No regrets, Just Learning Experiences

There were those of you that thought us moving from where we were to where we are was an insane move, you might have been right. Of course we never would have known unless we did it. So we did it. No regrets. In the past couple of months there have been some things that have made us question staying here. Many to do with crime and questionable activity. After much deliberation, we have finally come to a decision. We will be moving again this year. Urgh! There I said it. I put it out there in the universe. The decision was not made lightly or easily. I really do love this house. Something about it just feels like home to me but that is simply not enough and I have learned in my travels that home is where your family is. This home is special to me because it was the first home that my mother was not part of...ever. It was just mine & Jose's house...well sort of since it is just a rental.

Those of you that know me really well know my thoughts on owning a home. Having owned my own home in RI and then going through a terrible ordeal with it, my thought has been that I am happy just renting. I want to be able to move and not be stuck. I want to know that if the schools my kids are in change drastically that I can move to a better district. I want to know that if the neighborhood that I am in turns out to be not what I expected that I can move to another neighborhood. These thoughts alone have made me not want to own a home. I put so much into my house in RI. When I lost it, I lost everything with it...all the money, all the hardwork...just as if I was renting. So why bother?

So what's changed? Well we have been lucky enough to have met a pretty amazing family that have become really incredible friends of ours. They live in a community that I consider to special...in a good way. The first time that we went to their home we were amazed at how beautiful and spacious it was. That was just the beginning. Slowly, we started finding out more about what their community offers that is different from all the rest. The more I learned, the more I liked it. What has had me stumped for a short time is that they don't have regular rentals there. They have rent to own homes and they have houses for sale. Those are your choices and frankly, I didn't know that I was ready for either. Until I learned more.

Their rent to own is no regular rent to own. Typically with a rent to own, you put a downpayment against the house and you sign the contract for a set amt of years and when the contract is up you have two options. You can either carry that money over to new extended contract or you can leave but you lose that money. That money was for the sole purpose of the house and if you aren't buying the house then you lose the money. So if you put $5000 as a down payment, you lost it. And sometimes the prices of the rent to own can be much higher because a percentage is factored in to go towards the purchase of the home in the end too. All great ways to buy a house if you know you want to buy. Not so appealing for me. This rent to own works differently. This one you put a one month deposit like you would on any rental. Your rent is the same as it would be anywhere else...maybe even better and during your first year 50% of your rent goes into an account for a down payment.

Just so that you understand my logic, I am going to give y'all specifics. We are now renting a three bedroom, one bathroom house with the square footage of a about 1100. We pay $790/month. In a comparison, the other community has a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom house with the sqare footage of about 1400 for $799. And there is more. Our current home, being that it is 100 years old, has barely any closet space, no dishwasher, no garbage disposal and not in a community so we don't have the added perks of a swimming pool, play ground, basketball courts or club house. The other community houses have walk in closets in each room, all the new amenities, the community perks of swimming pool, ect. And that is just the side by side comparison. If you go outside that exact comparison, you see more. We are actually looking at the 4 bedroom, two bathroom and it's almost 1600 square feet and its 849.00 so we would be paying $60 more for all that and more. In our current home, when we leave we take our $790 deposit with us if we are lucky and that's it. We have nothing else to show for it but it has been nice. In the other community, $424.50 (if we go with the four bedroom) of our rent each month gets put into an account for our deposit. At the end of the first year, we will have $5094.00 towards a new home with that money alone and we weren't paying any extra. And yes, if we chose to leave and not buy we don't get to keep that money. That money stays because the purpose of that money was for the purchase but you haven't put anything extra than you would put in anywhere else and you aren't losing anything extra. This really has my interest. This is something I can handle.

One more thing that have not mentioned is that it's a modular community. It's not for everyone. It is not for people who want to outdo the Jones'. It is not for people who love big yards. It is not for people who can't live without a garage. It is not for people wanting to make a big profit. It is for people who simply want a home in a nice neighborhood with other hard working families. It is perfect for us. And the cost of the houses you ask? Well it all depends on the age and size of the house but they range from $20k-$60k. Damn ! That is the price of a car ! This is an example of one of their houses...

And just so that you get an idea for the space in these babies...here is an example of their kitchens (it's way bigger than my kitchen now)...


But wait there is more...If you want a bigger home, a smaller home, a newer home or a different home...you can trade it in like you would a car. You are not stuck. You have options and I am all about options...lol !