My grandma passed away last may - i helped my dad with her paperwork while she was alive - the house was left to my brother who lives in the same area - the house is tied up at the bank mortgage - my brother gets to keep the house b/c my father is disabled but they can't put it in his name or it will mess up his medicaid- my brother doesn't have good credit and is raising 3 girls- my dad keeps asking me if i want to put it in my name- i really don't think that is a good idea. My brother is supposed to make the mortgage payment now but can't so dad is with his limited $. My dad keeps telling me with some work it would be a good investment. I'm engaged and we have a house. I don't want to tie up my credit in case we need something.
Follow your gut instinct, we confirm it. xo
Do you want to be a landlord? Do you want to own a house and then "rent" it out for the amount of the mortgage payment? Are you willing to make the mortgage payment even when (I don't say "if") your brother misses some rent payments? Or if Dad is going to continue making the payments,what will you do when Medicaid finds out he is "gifting" so much money monthly? Are you prepared to evict your brother and deal with new renters? Do you want to take on the paperwork and tax implications of owning rental property? Who is going to put on a new roof and install a new furnace when those things become necessary? Will your brother understand that you have to charge more than the bare cost of mortgage to have a fund for these things? Or will this "business" arrangement cause lasting damage to your family relationships?
This could only be a "good investment" if you are willing/able to treat it as a business transaction. Somehow I don't think that is what your father has in mind.
Why can't your brother make the mortgage payment? Is he out of work? Disabled? On street drugs? If you want to help your brother and his three little girls, trying to help solve this underlying problem would be better than offering the bandaid of putting the house in your name. Perhaps finding a non-profit credit counseling service to help him set up and manage a plan to clean up his credit would be good.
Help your brother if you can. But doing it by becoming a reluctant landlord seems to me to be an extremely bad idea.
I really hope your brother gets a break. But getting it at your expense doesn't eliminate the misery -- it just transfers it to you.
Love your brother, but Stay Strong in protecting yourself!