advice? (xp bhb)

Just wanted your opinions on this...

My uncles brother in law has a 2 family house near Massapequa (Seaford). The tenant is moving out in mid July and he is offering us the 2 bedroom apartment for $1,400 + utilities (which the current woman says run about $220 a month for gas + electric, but I cant imagine that for a small space! she must have everything on constantly). The apartment is the 2nd floor of a house, with a separate entrance. It has a decent sized kitchen with room for a table and 4 chairs and a pantry, a living room, a small bathroom, a bedroom with king sized furniture in it right now, and a smaller bedroom that we would use for the computers. He is an absentee landlord, so we would be the only ones in the house. There is a washer and dryer out back and we have acess to the yard and park in the driveway.

Since he knows us (sort of like 6 degrees of separation) he is not taking any security, 1st or last month rent, or broker fee AND is not tying us to any lease -- we can stay as long or as little as we want.

He is going to paint the apartment in the colors that we choose and have all the rugs cleaned. He said we can have the key when the other lady moves out but we dont need to start paying til Rob moves in in Sept or we move in in October...

The kitchen and bathroom are outdated and there are rugs EVERYWHERE (inc. the kitchen!) and the lady before had a cat, which I am allergic to. I am hoping that the cleaning just fixes the prob!

We hope to be there less than a year and actively search for a house or condo over the winter.

Would you take this deal for the simple fact that whenever you find a house or a better place you can simply move out? Or would you look for something with cheaper rent and utilities included from now and just resign yourself to being in that place for a year??

Thanks for reading!

Re: advice? (xp bhb)

First, I'm from Seaford so unfortunately I am completely biased to the town - it's a great place to live even for a little while (omg, i am so homesick).

For my DH and me, if we hadn't found our condo when we did, we were going to rent a place month-to-month so that when we DID need to leave, we wouldn't be breaking a lease.

The place sounds nice and with a good shampoo clean on the rugs, the allergies from the cats will be gone. It sounds like he just wants good tenants who won't give him a problem.

The rent is comparable for that amount of space in Seaford, it's maybe on the high side, I would say, but you'd be alone and I would definitely 100% take it. It sounds like a win-win!

Remember, if you sign a lease with someone and have to break it, you'll be losing money possibly anyway!

Re: advice? (xp bhb)

1400 for a 2 bedroom is a steal.

You wouldn't get that where I live!!

I work near there and think it is a cute town so go for it!!! (After you get those rugs cleaned twice - I have awful cat allergies too)

Re: advice? (xp bhb)

I agree that is a great price for a 2 bedroom in that area!

regarding the heat & electric. we pay $150 a month for both on a 1 bedroom... so $220 is possible.

Re: advice? (xp bhb)

I think is sounds good...especially since you cna use the backyard and have a washer/dryer!