Sussex County - Rentals for Fall/Winter (Seaford, Lewes: sales, 2014)

[suburbs_gal]

Hi Delawarians! My family will be moving out there in early September. We currently live in IL, we have never been to Delaware and know no one there. Kind of a crazy thing, but we're excited.

We've been targeting Lewes and Rehoboth Beach area but can't seem to find rentals that allow pets (we have a cat that is fixed and a front paw declaw). I have found some apartments such as Stoneybrook in Seaford and SeaChase at Greenwood but through digging through some posts on here it seems the areas are getting a bad reputation.

We have two girls (10 and seven) but with high functioning Autism and we like the appeal of the Sussex County schools.

We want to rent first so we can get a feel for the are till we know where will be end up long term. Looking to spend around $1500 a month per rent (or less!) for a two or three bedroom.

Any insights? We've found a few other places but they are furnished and we would like to avoid that.

Thank you for any help you can offer me. Oh, I am planning on coming out in two weeks to check things out first hand, but this is a quick thing with us moving in a little over a month.

[nuts2uiam]

Try searching "Pet Friendly rentals in Sussex County Delaware". Also try Vacation Rental by owner and select pet friendly.

[longneckone]

When you come in 2 weeks to check things out try not to make it a weekend. If coming on a weekend make sure you have reservations before hand. There are tons of off season rentals.

[suburbs_gal]

Originally Posted by longneckone

When you come in 2 weeks to check things out try not to make it a weekend. If coming on a weekend make sure you have reservations before hand. There are tons of off season rentals.

Definitely planning on coming during the week. Thank you for the tip!

[suburbs_gal]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

Try searching "Pet Friendly rentals in Sussex County Delaware". Also try Vacation Rental by owner and select pet friendly.

Thank you. The only problem I'm running into with vacation rentals is they are furnished. We're debating just selling all of our furniture and starting over again. But I LOVE my family room furniture and bedroom furniture!

[Mary2014]

Originally Posted by suburbs_gal

Thank you. The only problem I'm running into with vacation rentals is they are furnished. We're debating just selling all of our furniture and starting over again. But I LOVE my family room furniture and bedroom furniture!

Since furnished rentals can be much less expensive during the off season than unfurnished places, it may be worth your while to simply put your furniture in a local storage facility during your short term rental.


I looked at storage cost for a 10 x 20 unheated storage unit in Lewes and it was about $80 per month as I recall. The lower cost to rent a furnished rental more than offset the storage rental cost.


Mary2014

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by suburbs_gal

Thank you. The only problem I'm running into with vacation rentals is they are furnished. We're debating just selling all of our furniture and starting over again. But I LOVE my family room furniture and bedroom furniture!

I understand your dilemma, but will say one thing. Don't pigeon hole yourself into having to rent/buy a home based upon your furniture fitting into a room. We moved most of our furniture when we moved, but we were the odd people that upsized as opposed to downsizing so it was not a problem for us. We also have a full basement that we could move stuff into if we didn't use it. We were selective however and the only thing down there is a rocking chair that I hated to part with but I just don't care for it in the room now.

[suburbs_gal]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

I understand your dilemma, but will say one thing. Don't pigeon hole yourself into having to rent/buy a home based upon your furniture fitting into a room. We moved most of our furniture when we moved, but we were the odd people that upsized as opposed to downsizing so it was not a problem for us. We also have a full basement that we could move stuff into if we didn't use it. We were selective however and the only thing down there is a rocking chair that I hated to part with but I just don't care for it in the room now.

I get this. I'm starting to really think our only option at this point is to do a furnished unit. We are definitely downsizing (2300 square feet here) and we're selling quite a few things already but this might be the push to just completely start over. I'm already seeing that most of the decor is quite different - even simple things like I love dark wood cabinets in my kitchen and I am seeing a lot of white kitchens and thinking, "hmmm, I think I like that a lot better!". So perhaps shifting across the country will be more than just new houses. I guess the bright spot is that eventually I get to SHOP for more furniture!!

[suburbs_gal]

Originally Posted by Mary2014

Since furnished rentals can be much less expensive during the off season than unfurnished places, it may be worth your while to simply put your furniture in a local storage facility during your short term rental.


I looked at storage cost for a 10 x 20 unheated storage unit in Lewes and it was about $80 per month as I recall. The lower cost to rent a furnished rental more than offset the storage rental cost.


Mary2014

This is SO good to know, Mary! Thank you for your help with this. Definitely going to look into this option for the few things I can't part with.

[EnjoyEveryDay]

We originally planned to sell everything when we moved from Chicago to Lewes, not because we were downsizing or going into a furnished home, but because the style of our previous furniture in our contemporary home just wasn't the "beachy" look we wanted down here. The biggest pro: it is expensive to move a household of furniture from Illinois to Delaware, and one can put those savings toward new furniture. The biggest con: we had an estate sale an quickly learned that even high-quality used furniture goes for pennies on the dollar when you sell.

As a result, we kept just enough furniture (big screen tv's, one sofa, 2 bedroom sets) to still require movers. In retrospect, we should have stuck to the original plan and sold it all! One of the big screen tv's quickly died after we moved it despite the careful packaging in specialized containers. One good piece of news - there are several good furniture stores that deliver to Sussex County and remember, no sales tax!

Best of luck with whatever you decide, and welcome to Delaware!