Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks for the suggestions. There is obviously no good "correct" answer. My wife is against buying the house as she views it as bad mojo for having relatives pay your rent and you expecting them to pay and all that potential conflict. In general I agree but I was floating the idea.
The base option my sister wants is for her to take over the mortgage, but basically she'll need ~ $50k cash for downpayment that she mostly doesn't have. My dad will chip in $15k, $5k from my sister and mom each, and I would put in $20k.
Again, have you seen the paperwork with your own eyes or just going by her word? If all she is doing is refinancing the mortgage, why the $50k cash? This just doesn't sound like a couple that was flush with money when married so I don't see the ex having $50k equity in a $250k house after a few years.
If she can't refinance on her own it's because the banks consider her a bad bet. And they are the experts at assessing risk.
When you said she's bad with money, that is your answer right there. Stay out of it. Listen to your wife. Your sister needs a reality check. We can't always have what we want. And with houses there are always unexpected expenses. She needs to buy a house within her means or wait until she has saved enough money for one.
This is an odd one, but I figure you guys might be interested.
My sister got divorced, but wants to stay in her house that they bought a few years ago. It needs work.
Instead of just selling the house and moving on (a much simpler solution!), she is trying to stay.
She can maybe barely afford to pay the mortgage, but would have to buy out her ex’s share in cash so she is trying to borrow money from relatives…basically it’s a mess. It’s a stretch for her to afford it.
I didn’t want to get involved, but the house is in a good suburb of Cleveland, actually a good place for renting houses.
Why don’t I just buy the house? This is relatively straightforward financially, the house will cost like $250k or so. I don’t think this will be some significantly profitable investment, but looks like rent should just about cover monthly costs right off the bat with a 20% down.
This is much more sane from a family standpoint than having her “borrow” all this money from relatives that they probably won’t be getting back.
Of course she would like to gain some equity in the place, and I’m open to that. What’s a good structure to share equity in a house with some conditions on how much of her rent she pays over the years?
1. Your wife is against it. This should be a dealbreaker as you are walking into a potential landline of causing huge problems within the family, especially if this situation developed any issues (which very well could happen). You will be dealing with a sister who could become resentful of paying her rent to you, plus sob stories of being “short” that month.
2. “Sister is bad with money”. She needs to get into a financial situation that is not over her head. It is very difficult to go through a divorce but this has flashing warning signs all over it.
You know better than anyone else what your sister can do. I just remind you in your initial post, you said the house needs work and she can barely afford the mortgage. Is this the situation you want to put her in?
You know better than anyone else what your sister can do. I just remind you in your initial post, you said the house needs work and she can barely afford the mortgage. Is this the situation you want to put her in?
After talking to her and understanding her financial situation better (including a big pay raise she got last year), I think she can afford the mortgage comfortably enough. The real issue was simply cash for the downpayment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia
And that's ok with your wife? It's half her money you are so generously giving away.
Yes. Trust me I don't make these decisions alone. I would like to stay alive
Luckily we've done well with investments and Cleveland has a cheaper COL so this gift won't really affect our financial situation.
After talking to her and understanding her financial situation better (including a big pay raise she got last year), I think she can afford the mortgage comfortably enough. The real issue was simply cash for the downpayment.
Yes. Trust me I don't make these decisions alone. I would like to stay alive
Luckily we've done well with investments and Cleveland has a cheaper COL so this gift won't really affect our financial situation.
You're crazy to buy into this because while you don't expect your money back, your other relatives won't get it back either. Without your $20k this wouldn't even happen.
The best option was for them to sell it with your sister downsizing to a more affordable place. What if she loses that job? She could also lose the house
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
