The house sold faster than you expected. Or the closing on the new place slipped by six weeks. Or the builder said October and now says January. Whatever the cause, you are between homes — furniture in storage, a few suitcases in the car, and a stretch of time that is too long for a hotel and too short for a lease.
That gap is one of the most common reasons people call us, and it is worth saying plainly what the options are.
Who ends up between homes
It is a bigger group than most people assume. Sellers whose closing dates do not line up. Downsizers who have left a family house and are waiting on a condo. People building or gutting a house and discovering that construction timelines are aspirational. And people relocating to Minneapolis who sensibly want to rent for a season before buying in a neighbourhood they have only seen on a map.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s guide to closing is a good reminder of how many moving parts sit between an accepted offer and a set of keys — underwriting requests, inspection, title work, revised Loan Estimates. Any one of them can move your date.
What you actually need for thirty to ninety days
Short gaps are a hotel problem. Anything past about two weeks is a different problem, because the things a hotel does not have start to matter: somewhere to cook a normal dinner, somewhere to do laundry without quarters, and a bill that does not compound nightly.
At Oakland’s on 9th every studio is fully furnished and comes with WiFi, all utilities, heat, free laundry and a full kitchen. There are three tiers — Good, Better and Best — and you can stay a night, a week or a month. There are no contracts to sign, which is the part that matters most when you genuinely do not know whether you need five weeks or eleven.
We wrote a fuller breakdown of what is included in a furnished studio if you want the line-by-line version.
The dog comes with you
A move is hard enough without boarding the dog for two months. Some of the studios here are pet friendly — not all of them, so it is worth asking when you book rather than assuming. Call (612) 314-5124 and we will tell you what is actually available for your dates.
Sort the mail before you move out, not after
This is the detail people forget. If you are relocating for anywhere from fifteen days up to a year, USPS lets you file a temporary change of address rather than a permanent one. Forwarding can begin within three business days of your request, but the Postal Service advises allowing up to two weeks, and the online identity verification carries a $1.25 fee. If your gap is shorter than a month, USPS Hold Mail will pause delivery for three to thirty days instead.
One caveat worth reading twice: a change of address only changes things with the Post Office. Banks, insurers, your driver’s licence and voter registration all still need telling separately.
Why thirty days is a meaningful number here
If you have been scrolling short-term rental listings, you may have noticed that monthly options are a different category from nightly ones. Under the City of Minneapolis’ short-term rental rules, most rentals of thirty days or less require a licence, and buildings of twenty or more units are capped at ten per cent. It is a useful thing to understand before you hand a deposit to a listing that may not be around in November.
A holding pattern you can actually live in
The practical advantage of being downtown for a couple of months is that you can stop driving. We are at 215 South 9th Street: a block from the skyway (a block — the building is not skyway-connected, and we would rather say so), a few minutes from Target on Nicollet Mall, and walkable to the Armory, Orchestra Hall, Target Center and the theatre district. If you do need to get across the metro, the Metro Transit trip planner will sort it out.
It also means the gap stops feeling like limbo. People who come here between houses tend to spend the time getting to know the city centre properly — which, if you are about to buy here, is not a bad use of eight weeks.
Book it, or just ask
If your dates are firm, book a studio online. If they are not — and between homes, they usually are not — call (612) 314-5124 or email info@oaklandson9th.com and tell us roughly what you are looking at. We would rather sort out a flexible arrangement in one phone call than have you sign something you might not need.
You may also find our guides to moving to Minneapolis and temporary housing after an insurance claim useful — different circumstances, same practical questions.
Keep reading: Are Old Buildings Cold in Winter? What It Took to Make an 1889 Minneapolis Brownstone Warm