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Just looking for a few opinions on this, ill try to get to the point but please read!. My parents and I are currently living at my grand parents house, me and my girlfriend and her small child in the "inlaw suite" my mom lives in the main house about 150ft away on the same property. inlaw suite is 750sqft with 2 car garage underneath.
A year ago I was renting about a half hour away for $1200/mo. (no garage) They called and offered me and my mom to stay at there place for next to nothing(at this time we were not living close or working together), just cover the property taxes and your electric/cable. They didnt want the house staying empty. Cool deal so here I am now paying $250 bucks a month.
The house needs a roof, so my grandparents are getting ancy and if they spend 15-20k to put a roof on it there gonna list the house for sale. Then I have to find a place to live.
My mom has always talked about buying the house and now since were at this point they are probably going to buy it, im sure you know where this is going...mom has a hefty mortgage, they come to me and my gf and want to charge more rent to help with there payment. My mom is fifty and will be trying to pay off a 150000 mortage on the house in 8 years, the house is worth about 400,000, they rest her inhairentance will go towards the house". Shes telling me its a win, win for me, eventually I will get the house (split with my stepfather), or if by the time its paid off and her and my stepfather want to move they will "give me a chunk of money" from the house.
The rent I think is fair she wants around $750, which anywhere else around here I will be $1150 for a decent area. We are in the country on 2 acres. Where I live is kinda of small, no oven, have to run downstairs for bathroom shower, garage underneath us which is included in my rent price which is nice. When I first moved in I kind of reno'd the place some. So its 2br1 bath. I work for my mom when were busy were busy when were slow were slow..so my income is not to stable(everyone knows how working with family goes) so being around her all day then renting also, i mean im 150ft away but she can just walk over whenever so its a lot of time around each other.
As soon as I was proposed the idea I did the same to my girlfriend who proceeded the flip out about how shes not going to pay rent here (but will go back to where we were paying 1200 a month). Where I would have to move everything, get a storage unit etc.
I think what I am feeling is just the little bit of shock that **** now we have to pay rent...though for the last year we were paying just a small amount.
tldr; mom wants to buy house from my grandparents where I am living , inturn doubles my rent, rent was next to nothing to start off with. if I move somewhere else I have to rent like a "regular renter" security deposit, about $500 more a month. If I stay, rent it still pretty cheap, place is kind of small and put together, work for my mothers company and live next door in the in-law suite so alot of time together and hearing her always complain about something.
Financially you are much better off staying where you are, saving $4,800 per year compared to $1150 rent, or $5,400 per year at $1200 rent. Plus you will be earning an investment in the house which will pay off more down the road. No security deposit to pay and you are saving more by not having to rent a storage unit.
Sounds like it would be foolish of you to move.
If you need more private time when you are home, explain that to your mom and ask her in a kind and gentle way to give you more space.
Hi there thanks for the responses! That was kind of the first thing I told my mom...your building equity I am just paying rent. Her response is that 'one day I will have it. That goes back to the chuck of change thing and house being split. Well we all know things change in that perspective...I doubt she would want to purchase the home together because then half would be mine..SHE wants to own something.
We could buy a house somewhere ourselves...but thats a step I think I am far from ready to take.
I do appreciate them letting us stay here for next to nothing, at some point I wont even have the option of renting here (if they sell it etc) and will have to pay the higher rent at some point..or find cheap rent in not such a nice neighborhood.
Girlfriend gets along with mom, but yeah over the last year its not the coolest thing living next to your parents, rent is cheaper though and the privacy thing is a good thing to bring up for sure...pros and cons, seeing what other people here would do.
Hate to be the voice of cynicism, but if you decide to stay under the assumption that you'll get a "chunk of change" out of the house at some point, get it in writing. Even if your mom has a will giving you half her estate, you need another agreement that gives you half of any appreciated value above the purchase price if/when she sells if that's her intent.
Sounds like you and your gf are not on the same page.
If I was in your shoes, I would stay since the new rent is still cheaper than a comparable rental somewhere else. And because you have the garage which is very nice.
As far as your mother promising you 'chunk of money' later, don't count on it. Just be happy that you are getting a very nice discount on rent. That's good enough.
If you and your girlfriend eventually get married or decide to have children, then maybe think about moving elsewhere to get away from your mother so you could start your own life and be more independent. Maybe buy a house. For now, you should put the extra money into savings for now.
Are you going to work for your mother forever, or do you have a career plan to find more stable work in the future, so you get get a more steady income? To me, that's an issue that's more important than the rental unit.
The whole chunk of change thing I know how that goes..I don't rely on that. But as someone else said it would still be cheap rent regardless.
Work for my mom forever? No. Career plan? I've bounced around a bit, no excuses but at 27 still trying to find out what I want to do, so far it doesn't seem like I am the type that wants to work at the same place or do the same job for 30 years...that's a whole nother' thread in its own.
Girlfriend definitely isn't on the same page so that's going to be a problem I see. I think it's that she knows we would be paying 45% of my moms mortgage...I tried telling her when you rent those landlords also profit or pay there mortgage with it.
All she is seeing is are rent getting raised a lot and we get nothing, though I told her it was low to begin with.
It's good you are having these discussions now... there is no right or wrong answer and it is more about being on the same page especially when living in close proximity.
One of my friends started and has sucessful business... about 3 years in he was looking to expand and had applied for a bank loan... his parents offered to lend him the money at slightly under the bank interest and with no additional costs... he accepted.
That is when problems started with his girlfriend who said her parents would like get 4% return on their money instead of sitting in the bank and they should have a chance.
So he borrowed less from his parents and some from her parents... what a mistake that was... remember, he didn't ask either for a loan.
Her parents started with never ending ongoing questions about the business... his girlfriend said they were losing sleep at night and it was causing problems between them... it was a downward spiral and she moved out and her parents demanded immediate repayment 4.5 years early.
It took him a little time to put the money together to pay them off... when it was all said and done they said they would be interested in loaning him money in the future if is was less risky...
Money, Family and Girlfriends/Boyfriends seldom have no issues... even if it is only expectionations.
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