Author Topic: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute  (Read 3790 times)

HighOrderGuiltComplex

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Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« on: March 16, 2013, 08:44:37 PM »
Sooooo......my In-laws may offer us a free home BUT would be an hour commute for me.  I keep thinking,"woo who! $700 in mortgage, taxes, and insurance a month saved!" Then the dismal 1hr EACH WAY commute starts chiming in with its ugly voice.  Currently the commute is 18 minutes (all of this by car). What would some of y'all do in my situation? I've been looking for work in my field in that area for 5 years (yes, years) but the town is pretty small. Anyways, I am all ears...

MountainMan

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2013, 09:01:10 PM »
Rent out the free house and stay in your current location?

Left

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2013, 09:22:56 PM »
wait... you said it is a small town but it takes you a hour to drive to work? is the work in another city?

I'd try to rent it if they let you, you can split profit like was mentioned, but you'll take care of the problems the renters have, to make the inlaws more open to renting it out if they dont have to do anything

imustachemystash

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2013, 11:43:17 PM »
Could you take the bus for the commute to allow some down time?  Do you like the free house and the area that it is located in?  Do you have a family that this commute would take precious time away from?  How badly do you need the $700 you would save?  Good luck with this decision.

Villanelle

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2013, 01:18:51 PM »
If you can't use the place to become a landlord, can you rent a small efficiency apartment within biking distance of work for less than your current living situation (and the other associated expenses)?

You could live in the apartment Monday-Friday (and maybe one extra night mid-week)  and then head home to the In-law's place for the weekends.

It's more time away from the family but depending on your financial situation, it might be worth exploring.  If you are in emergency mode and a studio (or cheap hotel, even) costs you few hundred less than your current housing costs, it might be worth the move to the IL's place, with a crash pad to cut down the commute, for a while at least.

Zaga

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2013, 03:42:13 PM »
We have that house.  It was a gift/inheritance, and we both love it here.  But the commute is killer, DH has been trying for 6 years to get a job closer to home.  Right now he travels 1.5 hours each way daily, and I travel 35 minutes.  We carpool and he takes the bus part of the way to limit the financial damage, but the time lost is killer, we can't do this much longer.

My fingers are crossed that he'll get the job that he's been interviewing for within a mile of my job.  Then both of us will have a 35 minute commute.  Even that's a bit much, but it's a huge move in the right direction!  Living in a small town has it's drawbacks!

Done by Forty

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Re: Offered a free house BUT comes with an hour commute
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2013, 08:50:44 AM »
As Zaga noted, moving the job (possibly via telecommute?) may be another way to skin that cat.  Changing to a new job all together also has the possibility of paying more money.

With trends in the job market, it's probable that you will change jobs more often than you change homes.  It's difficult to say "move to where your work is", because the transaction costs of moving homes is high and the work position itself often has a short shelf life.  Long CBAs showing the benefits of moving may prove to be optimistic.