We are looking, seriously, at buying a house with my BIL, E. He isn't home much, but totally loves our kids, and they love him, so we're looking at places with either a good master bedroom (for his space) or even a small granny unit type thing (or at least something we could fix up as kind of a seperate area for him). M and E get along really well, E is willing to split the cooking with M and I, and it would actually save all of us money compared to what we're seperately putting out for rent, renter's insuarnce, etc. We're actually in the early stages of preapproval for a loan right now, and we've already gone and looked at a few possibilities. I'm totally excited about this - a place we can paint any colors we want, have a garden that isn't in moveable containers, some solidity in the lives of my two elflings... plus E only wants to live there for maybe 2-4 (likely closer to the first number) years until he's ready to buy a place of his own.
So keep your fingers tightly crossed! If we decide not to buy at the moment, we'll look at renting a (big) place together - again the money saving factor comes in for all of us. We've crunched the numbers any which way we could, and it would really make a difference to have 3 incomes in the house! Plus, a built-in occasional babysitter...
Am I completely weird, or maybe crazy, to consider moving my little family in with an in-law? He says he's willing to do this because it's an investment in his nephew and niece's future, since he does not plan on having kids of his own, as he loves the fact that he can run off and do whatever at the drop of a hat.
In other my-family news, after much consideration, I have decided we are not ready for unschooling yet (sorry Meesh), so I will stick, basically though somewhat loosely, with plans I have made in my sidebar blog. We do enjoy sitting down for lessons usually, so we're just going to keep a relaxed approach and see how it goes! Much of my curriculum is already set up and ready to go at the charter school, so I'm just filling in bits and pieces, like making library lists, etc. Speaking of libraries, I had better go and finish collecting all our overdue books. :(
Sounds like a reasonable plan...many people don't understand the high costs of rents and mortgages in California. If buying together helps everybody out then why not do it!
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as unschoooling--it's an idea I truly like, but probably need more structure in our lives and days, so will have a loose homeschooling type approach. So understand what you are thinking.
Good luck on the preapproval and finding something!!! It's a buyer's market right now ;-)
I had a feeling your little secret was something along those lines. Either that or another baby. ;) There's a big 5 bedroom for sale about a block from us. We need more kids in this neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't think you're crazy at all. Extended family is a good thing. I really wish our society could get back into something a little more inclusive than just the nuclear family. My DH and I lived with my sister, her husband, and their son (4 at the time, 17 now - yikes) back when we were just starting out, before we were married and still in JC. It was interesting at times, lol. But it was great to have that support, be able to give our own support, and get to know my nephew in a way no one else could. Because of that time, I'm still really close to my sister even though we go years between meetings now (she's in NC).
The only thing I would worry about is what happens when BIL decides to get a place of his own. Will you be prepared to take over the entire mortgage? Also, renter's insurance is nothing compared to home owner's insurance. And property tax. Ugh. Take it from a recent renter gone owner... but we don't regret it at all, especially at tax time.
Yeah, I know property taxes can be a drag, and homeowner's insurance is definately more. We would have to take over the entire mortgage at that point, but that gives us at least 2 years to work it out, and if we get him to wait 4, I'll be done with college and certification - we're going to sit down with him in the next few days and hammer out details.
ReplyDeleteSo we're still trying to figure it all out, and may very well rent together for a while first. We'll see!