Townhome

As I previously blogged about, I've been considering buying a new townhome in Dallastown, PA. The reason is that it would be enormously more affordable than buying a place in Maryland. The downside is the hour and 15 minute (minimum) commute from PA to work. At times, I thought I had it all worked out and I wasn't going to buy then, I learned something that changed my mind to where I was going to buy. Finally, I figured out exactly what I wanted and I was set to buy and, I ran into another problem. They don't have a unit finished that has what I want. Ok, so they can build it right? Unfortunately, they can't build it before my current apartment lease expires. They plan to start building another set of townhomes this month which will be finished in late August/September. What am I going to be doing in September? I'm going to France for 2 weeks in September. Crap! Worse still, if I were to go month to month on my lease, I'd pay an extra $300 or $400 a month. So, there isn't any chance of me moving into one of those units. I could renew my lease for a year and plan on buying a place there next year however, the prices will almost certainly go up due to price increases as well as the fact that as more people move in, it's easier for them to sell the remaining units. I saw this happen with some new single family homes in Hanover, Maryland. In 2003, I looked into buying one and got price shock. At that time, it would've cost me $308,000. The mortgage, property tax and insurance would have cost me over $2,000 a month. I wasn't prepared to pay that. You can still buy homes in that development but, they'll cost you $450,000 now.

So, I'm left trying to figure out what to do. I could see if the apartment complex I live in will do a 6 month lease. However, I suspect that will be more expensive as it will be harder for them to find a new renter in February vice July. People don't tend to move during the winter time. I'm also wondering if this is what God wants me to do. Judging by the timing, I'd say not. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.