Sunday, November 18, 2012

Day 262: The Count Down Starts



Credit Score: 651


Three weeks till our foreclosure auction! Our condo is now posted publicly online for sale and hopefully the bank has published the sale notice in a newspaper like they're required to do. I'm not really going to complain if they didn't though. 

Since we're at the final days before no longer owning this place (yay), we went apartment hunting. We seemed to be looking a little early for people's expectations, but some complexes had units that would be available for December move-ins. We definitely wanted to get something solidified for our move sooner than later. The 20 day window after the sale just seems so tiny to find a place and move out. Especially when Christmas is in that window. While apartment hunting, we learned that our biggest priority was still having a washer and dryer in our unit. Any size, any condition, we had a range of prices we'd consider, but it'd better have a washing machine. :) 

After visiting a few apartments and condo sublets, we picked a place and signed a lease! We'll be paying $500 less per month than if we were paying the mortgage and HOA dues here. Plus, it's in our target home-buying neighborhood. It's going to be great to walk to restaurants and great for me to learn the much longer commute.  It is about half the size of our condo but it'll be enough. My in-laws have offered to let us stash all our excess stuff in their basement for up to a year. We're hoping to not need it that long. 

With the savings we've been able to pocket for not paying the mortgage for the last 10 months, and the savings from a relatively cheap apartment for the next seven months, we're estimating that we can afford a 20% down payment on a house by June. Just in time for a ton of houses to come on the market for the summer. 

Unfortunately, nobody is really offering six-month leases anymore. At least not cheaply. With the down economy in the last few years and millions of people losing their homes, demand for rentals has skyrocketed. We signed a one-year lease after closely examining the lease breaking consequences. I couldn't really believe that after essentially breaking the lease on our condo, we're intending to do it again on an apartment, when it really does impact someone else directly - the landlord. But, the lease breaking agreement was pretty clear. There's a $1000 fee and we're responsible for rent for any months between our move out and a new renter moving in. So, we've included that fee and two months of rent into our estimate for how much of a down payment we'll be able to afford. If we don't find a home, or find a short sale that we have to wait on, or find a place that needs some renovations first, maybe we will fulfill the lease.  We'll see. 

Despite the extra cost of breaking the lease, I feel tons better about the foreclosure knowing that we have somewhere to go. The bank can still postpone it if they want, though. Even up until the moment the auction starts, they can decide to postpone. While I don't see why they would, I'm still planning to attend the auction so I can verify for myself immediately that the auction happens.