 months at an apartment? 

When we relocated to the states, my husband’s employer offered us two months stay at a fully furnished apartment as part of the package. The people who relocated from another state were given one month rental instead of two. Many apartments in my area offer one month lease for fully furnished apartments with the ability to extend month by month. I like the convenience of being able to call maintenance if I needed help, using the club house amenities and participating in apartment events. I have never tried AirBnB so can’t comment on that.

At that time DS18 was 8 months old and my mom was with us to help me. All the clothes we need could easily fit into a suitcase each. We bought a slow cooker (not provided) and a cordless kettle (personal preference). Everything else was provided including an electric can opener. When we moved out of that apartment, we only needed two trips in our Corolla, one for our suitcases and one for my gardening stuff (potted plants, soil)

[SHP]

Unless it is winter, I would be tempted to borrow an RV and take it to an RV park or campground that has hook-ups and park it there rather than an Airbnb or hotel that is extended stay. Hotels get expensive fast and Airbnb and other STR companies are not regulated enough that I would be comfortable staying in one long term. If you arrive and find there is a major health and safety issue can you get your money back for canceling the rest of your stay? Will Airbnb do anything? Does the city have laws and teeth to get significant problems taken care of? Here they do not. Neither Airbnb or the city care if your rental is infested with roaches or is unlivable. Airbnb will not refund you the money if you cancel, unless the host has it set up that way. 

[Bootsie]

Are you listing your house with a broker?  If so, I would ask them if they work with anyone to provide short-term housing in these situations.  If an apartment complex or extended-stay hotel is working repeatedly with a real estate agency to provide short-term housing solutions, you can often get a more economical solution with more flexible terms (which sounds important if you don't know if you will need  some place for 1 month, 3 months, or more)

[sgo95]

We recently sold our house and moved 2000 miles. We're in an apartment while we look for our next house because the lease allows us to break it with a one-month penalty. Financially, this made more sense to us because for unknown reasons an airbnb here for a month was over 7k, a hotel for a month was 5k, and the apartment was under 2k. 

Packing-wise, I went through the house and packed up everything I knew we could do without and marked those boxes as "Storage". Then I packed the minimal things I wanted access to as "Apartment." We were able to rent a garage at the apartment complex and use it as our storage unit, so if I want to dig through boxes, it's easy to access them.

[Lecka]

Depending on the extended-stay hotels — some of them are offering daily maid service.  I’m pretty sure ours had that as an option but it wasn’t required.  
 

I’m sure that makes a huge difference with the price.  
 

I remember that we were near a miniature golf course and we really liked that.  Why not have a fun location like that, if it’s an option?  The trade-off then is if it’s like — are you in a more commercial area or more of a neighborhood.  We were not in too commercial of an area at all, but we were on a moderately busy street.  But then we were close to some things like the miniature golf course.  
 

There are some extended-stay hotels where honestly I would not like to be right off the Interstate with just a parking lot.  
 

But I could also see myself not minding that if it was the best option.  

Edited July 3, 2023 by Lecka

[heartlikealion]

Would the air bnb give you access to a washer/dryer? Or would the hosts need to gather up bedding and you take your clothing to a laundromat? 

I know some hotels have a washer/dryer for guests. 

how often would the bnb hosts need to get involved in your stay… coming into the room to give you towels or something. I have no idea how that works! 

these are the types of questions I’d have 

[KatieJ]

We lived in. Residence inn for 3 months while we house hunted. When our stuff showed up (we moved to a different state) I was there when it was unloaded into a storage unit. I made sure I could access clothes..as we were heading from winter into spring. Winter coats became swim suits during that time…but we quickly found what we needed at the storage unit as the months went by. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by KatieJ

[Resilient]

We did this. We found a guy who would rent his house for 3 months; none of the apartments in the area would do this - they all wanted 6 months or more leases. We stayed there for 5 months and then moved to another short term rental in the town we hoped to buy in. This was an Airbnb, off-season, so very affordable. We realized we needed to be closer to the place we wanted to live if we were going to be able to act promptly when a desirable place came on the market. We signed up for 6 months on that one, but we were lucky and got done after 3 months, allowing for a month in the place to do updates and painting and so on. We were lucky that the owner was fine with the sudden notice, but I don't think I would count on that.  

As it turns out, we got the only house that we would have wanted in the timeframe, and had we not lived in this town at the time, it would have gotten away from us.  

One thing to note: decide up front if you will do an apartment or an Airbnb.  We moved from the house (we provide all the things) to the Airbnb (they provide all the things) and so there was a need for a second storage unit for a couple of months, to store our stuff that we had in the apartment but would not have even fit in the Airbnb. Dishes, chairs, beds, bedclothes, tables, nightstands, etc...

 

[Resilient]

Adding: neither the house nor the Airbnb had laundry facilities.  Welcome to the laundromat.  I actually didn't mind that much because I could get allllll the washing done in a couple of hours, thanks to all the machines.  But $$$$, whew.  When we got our house, I went out the very next day and ordered our laundry units...and I got Electrolux because that was the brand at the laundromat and those washers really got my clothes CLEAN.  

[MEmama]

When we did an international move, we only took the bare essentials with us--whatever fit in the trunks of our cars. We hoped to find an extended stay hotel situation while we house hunted but our new community didn't have anything like that (not even in the closest city) so we had to rent a month to month apartment, the kind typically rented to short term laborers and the like. It was fine, if dispiriting.

We didn't have any furniture so we bought camp chairs and an air mattress at Canadian Tire and just made do. We just bought the few things we needed (warmer jackets, etc) that we didn't bring with us. It took a couple months for the actual truck with our stuff to reach us--well after we'd bought and moved into a house, but it was special circumstances given where we'd moved to and the difficulty of finding truckers with the right clearances. Moving domestically would have been much simpler.

[Ali in OR]

Two thoughts:

1) I was irritated when we got to our final destination and as I was unpacking boxes I realized some of it could go directly to Goodwill. It was annoying to have moved it twice and THEN realize I didn't need it. Doesn't sound like you accumulate stuff, but do look at things critically as you pack.

2) After you've settled on price, etc, you can consider at least asking if the buyers of your house are open to renting it back to you for a time. You never know when that happens to be convenient for them too. We were building a new house, and while we didn't stay in the old one the entire build time, we were able to stay in it through the end of the school year and have a much more convenient move time for us.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Ali in OR

[Ottakee]

An extended stay hotel might work.  I know that in our area there are NO short term apartment rentals and air bnb are $200 and up a night.   A more metropolitan area might have a lot more options.    Hopefully your realtor can give you some great options in your area.

 

[-----]

We've moved a lot.  We've stayed in regular hotels, Extended Stay, 6 month lease on an apartment, rental houses.   I've never stayed in an AirBnb.  

Regular hotels were kind of noisy and the guests changed very fast.  But one of them did have a pool which was great.

Extended Stay, we lived in for almost a year, no lease.  It had a kitchenette and supplied the dishes, towels, washcloths, sheets, etc.  It also had a small laundromat in the building.  And I borrowed their vacuum when I wanted to do a thorough cleaning of the room.  I think I liked this one the best.  There were actually quite a few people who seemed to be long-term residents, so it felt a tiny bit like a community.

Apartment.  It was OK, but we had to do the whole utilities, etc., stuff.  And I didn't have a washer or dryer, so that was annoying.   And it was a lease.  I didn't actually like this as well as I did the Extended Stay.

Rental house.  It was nice because we had good landlords.  Without that, I wouldn't want to do it again.

In all of these places, we put our stuff into a storage unit, except for the rental house.  That was nice because I could go and get stuff, put stuff in, or just go and sit there and sort stuff.   

Edited July 4, 2023 by kathyl

[Anne]

Just a thought - many places won't take pets, and if they do, there's often a surcharge.

Anne

[teachermom2834]

Thanks all.

I’m definitely thinking through all the things. I’m making a list of apartments and extended stay hotels that have short term leases and accept pets. Around here not all do but definitely a lot do. Of course there is an extra charge for a pet or a short term lease but they are options. And as of today there are apartments that are available according to online info. So I am making a list to start calling when I know more what we will be doing. 
 

Ugh it is going to be such a hassle I know. Maybe things will line up perfectly and we will find some place we can buy contingent on our sale and just move from one to the other. But I am preparing myself to have to make do for awhile to be happier in the long term if the right house isn’t available on perfect timing. 
 

We have been doing a really good job getting rid of stuff and getting organized. That I can control and I know it will make the whole process easier.

[-----]

We had 2 cats when we stayed in the Extended Stay.  I don't remember there being any extra costs but that was back in 2013-14.  

It was hard to find an apartment that let us bring our cats and dogs (Chihuahuas).  We had to take a kind of grungy apartment just to keep our pets.  On the bright side, we were able to save a whole lot of money living in that cheap apartment. 🙂

The rental house here didn't allow pets, but another one we rented did.  

It seems to be hit and miss.  And the landlord for the rental house here actually changed his mind after about a year and said we could get a puppy.  I guess he saw we were taking care of the house and yard and figured we'd also take care not to let a puppy ruin his flooring?  He said a previous tenant ruined his flooring with their cats (pee??).

Good luck!  It can be freeing not having to worry about a house and yard and everything that goes with all that.  Enjoy your break before you are tied down again.  🙂

Edited July 4, 2023 by kathyl

[teachermom2834]

And now I’m thinking maybe we will rent a decent house and actually take our own stuff instead of storing it. As long as a year lease would go to month to month after the year that would be ok. But I’m not going to want to end up again in a time crunch having a lease end and having to perfectly time a purchase. I wouldn’t mind a whole year to get our footing and not be living out of storage bins. That wouldn’t be the worst. Even though we’d be moving twice we have downsized so much and we’d be paying movers either way. So, that is also an option. 
 

I am positive I want to sell my current house. So I guess I will figure out the rest when I know the timeline for sure. I do feel like we are pretty flexible so that should help us find something. 

[teachermom2834]

Met with the realtor today and we are going to list 11 days from now!! 
 

I think we have just decided to assess the situation when we have a contract and look at what options are available. At the moment there appears to be pretty good availability with rentals but there is no sense going and checking places out until we have a timeline on a sale. So we will keep our mind open to the different scenarios and see what we can do when it is time. I have a list of places that offer short leases and allow dogs so I can quickly work through those when I have a date. 
 

I was so ready to do this and then right before the realtor showed up I was like “wait…am I sure I want to move? What was I thinking??” 

[-----]

Fwiw, I found our rental in the tiny local newspaper.  It was a couple in their late 70's and they didn't want to do the internet stuff like they had before.  Too many people to sort through?  

They said it was between us and another person.  The other person's credit check was bad so they offered it to us.  I guess they got plenty of replies even with the old-fashioned approach.  lol

Oh, and the realtor the company directed us to was wanting to charge us $800/day just to look for rentals.  We said no to that.

Edited July 17, 2023 by kathyl

[-----]

We found the most recent rental via the rental websites.  One of my dd's made lists and she and dh drove all over the area looking at them and talking to landlords.  It was an excellent rental house, and he was an excellent landlord.  No fees involved in that one either.