My MIL was in that situation ~10+ yrs ago when all her children moved out, and she was living alone in their old bungalow. She continued to stay there for about a year, likely digesting the situation and ramifications she was facing. And then out of the blue one day, she just announced to all her children (and their partners) that she is putting the old bungalow up for sale, and that she is looking into buying and moving into some sort of high rise in the same vicinity (the whole around Metrotown).
In terms of value for money, I felt like it wasn't really worth it, but of course I also understood there was a lot more to "just the money". I forgot how much the old bungalow ended up selling for, but bcos the MIL wanted to live in a bigger apartment, the units she was looking at were asking for anywhere between 60 - 75% of how much the house was worth, but IMO, the apartments were nowhere close to being 60 - 75% of the house. But that's how it went down -- she wanted to move out of the house. There was too much space for her. She had no interest in doing garden work. The house would need regular maintenance and upkeep if she continues to live there. She couldn't do the snow shovelings in the odd times when it snowed, which meant her children (or me) would have to go there and take care of it for her. And the single biggest plus that I saw out of the house sale were:
1) she can just lock her apartment door and travel
2) she can use some of the proceeds to support her travels
By "travels", it mostly just meant she goes to Hong Kong for anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. But it was a freedom that she enjoys, and is able to exercise once again after moving into an apartment.
My take from the whole thing was -- in terms of money, she definitely came out on the "losing" end. Had the MIL held on to the house, she would be hundreds of thousands of dollars "ahead" by now, and that's a LOT of money -- probably more money than I would gross over that period of time LOL~ At the same time, her way and qualify of life would also probably be very different, and she probably wouldn't enjoy her retirement life very much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carsncars
In 5-10 years we could see possibly buying the house from them, renovating the basement, and moving them there. But again, that's contingent on my partner being on board with living above the in laws, and Coquitlam is not convenient for the current job. Also, I wonder whether I'd ever feel it's "my" house vs. my parents' house/my childhood home.
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The wifey and I contemplated on the viability of us moving in with the MIL, and I was the unwilling partner in this case. There were some practical difficulties with the way the house was setup, with the biggest issue being that there wasn't a separate kitchen in the basement. But the other major issue was exactly what you have described -- in my mind, as long as my MIL was still alive, it would still be "her house", and not really "my own home". Over time, I'm sure that feeling would fade, but it wasn't something I was willing to compromise on at the time -- not when there were other options available in front of me.