thinking about renting out my house and moving to an apartment closer to work (apartments, lease)

[DonkeyKing78]

I live in a house about 50 minutes away from work. While I really like my house and all, I spend over 8 hours per week commuting...which is almost like working an extra day each week! Saturdays are usually spent cleaning house, mowing the lawn, yard work, etc.
I figure I spend over 40 hours a month commuting and taking care of household chores. Not to mention the extra costs of driving nearly 100 miles per day.

I just feel kinda run down most of the time and don't really get a chance to enjoy the house....so I've been considering renting it out and moving to an apartment closer to work. Am I crazy?

Here are my options:
1) Small town that is 5 minutes from work. The house and apartments are all really old and run down and there is nothing much to do there. The one good thing is I am about 20 minutes away from a larger city with much more to do

2) Suburban area 25 minutes (and 25 miles) from work. And also about 25 minutes away from familiy in the other direction so it is not too far from them. Less than 5 minutes away from a gym which is important since I workout on most weekdays. Also there are stores less than 5 minutes away (as opposed to 15-20 minutes now).

3) College town about the same distance from work (45 mins). I would not save time on my commute but but if I rented then I would not have to worry about yard work, and would be closer to town.

4) Or should I just stay where I'm at? The neighborhood is quiet and I have a lot more space than I would in an apartment. There just aren't very many things to do away from home around here.

What type of area is best for a single guy pushing 30? I've never lived in an apartment before. I know a lot of people moving from apartments to houses, but very few that move from houses to apartments.

[ESFP]

Stay put! You can't imagine the trouble you're asking for by renting out a house because you live too far away. I take commute time and money, as well as for maintenance, just part of the cost of living. Go to the library and borrow books on tape, or learn a foreign language for your commute. I enjoy living far from work. It detaches what I want to do from what I have to do. Sort of an escape.

[DonnaReed]

I've considered renting out my apartment in my two-family home and getting a studio or one-bedroom apartment.

The kids are grown, I have empty bedrooms and I basically use the kitchen, one bathroom and the living room, where I fall asleep at night, on the couch watching television.

The biggest Pro:

between the upstairs and downstairs tenant, my mortgage will be paid, I'll make a few hundred dollars a month profit, and save significantly with lower gas and electric bills.


The Cons:

-I still have to come take care of the property outside.
I don't like to give that over to tenants, never have, including properties I don't reside. I'm responsible for shoveling, raking leaves, gardening. Tenants can sit outside, not leave anything outside when they go in, not plant anything, not construct anything...because they sometimes will take "creative license" and make a mess.

At the very least, I have to constantly come around and check on the property because absentee landlords make tenants forget they're renting and it's not THEIR property.

-If a tenant is late in rent, I'm responsible for the mortgage plus the rent for my apartment.

(Not too bad so far...)


The MAIN cons or potential disasters are these two:

- God forbid I need to do an eviction which can take a year, even longer, in NYC.

- I renovated my kitchen last year --Omega Cabinetry, Brazilian granite, nice tiles, all new appliances-- for ME, not renters.

-I don't want my house messed up.
Their are 3 bedrooms, so think kids.
I don't want the wear and tear: parents cooking full-course meals for entire crews every night, five showers in the mornings, maybe at night too, kids all heavy-handed with faucets and other fixtures.

I'd probably have to lower the rent so I could find a couple of grown (as in 30's and up) working folk.


I do strict and thorough background checks on prospective tenants and my upstairs tenant in this same property is a dream tenant, beautiful apartment, very strict with her two teen daughters, never broke anything, never been late with rent in 4 years (she couldn't renew her lease this year because her company is folding so she's moving...*sniff*).

I'm also managing my brother's property. He moved to Atlanta and wants to keep his house till the market changes.
The tenants are a middle-aged couple and their grown son who's in school and working.
She's always a few days late with the rent (always crying about making her gas bill payments; I don't think she's ever rented an entire home and hadn't grasped how much the heat would cost her), but she does pay her rent and the house is always neat and very clean.

Renting your home has pros and cons, just carefully consider the advantages, the disadvantages, the potential problems, the possibilities and think it through.

As you can see, my list of cons is rather long...*s*
So I may very well end up staying right where I am, empty bedrooms and all.

[MI3sunz]

that depends on where you live and if you have any roomates or pets