Would you live next door to your parents/in-laws?

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2005
Posts
2,852
Location
Moving...
We've been house hunting for a couple of years now. The area we're willing to move to is very small, and we've got quite a long list of criteria that the house has to meet. As a result, we've not seen anything that ticks our boxes in a few years.

We've recently accepted an offer on our house, and a house has come up for sale that we like the look of. It's like the stars have aligned, but the only snag is it's next door to my in-laws. It's detached, but, it's literally next door.

Our initial reaction was no; being next door is just a bit weird. But are we overthinking it? We get on well, and already live close (10 min walk).

Pros:
- The house is pretty perfect and we're unlikely to find anything better.
- Childcare on tap
- We know we won't have nightmare neighbours (on one side at least)

Cons:
- Lack of privacy
- Could being next door degrade our relationship?
 
Thanks for all the responses all. Bit of a mixed bag of opinions.

For those of you that have said a flat-out no, why?

To answer a few of the questions raised so far...
  • Our kids are both <7, and the in-laws are late 60's/early 70's.
  • This would be our forever home.
  • They're not the controlling/judgmental type.
  • They have no issue with us moving next door. They moved ~150 miles to be closer to us and be able to see the grandkids. They've been here a few years since the move, and it's been great for us and them. They're helpful, but not overbearing.
  • Both me and the wife get on well with them, and feel like we could comfortably and openly tell them to back off.
  • Unless you're hanging out your front door, you can't see who's coming/going to the house. You can see into the majority of each other's back gardens from the upstairs rooms
 
dlockers said:
So do it already. Just be aware when they get old and decrepid they'll become your sole responsibility. Is she an only child? Does she get on with her siblings? Expect she may take up lions share of care but still only get her equal share.
Click to expand...

She has a 2 siblings, but they're both further away. One might move down this way too, but the other definitely won't. So we're already the closest and resigned to likely having to do a chunk of care. It's just whether we need to travel 10 mins or 10 steps to perform that care!

There is a concern that by being closer, they may be tempted to reach out for help more frequently, but the pro's are outweighing that potential con atm.
 
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