The Pros + Cons of Having Your In-Laws as Your Landlords

19 November 2014


Josh & I are lucky enough to get to live in a beautiful townhouse for our first place together, that his parents are renting to us. Obviously this comes with a lot of perks, but that's not to say that their isn't some downsides involved as well. All in all we are incredibly thankful and lucky to have such generous people in our lives.

Pros


- Incredibly Affordable Rent:
There is no way that we could afford a place like this in the location that it is in, if we had to pay a normal amount of rent. They're also paying for our water, which means as young adults that don't have full time jobs, we will be able to afford to live a lot easier without being weighed down by super expensive rent and excessive bills. 

- No contracts/forms/credit checks:
 They trust us, they know we aren't going to trash the place, not pay our rent or be overall crazy. They know us personally, and well enough to know what we're like. 

- No Kick Out Date:
We don't have to worry about our contract timing out or anything like that, the place is ours. Kind of. 

- They've got our backs:
If for some disastrous reason Josh or I, (or both of us!) lost our jobs then we know that we are not going to become homeless. They would look after us, and not kick us onto the street. So that's pretty nice of them. 

- More Lenience with Design:
Obviously we would still have to ask out of politeness, but we are more likely to be able to install things, attach stuff to the walls, and even paint if we wanted. It also feels less like wasting our own money as the house is a long term situation and doesn't belong to a stranger that will be reaping any benefits. 


Cons


- Every Visit is a House Inspection:
Obviously even if the house wasn't theirs, they are welcome whenever. Having your in-laws visit was already a good reason to make sure the house was looking spic and span, but now every visit is also from the landlord. Are you looking after the house properly? Do you always have the house in this condition? Not that we won't keep the house clean, but every visit will be a cringe of "I hope everything is satisfactory." 

- It's Still their house:
They have keys, and can let themselves in whenever. To do whatever. Of course they can. It's their house. I could come home and find stuff moved around, and I guess they can do that too because it is their house. 

- They have more personal input than a typical landlord:
No I don't think that should go there, you should move that somewhere else. Tegan stop buying furniture.
Landlords who aren't family would probably keep that to themselves. 


Overall there are a lot more pros than cons, and we are so grateful for getting to live in such an amazing place. I wonder if more things for the list will arise after we start living there? xx


2 comments

  1. I agree with most - My mans parents are extremly respectful and have only come over 3 times in 6 months - twice as parents for dinner and once for a maintenance issue. It is easier thought because the issue got fixed straight away!

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    Replies
    1. Well that's good! I think it will be okay, but now they are moving closer, like instead of a 40 minute drive away they will be 5 minutes away. So we will see how that goes.

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