Land lease housing?

[Sijray21]

purchasing the house on leased-land?....risky idea IMO

if the landlord for the land decides to sell or do anything with the land, what are you going to do? move the house? that's an expensive option if even feasible for the type of house. Why risk that much money and still pay a lease?

[Ginger]

And you don't really get all the benefits of ownership.. you're still paying a rental fee.

[HAULN-SS]

Well, just for the sake of argument - do you think that this would turn out better than renting in the logn run? I realize that it's not a money-maker like a real house/land situation would be. I am just trying to get out of an apartment complex, and into a standalone house. I was not looking at this to be a real investment, and get all the benefits of home ownership. Yes, you still pay the rent, but I was thinking if I bought this house, and rented out one room in it for the cost of the land lease - i'd at least break even, or, worse case scenario - lose less money than I would if I were renting outright.

[.RJ]

Well, just for the sake of argument - do you think that this would turn out better than renting in the logn run?

But... you're still renting.

If you want to rent a house, then rent a house. Its not difficult.

[HAULN-SS]

Well, just for the sake of argument - do you think that this would turn out better than renting in the logn run?

But... you're still renting.

If you want to rent a house, then rent a house. Its not difficult.

I do want to rent a house, basically..but I was figuring with this option, I would need less people to rent the house. It's kind of hard to find a SFH to rent in the area without at least 3 reliable sources of income, don't you think? I mean, if I get this, and the roommate bails on me, I can still afford the rent myself.

[.RJ]

I do want to rent a house, basically..but I was figuring with this option, I would need less people to rent the house. It's kind of hard to find a SFH to rent in the area without at least 3 reliable sources of income, don't you think? I mean, if I get this, and the roommate bails on me, I can still afford the rent myself.

If you rent a house, typically only 2 of the incomes are used to qualify for the lease.

And if a roomate just ups and leaves town overnight then you're hosed no matter what - thats what security deposits are for.

[Sijray21]

750/mo for the land/water/trash/mowing..would come out to less than 1500/mo total

The price is cheap, but it's a modular house. It's about right for one of those... I used to work at a dealership for them

Well, just for the sake of argument - do you think that this would turn out better than renting in the logn run? I realize that it's not a money-maker like a real house/land situation would be. I am just trying to get out of an apartment complex, and into a standalone house. I was not looking at this to be a real investment, and get all the benefits of home ownership. Yes, you still pay the rent, but I was thinking if I bought this house, and rented out one room in it for the cost of the land lease - i'd at least break even, or, worse case scenario - lose less money than I would if I were renting outright.

With those figures...you might as well try to rent a room in a house with roommates, saving for a downpayment on 'real' property. You could do it and it could potentially save some money in the longrun, but at a high risk due to the landlord. A house is only a valueable asset if you can sell it, and selling this house on leased-land i would also imagine be difficult to do (as andrew said before). You would not likely gain a lot of equity due to the situation and probably end up spending more money than you think. I may be thinking very negatively about it, but the idea just seems foolish to me - it doesn't make sense from an 'investment' point of view in my mind.

[Ginger]

^ You mean like the Chinaman?

We're going to be hosed if he doesn't feel like putting any effort into replacing himself... lord knows our landlord won't do anything.

[.RJ]

We're going to be hosed if he doesn't feel like putting any effort into replacing himself... lord knows our landlord won't do anything.

It wont be hard to find a replacement roommate, I'm not worried about it.

[HAULN-SS]

Ok..so..i'm officially talked out of this. Think I'm just going to buy a piece of land in PWC and build

[Ginger]

Why in God's name do you want to live in PWC? You should really just find a cheap room to rent and save yourself the money.

[HAULN-SS]

I work on thsi side of town, and will for the forseeable future..why not?

[.RJ]

I work on thsi side of town

Dont you work in reston?

[HAULN-SS]

Nope, herndon, the lot i checked out took exactly 30 mins to get to at rush hour going there after work on friday

[Jewels]

Nope, herndon, the lot i checked out took exactly 30 mins to get to at rush hour going there after work on friday

This past friday didn't count. It was exceptionally good traffic. Its almost never like that, figure on 45 minutes.

[HAULN-SS]

Nah - it's actually along a route that I have travelled a bunch - it always takes about that much time. It's out on rt 15, off rt 50 a little, haymarket address I think

either way, i'm ok with 45 mins

[.RJ]

45 min each way... 1.5 hr every day.... 7.5 hrs a week.... just commuting.

[HAULN-SS]

I have checked lots nearby tax records that have houses on them similar to what i want to do...the land is doing nothing but going up. With the ability to make improvements myself, and act as my own general contractor..I think the 3 - 5 year benefits outweigh the commute.

[Ginger]

And it's PWC for Christ's sake.

I make a significant amount less money you do and I won't move there. It's not a nice place.

[HAULN-SS]

I don't give a crap about nice really...i'll build nice when I'm older. this lot is a wooded lot, kind of further out, which suits me just fine. Not a lot different than botetourt county, where i'm from, didnt seem.