We Simply Don’t Have Enough for a Place to Live – My Sister-in-Law Thinks My Flat Should Be Sold for the Sake of the Family

My wife and I have been married for nearly seven years now, though wed known each other for ages before tying the knot. During all that time, both of us worked hard and were able to save up for a detached house, which we ended up building ourselves.

Before we moved, we lived in my old flat. Id had it renovated just before we got married, and even now, after all these years, its in excellent condition.

So, when we settled into our new home, we immediately decided against renting the flat out we didnt want it getting run-down or losing its charm. We thought it best to just leave it as it was.

About six months ago, my parents gave us another flat in the city centre. Selling it didnt make sense since the main expenses for the new house were already covered, so we kept it.

My wife and I decided wed do a few minor repairs and get some new furniture for it eventually, making sure the place would be presentable if we ever did decide to let it.

For now, though, the second flat has just been sitting there, which did not go unnoticed by my sister-in-law when we all got together for a family dinner.

She started making comments about the fact we now had two empty flats just going to waste. Of course, she conceded that keeping one as an extra made sense, but two sounded excessive to her, especially when, as she put it, families need support.

The thing is, she and her husband had been planning to buy their own place in a new development. They were only halfway there, slowly saving up since both of them are on modest wages and didn’t want to jump into a mortgage.

The conversation took a bit of a sour turn as my sister-in-law started to lay out her idea. She felt we should sell one of the flats, help her and her husband with the proceeds, and put whatever money was left into a bank for interest. She clarified theyd eventually pay us back but, of course, that would take several years.

I could see my wife felt awkward. We’ve always tried to support family whenever possible, both with our time and with money, but this was a different matter altogether.

So, I chose to step in and answer my sister-in-law myself. I told her that this was no small request. Theyd get a flat, and wed lose ours, ending up with only a bit of the money tucked away in the bank, and nowhere else to live should we need it. And honestly, theres no telling when the rest of the funds might come back to us. Requests for this sort of financial help need serious consideration, even among family.

Not surprisingly, everyone felt the conversation had taken an awkward turn. My sister-in-law looked rather put out, and my wife quickly changed the subject.