Getting Foreclosed and moving into Hotel
 

(My landlord will be losing the place where I live, I've done nothing irresponsible here)

Since I travel 10-25 days per month for work, I'm considering putting what little possessions I own into storage and living in hotels (Marriott and Hilton preferred).

I'm thinking that my clients pay for S-Th travel nights, thus I will be on the hook for 2 nights per week, maybe 3, and for the odd off week the entire 7 nights. My airline tickets are paid too, so I can typically fly to wherever I want (within reason). Thus, I could take advantage of really cheap hotel rates in any city near a major airport, and live for much cheaper than I am currently living, paying for a place I rarely use.

I've been staying in hotels each weekend to mentally prepare for doing this, and so far I'm really liking it.

Has anyone here done this? Thoughts/suggestions?

Example: Friday - Sat night AAA rates at nearby FS Marriott are $79. That's $160 a weekend, or $620 a month, much less than my rent.

To be honest, that sounds miserable to me.

Your lease may still even be valid after the property is sold off.

I feel for you. Some good friends were renting in Las Vegas, when one day the bank's goons came to the door and told them they had to get out RIGHT NOW. They had NO idea. They had been paying their rent on time. Luckily for them, they were scheduled to leave on a job assignment in a month, so they talked the bank into letting them stay until then.

But you're right, things can happen without your knowledge.

If you're single and don't have a family to consider, I say why not until you can make more permanent arrangements. If you have kids, etc., they do need the stability of a real home. I love staying in hotels, and think of all the point you'll accrue :)

I met a man in Vegas, whose wife had passed on. He sold his house and moved into the Homewood Suites. It was working great for him.

You say you will be paying less than the rent you're paying now. PLUS you will no longer have an electric bill or a water/sewer/trash pick-up bill. Maid service will be free or the cost of a tip, if you tip maids at hotels -- most don't. As long as you get a reasonably priced storage unit for your "stuff," I don't see a problem. You might come out way ahead. Really valuable papers, jewelry, etc. I would put in a bank safety deposit box. I would consider selling big stuff rather than storing it once you're sure that you like the hotel lifestyle. A lot of stuff people put in storage never gets used again.

Food can be an issue. You don't want to end up spending everything on food that you saved on rent/utilities. We have a coffee maker, tea/hot water boiler, and cooler in the car for our travels. I think it's miserable to have go out just to get breakfast, so being able to make my own coffee/tea and fix my own breakfast in the morning is a biggie. I'm afraid we've been eating a lot of the $5 Subway sandwiches too. Some of the $5 foot long specials are actually healthy, like the chicken breast. Have them put all the veggies on it that they will offer and pick one of the whole grain breads. Now I actually do have a house in case you're wondering but I guess I travel way too much.

Evaporated milk and condensed milk can sit a couple of days unrefrigerated, so if you need milk for your coffee, cereal, etc. this is what I usually do. I find non-dairy/powdered creamers intolerable.

Obviously in hotels that include breakfast, fine, take advantage of that. You will still like being able to make coffee and a bowl of cereal in your room, though.

Wow, sounds awful to me. A couple months maybe. Not the life for me.

Try it and you'll soonfind out whether it works for you or not I guess.

Cheers,

Not exactly, but when I changed jobs, my house sold in 2 weeks (probably because I built it 3 years earlier and it was still in move-in condition when I sold it, as I was usually traveling) and had to start my new job right away. My new company paid for 6 weeks in an extended stay hotel (or as I liked to call it "assisted living"). I also traveled on business during this time. It was in California, which I love and where my folks live (so just being in the state was a "happy place" for me).

Well, I hated it. It never felt like home, it felt like I was living in a hospital (not sure why). I tried to cook, but it just never seemed comfortable. The room was small, so no separate kitchen. I grocery shopped and made breakfast, and brought my lunch to work, but it never felt right.

I could not wait until I bought a house and moved out of the hotel. Now generally I like hotels, but needed to feel like I was actually "home", when I came home from travels.

I know all people are different and maybe this will be great for you, but I thought I would add my 2 cents. Hope everything works out well for you.

Go to Craig's List and find someone who's renting their second bedroom in a luxury condominium. He/she will be happy to take your rent money and enjoy his/her space while you're busy traveling! :) I actually do this, renting out my second bedroom to . . . airline crew based out of DCA! :D My first roommate, a US Airways pilot, lived with my for a little more than a year and has moved to near DSM to live with his soon-to-be-fiance. My current roommate is a US Airways flight attendant.

Or you can negotiate with the client to have your weekend hotel expenses paid for in exchange for not traveling. I know someone who did this in my first job, when I was a consultant. After 2-3 years, he saved enough for a down payment on a condo.

Stay sane - you should have a place to call home. I advise against just staying at random places on weekends.

Bingo.

Even it it's a bedroom in a shared apartment, as you suggest, or downsizing to a studio, having a home base is important to most people. A place to keep things, a place to connect with friends/family, a place to sleep on a familiar bed.

The other thing I note is that in the OP there is mention of 10-25 days of travel/month. That's a big variation, and it seems that the OP's cost calculations are based only on months at the high end of that range.

You might consider a Bed & Breakfast.

I'd never stayed in a B&B until I took a temporary job for several months, and the client arranged for me to stay at a local B&B that has a cottage in back of the main house, which is where I lived. It has a full kitchen/dining area and living room downstairs, and bedroom/sitting area and bathroom upstairs.

The rooms in the B&B house itself (a restored 19th century National Historic Register property) are also homey, and allow access to the kitchen if you want to do some cooking other than breakfast, and if you're social you can chat with other guests.

With travel slumping and lots of vacancies, the B&B owner was happy to trade a guaranteed monthly rental at a lower-than-usual-rate rather than an uncertain number of guest nights otherwise.

A simple +1.

I had a coworker who did this. She lived out of 4 huge suitcases. I think most of her stuff was in storage with her parents in Denver. The client paid for her hotels on the weekend in exchange for not flying. It didn't seem to bother her.

It seemed to work ok for her except for when the client had her travel somewhere else. Then she had to lug those four suitcases with her, though she could of probably stored them at the hotel.

Definitely not for me. I enjoy coming home each week, that I have too many hobbies that wouldn't travel well. Perhaps if your storage unit is near your regular hotel, it wouldn't be bad as you could regularly pick up belongings.

I really suggest a place with a kitchen. It will make it more of a studio apartment, and being able to prepare your own foods will certianly make you feel less placeless and more at home.

Try Extended Stay Suites...they are also quite reasonable..about 40 per night and very nice.

Even nicer, but slightly more expensive (50 to 90 per night), are "Staybridge Suites".

Both places have on-site storage and laundry.

I did this off and on for much of last year and only recently got a solid place.

While it does seem fun and is at times, it also has some serious pitfalls and things to consider.

1. Everything is in storage but you are not near storage often. Consider how you plan to access more clothing (seasons change, styles get old) and other important items.

2. How will you handle not having your personality? Unless you are staying in one place for a few months it's not logical to bring personal items with you and over time you come to miss them. Poker night without chips isn't the same.

3. Friends. As a serious traveler you no doubt know people here and there but without a central location for weekends it's like moving all the time. Seeing people is easy once, hard after that. And it draws on you.

4. Address. This is a simple but important one. You need a silent po box (suite #) so you can get mail and be sure it's safe when you're away.

5. Kitchen. Yes you can eat great food for cheap but 200 days without your favorite pasta or a simple bowl of ice cream for less than $3.99 stinks. Keeping things normal is key to not going nuts.

There's other items to consider but really what it gets down to is excitement versus the reality of not having any place to store the shot glass you got in the airport, no favorite glass for your drink of choice and no way your friends are going to show up for the big game.

On the other hand you're free and not just paying for a place you never see.

I say why not try it for a month. Its a little money saved and the first few weeks were a blast (fun places, exciting times). After that you can reevaulate easily. It's not like getting a place is a long process if you're ready to settle back.

Well, you could get a girlfriend. But she might not like it so much if you only use her place to crash and then do the big Houdini again and again. ;)

Address is important.

In a way, I like the non-materialistic approach to life this forces one to adopt. You can only have very few things with you. In our culture we usually identify ourselves inward and outward with material things we possess. This could be a good cleansing. But it's pretty hardcore. I mean, when you travel a lot you live with few of your personal effects anyway most of the time and probably it's nice to find them there when you get to what you call home. So the question is how well you can do without the notion of home and how strongly the notion of home is coupled to things.

Till

Let me address a few of the comments here:

1) On variation of travel - Yes it's true, my cost calculation is based on mainly reimbursable expenses including lodging, airfare, and meals, but for the off-times that I had to pay for everything I was planning to use acquired points to minimize my personal expenditures (thus, staying in Hilton/Marriott properties) and camping, as stated below.

2) On possessions - I decided a few years ago to minimize my things, and the only things I own now are some nice furniture. To put it simply, I could move everything important to me in two large suitcases, the rest of the stuff could be sold and the only thing that would be in storage is my paid-off car and some clothes. I don't feel an identity with possessions.

3) On having a crash pad - I think this is a good idea, but I completely despise the thought of roommates. I could stay with my GF except that she lives at home, so that won't fly but she could probably hold most of my clothes.

I also really enjoy camping and would consider that for temporary lodging, my goal is to save a ton of money and still have a decent standard of living. I'm starting to worry about not having a permanent base. Possibly having a defined end date or goal would make it easier.

I didn't state my goal, but it's to save enough cash so I can buy a house without financing.

I eat out 99% of the time today, so I'm already used to that. I already have the mail and bill process set up, and everything I need paperwise has been scanned into my computer.