r/AmITheJerk • u/Zealousideal_Cow3508 • 4h ago
AITJ for buying a house?
so house around where my university is range from about two fifty to five hundred thousand on average. For working every summer as a lifeguard in high school, a part time school year job as an apprentine mechanic on Monday, and a dog walking empire I started back when I was about ten years old.
i had about a quarter of a million saved using the save half spend half method with the money I made, my older brother just mustered out of the marines and he had about eighty k saved, my twin brother and his best friend each had about sixty thousand saved from summer jobs and working a bit during the school year same as me……. so we all had a good amount of money saved, I found this modularized old farm house right by the university my mom works at that we can all attend for free because family or staff and faculty get a tuition credit so free university degree my siblings and I are all attending their in the fall.
the farm house is on like five acres with the basement, main floor, and upstairs each set up as separate really nice two and three bedroom apartments and two more apartments over the old carriage house or converted garage in another part of the property, it has a creek running though it with a dock and little boat house for like canoes and kayaks the house is priced at like three hundred something since it is in the not super great school district for the town but it is like a five minute walk from the university campus…… I talked to my brothers and we bought the place, the house is in a trust and we had a lawyer write up a contract on how things would be handled along with a six year clause that would force the sale of the property unless we all agree to not sell the house after graduating.
we own the house out right and it is on well water with solar panels and some small farm house style wind mills on the property to utilities are basically nonestistent for all go us while we will be living in the house. overall it is a good financial investment in my opinion that also allows all of us to have our own space and not live at home for college.
my parents were kind of looking forward to having us all live at home during university since my brother planned to move back I think it is more empty nest anxieties then anything else with regards to them but mom and dad are proud that we figured out a way to own property in the economy.
But my sister is pissed because she was not included in the plan because she just did not have the saving to foot the bill for her half, so am I the jerk for not included my sister in this plan?
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u/MachineShopGirl2024 4h ago
NTJ. If she wanted to be included, she should’ve worked and saved as you all did.
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 4h ago
NTJ, but you can give her a good deal on rent if she wants and you have the room. It will work out great for her since there is no risk.
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u/Spiritual-Coat-6156 4h ago
NTA, your sister’s disappointment is understandable, but you and your brothers pooled your own savings, took on the financial risk, and even put legal protections in place, so it wasn’t unfair not to include someone who couldn’t contribute to the purchase at the time.
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u/Soft-Noise8802 4h ago
Did you know or assume that she didn't have the savings and did you give her the opportunity to come up with the savings? Did you all put in the same amount?
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u/Zealousideal_Cow3508 4h ago
my sister flat out told me last year she was spending her saving to go backpacking through Asia and Europe as part of her gap year before starting school this year with the rest of us, so knew she did not have it in her savings so I never offered for her to be a part of this idea, I knew she could not swing it and I did not want her asking mom and dad for the money the only reason we were buying this house was so we did not have to live at home if my sister tried to borrow money from mom and dad for this it would have had them financially involved in a property that if we fucked it up could have negatively impacted their retirement or something so no I did not tell my sister about this until after the purchase was completed
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u/DefrockedWizard1 4h ago
NTJ. my only suggestion has to do with water. I've been on a well and sometimes it would run dry. you should consider some way of collecting rain water if possible in your area
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u/justbrowzingthru 4h ago
I get why you didn’t ask your sister, but you never know she might’ve had some savings without having to get from mom and dad.
Just because she was saving it for something else doesn’t mean she doesn’t have it,
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u/jerseygirl414 3h ago
Did you ask your sister? I don't understand when you say her "half" as different people invested different amounts of money, and it wasn't just you and one other person.
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u/revelations9256 3h ago
NTA. Your hard work and being responsible is paying off. Don’t listen to naysayers.
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u/TheLollrax 2h ago
YTJ. From a financial perspective, you might not have been wrong, but that's a pretty cutthroat way to deal with family. Ideally you should've at least asked her and said it would only work out if she didn't borrow from parents.
Depending how much you like her, I'd give her an open option to stay with y'all for low rent.
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u/Just_here_for_AITAH 1h ago
Cutthroat is how OP and his bro-men made their quarter million. Now that they have their "no girls allowed" bro-house, they can charge the jet-set world traveler sister premium rent for a she-shed in the back yard. That is if they want the women-folk on the property, of course.
This is what success in America looks like these days.
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u/TheLollrax 1h ago
I don't know if I'd describe lifeguarding, landscaping, fixing cars, or walking dogs as particularly cutthroat.
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u/Just_here_for_AITAH 27m ago edited 23m ago
It is if they made enough to buy a $250K bit of property being just out of high school. It's all in the attitude. It's about being shrewd and calculating with resources. He even refers to his dog walking business as an empire! If his clients are affluent types, there's some serious networking going on. And yeah, I may have been a little snarky, but good for him if it works out. It's all in the game.
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u/loftychicago 1h ago
NTJ. She wasn't in a position to participate. But now that you're a real estate mogul, maybe you can set up a plan for her to build some savings and do the next project with you. Rental properties in a university location seem like agreat investment.
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u/turtleofgirth 2h ago
5 acre, 5 bedroom house with several other buildings, creek (with a boat house?), 5 minute walk from a university for 300,000+.
Bullshit.
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u/Zealousideal_Cow3508 1h ago
not if you live in the Midwest and the university is not a big name campus
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u/Jerseygirl2468 4h ago
NTJ if she didn't have the money she couldn't do it. Did you offer though? Could she have borrowed from your parents?
It sounds like you guys made a really good investment, if you can all live there cheaply, and then hang onto it and rent it out once you're all graduated.
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u/LoverOfPricklyPear 4h ago
NTJ Sorry sister, but not building up your finances indeed has its effects.
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u/Normal_Row5241 4h ago
Good luck. Having that many people on a deed could get tricky.
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u/nfinitegladness 4h ago
There aren't people on the deed, the house is owned by a trust. OP did this the right way.
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 4h ago
It looks like they have thought it out, have everything in writing, along with the forced sale unless full agreement. My bet would be it will work out.
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u/Normal_Row5241 4h ago
I just mean if someone wants out or something like that. I'm impressed they got everything in writing.
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u/sintr0vert 4h ago
...what kind of part time work are a bunch of young guys doing that allows them to have so much in savings so young? Something sounds fishy here.