Going for 12mo Cruise. What About The House?

[zstine]

Originally Posted by Shrew

You bought a house 3.5 years ago with little equity and then decided to prepare for a 1 yr cruise with small children?

Do you actually have a plan? Or a plan du jour?

We move 3 yrs ago b/c the company that pays the bills moved us. We bought a house with 20% down, which is pretty typical. NJ is much more expensive than upstate NY where we used to be. the national average 2,300 sq ft house costs about $750,000 in this area... we have a smaller, less costly house, but still expensive. We bought a blue water capable boat (1975 Tartan 41) 4 years ago when we hatched this plan. We have been outfitting her for cruising with solar, a watermaker, windlass/chain/anchor, new standing rig, etc.. We've also saved our kitty. We are doing our best to plan and I wouldn't be asking this real estate question 8 months before we leave if I was a fly-by-night. I am a planner, more than most I've met.

Originally Posted by Dave22q

It may be customary for house leases to be renewable on NJ but it is no big deal to draft a lease without a renewal clause. Check with a local lawyer but I feel pretty sure that omitting any option for renewal and providing a notice to vacate some reasonable period before expiration is about all you would need. . . .
It seems like your plan for a long cruise may be inconsistent with your situation. Think twice before jumping into anything.

Agree on the legal side. My friend will do the property management. I trust him, he leaves his kids with me! yeah, Living in NJ is inconsistent with our wishes to experience a more simple life that's more in harmony with mother nature and not stripping the earth of resources and go cruising. Unfortunately, our jobs, which financially made it possible to cruise, have also taken us down the 'American defined success' in which we live in the rat race, have little free time and rob from the earth. I don't feel successful even with a 6 fig income. I wish terms like happiness, friendship, and contentment where related to success in American society. but I can't change that... No, we are not living consistently with cruising. We're Trying to figure that out now, while still giving our kids a good chance to be successful by American standards if they choose to in the future. We pay a lot for the house, but we do get good schools from that.

[sbmesafirstmate]

We rented our house. We were planning to be gone more than one year, but since you never can be sure what might happen to make you decide or need to stop your cruising, we initially rented for just one year. We live in California, so I don't know if laws here made it easier. Our property manager advertised as a one year lease and paperwork the renters signed agreed to that. We had no problem getting a one year renter. In fact, when cruising worked out and we kept on going, we had three successive 1 year rentees. In all cases they were folks coming into town who wanted some time to look around and select a neighborhood. While it as scary to rent in some ways, we ended up with very good renters and the income made cruising much more financially comfortable. Hope it works out for you too.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Shrew

You bought a house 3.5 years ago with little equity and then decided to prepare for a 1 yr cruise with small children?

Do you actually have a plan? Or a plan du jour?

Life changes. I applaud the effort to take a better plan than to stick with plan A no matter what. I have never met anyone whos plans unfolded exactly as desired. Sticking with it "just because" does not guarantee desired outcome.

[bfiegener]

Zstine,
We are in the same position and same time frame. We decided to sell because we did not want to rent and worry about renters and all that goes with it.

We are planning on moving on-board full time with no immediate plans to return to the land life. I plan on working from the boat to supplement the savings and pension we will be getting. We have also been outfitting the boat for the last 3 years with all comforts of home.
We take off next summer so hopefully we'll run into each other. I like the way you think, I think the same way.
s/v Aquila

[the_fixer]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Selling as an option is not great. Probable higher home prices mortgage rates on your return, taxes on capital gain are some negative factors to consider.

Doubt they would have to worry about capital gains. They have been in the house 3 years and are likely under the IRS threshold for appreciation.


If you do decide to sell I put my stuff in PODS for a while and it was a great way to go. Less than a storage unit and they pick it up and drop it off when you are ready. You can also access your stuff if you need.

[Chili Palmer]

Looks like section l.2 "L.2" on page 5 covers your situation...

http://www.state.nj.us/dca/divisions...ti_bulltin.pdf


Rent it out and make it clear that you will be moving back in one year. As long as you are up front about it you shouldn't have any issues. You might even be able to serve the required "Notice to Quit" documentation at the time of the contract signing.

And if I could find that information in 5 minutes you may want to consider finding someone else to discuss rental property with, not sure I'd trust this friend who has been renting for 20+ years.

[Larry Florida]

If your intentions are to rent it for only one year I would list it as a 1 year rental. A 1 year rental may not work out as smoothly as one would like. Finding a good tenant is not easy.

Also FYI a number of years ago my Rivervale, NJ neighbor rented his townhouse for about 1 year to an insurance company as they needed to find a place for a family whose house burned down. Another time he rented to an incoming Mercedes Benz executive. I recall both being about a year or less.

[Sandero]

You might find a house sitter.... even one with a small family that would also pay you some money, care for your property and get a change of location without expecting to be there eternally.

[first wind]

i love the title of this thread. what about the house? why, you'll have to leave it behind, of course. it won't fit on your boat.

[Boatguy30]

Didn't this start out as "leaving on a Caribbean cruise in the spring"?

Seems like bad timing.

I would rent the house and then give notice you are not renewing the lease at 11 months. If they don't want to leave, raise the rent. If they still don't want to leave, live on your boat.

In FL any de facto (month to month) lease only required 15 days to terminate. I don't understand how a lease would "automatically" never end.

[donradcliffe]

Read

https://www.12law.com/article/city-m...greements.aspx

It says that leases are NOT automatically renewable. I think you will have no problem getting the tenants out after a year, especially if you are coming back to live in the house yourselves.

[zstine]

the issue is not if the lease is terminated, the issue is with squatters not physically leaving. You can't go in and just throw them out on the street. The police will not help you evict unless you have a court order. And in NJ the courts don't put people out on the street homeless, especially if they have kids. I've heard it take over a year to get rid of squatters, and that's a year without them paying rent!

[donradcliffe]

Come on, you live in New Jersey. You don't take this problem to the police, you take it to the godfather...

Seriously, interview and select the prospective tenants yourself and don't trust a property management company. Be upfront on Cragislist about when you will be coming back--there are good people whose requirements will match yours. I've been renting houses out for 40 years, and have never had to evict anyone.

[seahag]

Good luck. I have had a horrible time renting long distance. A property manager would be a must and do not dare telling the renters your plans or location. They will not pay! Get lots of security deposit because that may be all you see after they move in. Worst thing I ever did was decide to rent my house out...

[donradcliffe]

Its easier now than ever with online banking. I have my renters deposit the rent into my checking account, and I can tell when they paid within an hour.

Instead of paying a property manager 8-10%, price the house at 10% below the going rents. You will have qualified tenants fighting over the place.

Because NJ has some nasty eviction laws, consider renting all but one bedroom to the tenants, and have the lease state that you will continue to occupy part of the house, giving you the right to come and go, store your stuff in that room and make it easier to kick them out when you come back.