is this a ridiculous favor to ask?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Hi parents, will you please advice me?</p>

<p>I live in a loft near the university I go to. I have to pay nearly $600 for the bed space. My sister is living here too. So, in a room, we are both paying $1200. </p>

<p>However, I’ve seen a house for sale near our area, when I inquired from the owner, he is planning to sell it for $85K. We can’t afford it, we barely make 30K a year. My dad can’t afford a second mortgage. So, I was thinking of asking help from an aunt. She owns several properties, no kids, excellent credit.</p>

<p>The problem is, I don’t know her that much…and she doesn’t know much about me too.</p>

<p>How do I talk to her so that she will be interested in buying this property? It’s a 4 bedroom house. It’s a good deal. We can still pay $1200 a month, and have the 2 rooms rented. </p>

<p>Do you think it’s a good deal for her or am I taking advantage? My dad doesn’t think it is a good idea. I don’t know why. It seems like a win-win situation. </p>

<p>Why would it be NOT a good deal for her? She still owns the property, only renting it to us.</p>

2

<p>Leave your Aunt alone. And yes, it’s both inappropriate and ridiculous to ask or suggest to her that she buy the property.</p>

3

<p>Hahahaha…my dad said that too when I asked him to ask my aunt that favor for me. He said, if I really want to, I should call her myself. </p>

<p>I really thought it was a good idea. Oh well, at least I didn’t talk to her yet, if I did, she would have thought, I’m a loser!</p>

4

<p>Completely inappropriate. And probably not a even a “win” for her. $85K tells me that it’s either not much of a house, or it’s in a bad neighborhood.</p>

5

<p>I disagree. Work up a business plan and propose an investment to her. Prepare it as professionally as you know how–make sure you include all costs, such as insurance, maintenance, landscaping, etc., and a summary explaining why it’s a good investment. And it’s not a good investment just because you and your sister would get reduced rent.</p>

6

<p>You state in your post that you really don’t know your aunt, and your aunt knows little about you.</p>

<p>So lets put it this way. Would you walk up to someone on the street and ask for $85,000 so you could buy a place to live?</p>

<p>Being a relative doesn’t change the fact that, essentially, you are asking a stranger for money.</p>

7

<p>I disagree as well. DMD’s idea is excellent.</p>

<p>If you can show a good reason for it, a good return on investment for her I don’t see why she shouldn’t (assuming she can do it financially). </p>

<p>What are families for if not help???</p>

8

<p>Clearly ■■■■■■■■</p>

9

<p>Totally inappropriate – your time and energy would be better spent looking for another (more affordable) place for you and your sister to rent.</p>

10

<p>Well, it is a good deal because 4 people can rent the 4x2 house for $1200. She pays for maintenance, landscaping, sewer, etc, and we pay water and electricity. Besides, even after we graduate, if we move somewhere, she can easily find people to rent it as it’s close to the campus. If not, me and my sister plans to buy the house from her after we graduate–same price, $84K. </p>

<p>Which part of that sounds like we are not taking advantage of my aunt? </p>

<p>We are not close, but it’s not like she doesn’t like me. When we talk, she was always sweet and kind. I’ve never also ask any favor from her. My dad too! There is no reason anyway, since our life is kind of okay…</p>

<p>I just thought, I’ll ask a favor since I feel that we will both benefit from this. Maybe, I benefit more, but her compensation is not bad either.</p>

11

<p>I assume that your aunt does not live in the town where the house is. Very few people are interested in buying property that is not near where they live. </p>

<p>And I’m curious - where is it possible to buy a 4-br house for $85k?</p>

12

<p>Why would she sell it to you after graduation for the same price? What if prices for houses in that neighborhood decrease? Or increase?</p>

13

<p>Is it your father’s sister or your mother’s sister? If it’s your father’s sister, he’s already told you to lay off approaching her. </p>

<p>The problem with being in business with relatives is that if things so south, it can really do a number on family relations. You may not have a close relationship with your aunt, but your parents might and might want to keep it that way.</p>

14

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<p>Last time I checked-- which was admittedly a year ago, there were quite a lot of those in my neighborhood, which is not a bad neighborhood at all. Housing prices in this area have /really/ plummeted. My parents house isn’t worth anywhere near as much as it was when they bought it, maybe even half as much. Haven’t checked recently, but last year you could get 2-4br 2-story colonials on quiet suburban streets anywhere from 70k-100k.</p>

<p>A year ago my friend bought a very small 3br for 30k in this area-- nice house, just small. OP didn’t say how big the house is either. In my sister’s area, which is also not a bad area but is quite rural, you could get quite a large house for 30k easy.</p>

<p>I’m always astonished when I see how little your money gets you in other parts of the country compared to here, it’s certainly not like that everywhere-- especially not today.</p>

15

<p>@nymom…Sacramento!</p>

<p>maybe I’ll borrow money from her instead…and pay $1,000 every month for 8 years.</p>

<p>I mean, I will borrow $84,000 and buy the house–that’s the collateral…and pay her $1,000 every month for the loan. </p>

<p>Sounds good?</p>

16

<p>So it seems that while to buy housing is cheap, rent is expensive?
$1200 for a two bedroom space seems high comparatively.</p>

17

<p>If I were your aunt, I would be insulted that you tried to use me as a cash machine. If you can present this as an investment opportunity to your aunt as dmd says, with all expenses and all plans clearly laid out, that’s one thing, but to ask your aunt to fork over $84K in this dubious housing market is inappropriate.</p>

<p>Most people would think an $84K house in Sacramento is not a good investment right now, and you’re asking your aunt to bear all the risk.</p>

18

<p>Where do you live? $85k for a whole house sounds extremely cheap.</p>

19

<p>uclacee, Zillow shows hundreds of single-family houses for sale in that price range in Sacramento. But with emeraldkity, I wonder why rents are so high, if prices are so low.</p>

20

<p>"is this a ridiculous favor to ask? "</p>

<p>-More than ridiculous. Are you joking?</p>