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Thanks for the replies but the decision has been made for us. My parents have decided not to buy the townhouse after all.
My parents have been toying off and on with the idea of buying an investment property for a few years, but housing costs in our area are so high that they haven't been able to seriously consider it. Well the other day they came across a townhouse in a complex that's mainly used as holiday rentals. There's a pool, spa, full sized tennis court, games room, barbeque area and children's play area on the property, and the townhouse itself is so much nicer than the tiny flat we're currently in. My parents broached the subject with DH and I of possibly renting from them if they're able to buy this place. Rent would be more than we're paying now (we currently pay $180/week, they'd ask for $250 and we'd probably have to pay our own water as well whereas atm we only pay for electricity) but significantly less than it's worth. The other townhouses in the complex that are rented long term rather than holiday stays are rented out for $300+/week.
My parents have already helped us out financially so much over the last two years - they paid off approximately $20,000 of debt for us so we could move here, which we have to pay back of course but we've not managed to pay off much due to DH struggling to find employment here. He does now have a very good paying job but it's casual so there's no guarantee of work and he did have one week of no work at all... So we're obviously a little apprehensive about the idea of upgrading right now as moving would probably increase our expenses by $100/week. We can handle the increase even if DH has a bad week, but it means paying my parents back a lot slower.
I'm also a little worried that it might damage our relationship with my parents should something happen and we're no longer able to pay the higher rent, or my relationship with my brother if we're given the opportunity to rent from my parents and they're not. (My brother is getting married next month and he and his fiancee are looking for a place to rent, which is what got my parents looking at buying a rental property again. But there's simply no way my brother can afford to consider renting that place and my parents can't afford to subsidise the rent any further than they would be for us). It's a really nice place though and a superb location so I'm really torn.
I could be getting worked up over nothing as they haven't even spoken to the bank yet about a mortgage, but they do need to know if it's something we'd consider doing before they do as they wouldn't be buying just now otherwise.
So, what would you do?
My parents have been toying off and on with the idea of buying an investment property for a few years, but housing costs in our area are so high that they haven't been able to seriously consider it. Well the other day they came across a townhouse in a complex that's mainly used as holiday rentals. There's a pool, spa, full sized tennis court, games room, barbeque area and children's play area on the property, and the townhouse itself is so much nicer than the tiny flat we're currently in. My parents broached the subject with DH and I of possibly renting from them if they're able to buy this place. Rent would be more than we're paying now (we currently pay $180/week, they'd ask for $250 and we'd probably have to pay our own water as well whereas atm we only pay for electricity) but significantly less than it's worth. The other townhouses in the complex that are rented long term rather than holiday stays are rented out for $300+/week.
My parents have already helped us out financially so much over the last two years - they paid off approximately $20,000 of debt for us so we could move here, which we have to pay back of course but we've not managed to pay off much due to DH struggling to find employment here. He does now have a very good paying job but it's casual so there's no guarantee of work and he did have one week of no work at all... So we're obviously a little apprehensive about the idea of upgrading right now as moving would probably increase our expenses by $100/week. We can handle the increase even if DH has a bad week, but it means paying my parents back a lot slower.
I'm also a little worried that it might damage our relationship with my parents should something happen and we're no longer able to pay the higher rent, or my relationship with my brother if we're given the opportunity to rent from my parents and they're not. (My brother is getting married next month and he and his fiancee are looking for a place to rent, which is what got my parents looking at buying a rental property again. But there's simply no way my brother can afford to consider renting that place and my parents can't afford to subsidise the rent any further than they would be for us). It's a really nice place though and a superb location so I'm really torn.
I could be getting worked up over nothing as they haven't even spoken to the bank yet about a mortgage, but they do need to know if it's something we'd consider doing before they do as they wouldn't be buying just now otherwise.
So, what would you do?
