Moving closer to work / first entry

[Bearblastbeats]

Hello All,

I would like to first introduce myself. I go by the name Jason and I am a long time reader, first time poster.

I want to share with you my first attempt at this great mustachian lifestyle and possibly get some advice to make it greater.

I am currently in the middle of moving closer to work. I commute 20-30 minutes to work every day and night in a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee (12 mpg). Ouch. My new commute is 5 miles and that, as you may all ready know, is 20 minutes on my Schwinn. Good bye gym membership!

I scored a sweet one bedroom apartment for $750 a month, everything included. The floor plan of this apartment can allow me to convert the living room into a bedroom since EVERY room has a door and a closet.

Would you consider this? I currently am living in a house with 5 other people and my dog and hating every second of it. The city, the commute, the people. Whenever I get home I am put into a bad mood. So I am unsure if I want to have a roommate to split 300 for him and 450 for me. I can make it on my own, but I have some lawyer fees (2500) I need to clear up by August.

I guess this is just a jumble of random thoughts. What are you thoughts?

[velocistar237]

Hi Jason. Welcome to the forum.

That's great that you moved closer to work. If having a roommate would ruin every evening, then maybe it's worth $300/month to keep it to yourself. On the other hand, maybe with just one roommate rather than five and a new Mustachian perspective, you would be okay with a roommate. It's up to you. Since August is a month away, I'm not sure that getting a roommate would help you much with the fees. Also, if you rush the process of finding a roommate, you might get more desperate people answering your ad.

[grantmeaname]

Since you can afford the place on your own, you have the luxury of being able to take a lot more time selecting your roommate, and you don't have to pick the first "good enough" roommate to come along. Hopefully that means that if you do decide to get a roommate you'll be able to wait until you find one you really like.

[Bearblastbeats]

Thank you both for your reply.

I guess just waiting it out will be fine. After being 25 and acting as a landlord at the estate my mother left me for the past 3 years, it is finally time to just live alone on my own again and not have to worry about someone not being able to pay their fair share.

Now I just need to figure out how I should tell my roommates/tenants that I'm leaving in 2 weeks. :x

[darkelenchus]

Hi, Jason! Welcome to the forum!

Moving out sounds like a smart decision, just for the piece of mind. Taking on a roommate is certainly the financially prudent thing to do. You'd want to take your time and make sure that you get a good roommate. You don't want to duplicate the situation you're trying to get away from. Check out the thread on live-in landlording. It's got some good tips on screening potential roommates:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/live-in-landlording/

Also, keep biking to work! Biking is truly the cornerstone of Mustachianism!

[Bearblastbeats]

Thank You. I have read that post, I don't really own the house I live in currently. I talked to my attorney and he pretty much said because there is no legal bearing that I can pack up and just leave tomorrow if I wanted to. I guess the whole thing now is a moral issue on telling the people who live there that I can no long keep doing this and I need out, and that im selling all the appliances and shutting off all utilities.

[grantmeaname]

Oh, you're the landlord but not the owner? So you're really telling them they all need to be out in two weeks also?

Yeah, I can see why that might not go over well.

[velocistar237]

Thank you both for your reply.

I guess just waiting it out will be fine. After being 25 and acting as a landlord at the estate my mother left me for the past 3 years, it is finally time to just live alone on my own again and not have to worry about someone not being able to pay their fair share.

Now I just need to figure out how I should tell my roommates/tenants that I'm leaving in 2 weeks. :x

Sounds like a tough one. Is there any way you can just pay a management company to manage the property? I imagine it wouldn't be pleasant to have someone sue your mother's estate, even if you have no direct liability.

[HeidiO]

Unless there is some REALLY good reason, in most states you need to give tenants 30 days notice.  And ethically, I think it is the right thing to do.  If you had a roomate in the new apartment you would lose your living room?  That would not work for me, personally, unless I had no financial choice.  And, if you're straight, what happens when you want to bring a new girl home for dinner?  We like a little time in the more safe/neutral zone of the living room :-)
Heidi

[Bearblastbeats]

What I decided to do is, let everyone know the first week of July that the bank couldn't approve me for a loan and is giving us until the end of July to find new residence. At that time I will be shutting everything off and selling all of the appliances.

Also, these are weekly tenants at will. In NH the lease arrangement is how often they pay rent. Giving them on week is legal. Two weeks is nice. Most of them owe more than 2+ weeks rent, one who owes 1200, so giving them the entire month of July to move without pay is more than fair.

[grantmeaname]

That seems a lot more decent, especially with the context. Best of luck in working everything out!