Hi. So, we love the townhome we are renting. We just moved here from CA in January so we have only been here for 8 months. Our landlord told us last night that he is going to short sale the house. He is going to let us finish up our lease (4 more months),but after that we can either buy it ourselves or we have to move. I'm a bit in a panic over this. Our rent is a great price, nice safe neighborhood, and I LOVE the school that my daughter goes to. Here is the problem. We made a mid year move out here last school year. My daughter had to switch schools during winter break. If we have to move, I don't want her to have to switch schools again mid year. I have done some online research and currently there isn't anything else for rent in our neighborhood, and nothing in our price range in near by neighborhoods. Are we allowed to break lease and move right away (possibly before school starts?) since he has given us this news? Or is it crazy to ask him if he can wait until the school year is over in June? We can't buy the house. We have too much debt right now and are trying to just make it pay check to pay check, so that isn't even an option for us. What do you think we should do? It's also very hard to find anything in our price range in our area. So, I'm just wanting to make sure my kids have a good school year and not have to move schools again because our move before was a big adjustment. I don't want to put them through another school change again that is mid year.
Thank you!!
UPDATE #2
So, he came over and we talked to him. He said if we would like to move before the lease is up, then he is ok with that. But, if we do stay until January (when the lease is up) then he will not renew the lease. His wife is pregnant and she will be staying home once the baby is born and they can not afford the house anymore. He said he is seriously underwater with the house and just has no other option. I will be looking around for other options. If we do have to make a move mid school year, I am going to ask the school if it's ok if my daughter can finish up the year and then change schools. I don't mind driving as long as she is happy. I don't know if that is allowed, but it can't hurt to ask right? I don't think he will do a month to month with us. He really wants us out in January at the latest. I am a neat freak but my kids and husband are very messy and it makes me crazy! We are literally bursting at the seams here. We have no storage or closet space so half of our stuff is just sitting in our bedroom floor because the closet is so small. I think he would have better luck showing it empty.
Thanks for all the advice!
thanks for the info. Although I love renting this home, I don't see it as a home I would want to buy. We have tried to get a loan in the past, but we can't because of our debt. We owe pretty much a mortgage on my husbands student loans. the credit card isn't a problem paying. That is totally affordable. It's the student loans that are killing us. My husband has horrible credit because of this and can not get a loan. Also this home needs a new roof, it has poison ivy growing under the roof, the back yard needs to be torn up and paved, the bathroom shower needs to be gutted and redone. It's just a mess. But, overall besides that it's a great rental, but not something I can afford to fix up later on. So buying a home is just not an option, and most likely not ever. He is actually here and my husband is talking with him outside right now, so we will see what he says. I'll update when I can.
Thank you!
Talk to the land lord. If he is doing a short sale clearly he needs to get rid of the house, so if you are willing/wanting to move earlier that may even work better for him! Never know until you ask.
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You could ask him as a courtesy, but legally, I don't think you have any shot. I would approach it as, we are willing to move out now so that you can put the home on the market immediately for a faster sale, assuming that you will release us from the lease. It's worth a shot, but don't be surprised if he says no.
You don't have a right to get out of your lease, but you can ask. I'd be afraid to do any rent to own from him since he's short selling, he's probably not making house payments or is barely making the house payments. You can always talk to your school district. Sometimes they will allow you to keep the kids in the same school to finish out the year, but that just means a commute for you to get them to and from school.
We just went through something similar. Our landlord wanted to sell his house NOW and we didn't want to buy it. Our lease wasn't over til June 2012. He asked us if he could find a buyer, would we be willing to leave early. We told him yes, as long as if we found something in the meantime, with 30 days notice, we as well could leave early with no penalty. We both agreed to these terms. We found somewhere fairly quickly because we didn't want our backs against the wall. So Aug 31 is our last day there, and we are actually already in our new house. I would imagine, your landlord would feel the same way to let you out early, since he is the one putting you in this position in the first place.
Some good places to look-
Weicherrents.com
Craigslist.com
Glorianilson.com
remax.com
hotpads.com
Good luck to you.
i asked our school district id i could keep my daughter in her school and i'd drive her til we found a place of our own and they said no. i then went to the public school building that makes these decisions and was told that i should have come in and asked and they would have let me. so if you do end up having to ask to keep her in the school that she's in go to the building don't just call. i live in chesapeake, va by the way.
Can you rent to own, or is he hell bent on short sale? Since you've already proven yourselves as good renters, it can't hurt to ask :)
Short sale doesn't mean the house will sell quickly. I know people who have waited over a year and there are no signs of anyone purchasing. Best bet is to be totally upfront with him and say these ideas. I am also sure you have a place to call about rental issues in your community. Call your village or city hall for the information. My son just moved out of a house that was in foreclosure and his roommate guaranteed they could stay til Sept. so don't give up.
I would ask to break the lease explaining what you said. If he is allowing you to finish your lease, I don't think you can break it without owing unless he allows you to. Sorry. I would break it anyway and get into the best district, even if it meant living in an apartment.
Not sure if anyone has said this cause I just don't have time to read the responses. If you break the lease you are liable for the remaining time unless you can find another renter. It is impossible to get a renter because of the pending short sale. So, what you need to do is communicate with your landlord and explain what is going on. You don't want to say I am moving at X because you don't have a place to rent yet.
By communicating with your landlord he can try to pull up the date for the short sale. That way you will not be responsible for the end of the lease and he will not be out income for scheduling the sale after your lease is up.
Win win.
doesn't hurt to ask for whatever best suits your family,,,,heck he's doing a short sale cause that's what best suits him.......good luck
I have no idea what your rights are. But it sounds like he would not mind if you went early. Ask him. Hopefully he understands.
I'd ask if he'd let you rent to own. But he may be in alot of debt as well. I'd ask him to meet with you and discuss all options. If you do leave early, there's probably not much he can do. It usually will cost a landlord more to try and sue you then what they are losing on the rent. Unfortunately as a renter, you don't have alot of rights unless you are renting from an actual company, like from an apartment or association. Good luck!
Updated
I'd ask if he'd let you rent to own. But he may be in alot of debt as well. I'd ask him to meet with you and discuss all options. If you do leave early, there's probably not much he can do. It usually will cost a landlord more to try and sue you then what they are losing on the rent. Unfortunately as a renter, you don't have alot of rights unless you are renting from an actual company, like from an apartment or association. Good luck!
Can you afford to buy the home from the owner - as a lease to own? Your payments shouldn't change so you can still get by....Ask him about lease to own so that your payments can be applied to the down payment or ownership of the home...
And you might be surprised at what you find if you talk to a mortgage lender - they might be able to meld your current credit card debt into the mortgage and you would be better off.....
I totally understand not wanting to change your kids school!! I hope your land lord will either agree to a least to own or he will hold out until the end of the school year for you!!!
Personally, I wouldn't let the school know about your move until after the school year ends or right before - that would guarantee your daughter can stay at that school. It would only be 5-6 months.
I'd talk to the landlord about waiting until june. Maybe he'll work with you if he can. Maybe if you pay a higher rent he can afford to hold off a little longer? I don't know if you can break your lease but he may let you out if you talk to him.
Good luck!
Just keep looking! Something will come up in your school district. We have rented in the NOVA area for 4 years and have had to move THREE times but have managed to stay in the same school district. Maybe you could afford just a little bit more rent? We went up everytime and have seemed to manage and we basically live on one income. You've been given a good places to look online but TALK to PEOPLE and local realtors. Our latest house was found without it even going on the rental market. My husband talked to a local realtor who likes to do nice things for people so she can get word of mouth referrals - she knew the owners of this house and that is all it took! I prayed like crazy too and those were answered.
Good luck!
One option you have as far as your the school issue is concerned is to check with your school district to see if they will allow your child to finish out the school year at their current school as long as you stay in the same school district. Sometimes they will make this type of exception so a child does not have to change schools mid-year. You may have to provide transportation but I have seen transportation provided for students in this situation as well.
Also, keep checking the rental listings and work with a good realtor that works with rental properties, new listing come on the market all the time. Just because you don't see something today doesn't mean that something won't be available next week or even next month.
I would ask the landlord if you can rent on a month to month basis til he has the house sold. It is a lot easier in theory than in actuality to sell a house on shortsale. people think well I will just put the house at a really low price and someone will buy it. The problem with that is that the bank / hud / buyers / owner all have to sign and agree to the price and very rarely to banks agree to it. So I wouldn't get worked up til it happens. Talk to him about a month to month and keep your eye out for something else. Just because something else is not available now doesn't mean it won't be in 3 months
