by Ilyce Glink
Last summer, my wife’s mother died, leaving her a large house in a small town in Germany, which is where my wife grew up. She has no siblings, and her father died when she was a child. We met in Germany (I am American) and live in the United States, where we both have middle-class jobs. My wife now feels torn about what to do with her German property, because of a feeling of obligation to her mother’s memory. She had a tense relationship with her mother, who was often critical of her choices. Now we are discussing: should we fix up the house and rent it out? Someday retire over there? Both propositions scare me.
In the US, we need a new roof. We have not saved for our two kids’ education or our retirement as much as we should have. But my wife is reluctant to discuss selling her inherited property. Together, we moved or donated the furniture in it, and she found someone local to do bare minimum maintenance, but fixing up the property could get expensive. I can sort of speak German, but I am not good at fixing up old houses and the bureaucracy is bewildering. What I do know: the government wants everyone with an eco-unfriendly heating system to eventually replace it, which seems expensive. Also, there is recent flooding damage in the basement.
On the bright side, the ground floor was previously rented to an insurance agency; perhaps that floor could be rented out again? I just feel like this will be a headache for the next twenty years. How can I gently persuade my wife to divest?
—Overwhelmed By Oma’s House
https://slate.com/advice/2024/09/inherited-house-rent-sell-personal-finance.html