Family member has invited me to live with him, initially that sounded great, but there are a few problems asides from the cats he says can’t go.
There’s at least $10k-$20k worth of work that has to be done, in addition to the, the house regularly floods in the backyard and thus the living room due to the addition of a doggy door for the dogs and cats. It is also it’s not in the best part of town. The house itself is decent. It’s a two bed one and a half bath (Jack and Jill bathroom) and there’s a guest/study room, the house is on a sizable quarter acre of land and even a workshop in the backyard. The insulation is very poor, the A/C is from the 90’s and has to work OT just to keep the house cool, and the heater is just as old and has to pull in extra work to keep the house hot during winter, I’m talking 80F° to get the house at 68F°. Family member has told me he wants to stay at his current job (he works at home as a customer support agent) with the rapid takeover of AI in the Customer Support Industry, my family and me are fearing he’ll lose his job and any way of living at the house. He tells me he’ll be alright and his job is guaranteed. Said family member has been coddled their entire life and basically hasn’t been told NO, he’s got less than $5k saved up and only brings home $750 every 2 weeks, it’s a part time job, he’s been reliant on papas pension the entire time and even dictates what my grandfathers money gets spent on.
In said family members attempted negotiations into getting me to move in, he has said no to getting rid of the cats, I can’t bring my guns into the house (he’s religiously anti-gun) so I’d have to store my guns at parents house and drive an hour away every weekend just for target practice. In addition to not wanting to get another job he wants ME, to pay all of the utilities of the house, do the taxes, and yard work, all he wants to do, is inside work (literally cooking and cleaning which he doesn’t even do right now) and buying weekly groceries. At my current pay id have to work 12-16 hours a day, and even work on one of my 2 days off just to afford the much needed renovation and furniture in addition to the utilities. Thankfully the house is paid for, but with age, comes problems, and in addition to the ridiculous demands and the price of everything going up, I feel much more comfortable living in my current situation splitting a 2 bed cottage for $750 a month.
TLDR: entitled family member who’s never been told no is currently attempting to gaslight me and close family into believing that if we don’t move in with him, he’ll be evicted even though he refuses to get a better job.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. Don’t do it. To much conflict already and you’d have to work WAY TOO MUCH. And a house that floods? No way. Don’t do it. You’d regret immediately
NTA and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. You know very well that this is a disaster waiting to happen. From a legal standpoint, there is no reason in the world you should be financially and labour-wise responsible for renovations for a home you don’t own. If he’s at risk of evictions, why the improvements? His father is trying to pass the leech.