Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy out your dad's share too and make things simple. Unless you are going to spend money on a trust or other instrument, you cannot guarantee your dad won't leave his quarter share to a new love interest, a scammer, whoever, and then you are in a nightmare scenario of owning with a stranger and your sister.

+100. Buy the whole thing. And then decide if your dad can live there. Sign a rental agreement even if he just pays $100 a month so you can evict him if you have to do so years down the road. As someone whose dad remarried and it makes the estate thing a nightmare, protect yourself from this.

Yes I’d also buy out your Dad’s portion too. Maybe relieve him of showing up with actual cash and take a monthly “rent” instead of whatever you think is reasonable. You owning it solo seems much simpler in the long run than your dad owning some fraction of the house.

OP, your father is "not very reasonable and stubborn".

I would not get your finances mixed up with him. It is just asking for trouble. You also don't want to own a house that he is living in if you can possibly help it. Too many ways that can go badly.

I think the house just needs to be sold. Your dad needs to figure out how to be reasonable, and less stubborn, if he wants help from his kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy out your dad's share too and make things simple. Unless you are going to spend money on a trust or other instrument, you cannot guarantee your dad won't leave his quarter share to a new love interest, a scammer, whoever, and then you are in a nightmare scenario of owning with a stranger and your sister.

+100. Buy the whole thing. And then decide if your dad can live there. Sign a rental agreement even if he just pays $100 a month so you can evict him if you have to do so years down the road. As someone whose dad remarried and it makes the estate thing a nightmare, protect yourself from this.

+1.

The answer to your original question is pretty straightforward - as long as everyone agrees to it and it's done transparently at fair market value, buying the house should not be difficult.

But I'd urge you to think through as many future scenarios as you can before you commit to settling your father in this house. The above is simply one of many that could play out. You said you "think' your father could afford to pay property taxes and maintenance. Well, what happens if and when he can't? Can you? Can you do it for 30 years if he lives that long? You say he's stubborn and hard to deal with - what does that mean? What if he refuses to deal with you in the future and refuses to let maintenance and repair people in? Does he tend towards isolation? Does he tend towards hoarding? Would it be easier to move him now than at a later time?

I think your intentions here are very good/admirable. I'd just really think through and talk through elder care situations and think about your own financial future. Because I do think once you pick this up, it will be very difficult to put it back down. I'd still do it for my own parents though.

Anonymous wrote:I would buy out your dad's share too and make things simple. Unless you are going to spend money on a trust or other instrument, you cannot guarantee your dad won't leave his quarter share to a new love interest, a scammer, whoever, and then you are in a nightmare scenario of owning with a stranger and your sister.

+100. Buy the whole thing. And then decide if your dad can live there. Sign a rental agreement even if he just pays $100 a month so you can evict him if you have to do so years down the road. As someone whose dad remarried and it makes the estate thing a nightmare, protect yourself from this.

I would buy out your dad's share too and make things simple. Unless you are going to spend money on a trust or other instrument, you cannot guarantee your dad won't leave his quarter share to a new love interest, a scammer, whoever, and then you are in a nightmare scenario of owning with a stranger and your sister.

So all siblings are getting 1/4 interest in the house and 1/4 interest in the other assets, and you need to come up with 3/4 the cost of the house. What is the value of the other assets and can your dad use his share of that to buy part of the house?

You’re a very good son/daughter/sibling. Seriously. Is it in a marketable area that if your dad doesn’t live there long-term for whatever reason, you won’t take a huge loss when you have to sell? Is it close to where you and your sibling live? Is there any way that you could get your dad to move to an apartment near you (assuming there are places with reasonable rents) and then he would have cash from the sale of his share of the home. Assuming he only wants to live in this home (which it sounds like from your Op), it sounds like you have a good plan. I would definitely get an appraiser and then a real estate attorney to write the contract. Good luck.

It sounds like you need to have a conversation with your dad about how this would work, who pays taxes, utility costs, repairs and/or is he willing to move?

Anonymous wrote:Will your dad take on maintenance costs and property taxes?

I think he would and could swing it.

Anonymous wrote:Would it be better to buy him a different house?

That’s what my mom was wondering. And, maybe, but I think it would be hard to negotiate him into something that made sense.

Anonymous wrote:What’s the range of value of the home? Like is it order of magnitude like $150k, $500k, $1m?

$300k ish

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you fully buy the house, you own it, not your sibling. Or, your Dad owns it and you'd split it in 1/2. They should be decent and give you a break on the house if its for your Dad who was the caretaker.

I’d own everything except my dad’s share.

Talk to your sibling and you should get the entire house if you are paying for it or buy them out too. Will your Dad pay rent?

My sibling is honestly too young and not worldly enough to really understand but I wouldn’t want to screw her over. As it happens she lives with me rent-free now. She’s my much younger half sister.

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, it sounds like a reasonable solution. It’s a good deal for the rest of the family, as any attempt to evict your dad would probably use up a giant chunk of change from the estate.

How old is your dad? Is the home suitable for him to live in as he ages? Will buying the family out compromise your finances in a significant way?

He’s in his 60s. We have cash that we planned to use to buy a local rental. Obviously this means no cash flow but we weren’t depending on it.

Dad is mid 60s but has already had 2 heart attacks. Grandma lived there until she died and frankly didn’t really need my dad. It’s a fine place to age.