Somedays, I wonder about my intelligence.

I have no idea if I have posted this before...and I really probably shouldn't, but I need to get this out so later (in about 3 months) I can tell myself "I told you so."

Yes, I...with the assistance of my loving and equally dumb (at times...I love him, and he is smart, but in this case, we are being stupid) husband...will be offering to rent our trailer (the one we just moved out of--in fact, we aren't even totally moved) to none other than his parents, who currently live across the street from it.

You might be thinking "That's a great idea! I'm sure it will help them out, since the rent will be lower and you will be a little more flexible than the management!"

Um, yeah, but there is some background there. My ILs are NOT known for paying their bills on time. Any of their bills. So we are basically expecting this to happen this way: Month 1) We actually get paid on time, in full. Month 2) The lot rent gets paid, but our portion does not--but "We're expecting xx money from xx person for xx reason, and we'll pay you then!" Month 3) Never got our portion from the previous month. Lot rent is paid, but late. Our portion again doesn't get paid. Month 4) Nothing gets paid.

Seriously. I have NO doubt in my mind this is what will happen. So why are we doing this? Honestly, we will be happy if they take care of the lot rent. Our portion, while it would be nice, we really don't expect to ever see it. Luckily, we just pay my mom, and we are already budgeted to continue to do so.

So aside from the financial aspect of this idiocy, there is also the STUFF issue. ILs are packrats. And their house is absolutely disgusting. I won't even go over there anymore. Haven't been in almost a year, I think. So when DH talked to the management company about this possibility, their response was that their current house has to be left SPOTLESS or they won't be approved to move into ours. Joy. Guess who THAT lovely job will most likely fall on? If you guessed DH and I, you'd probably be right. And on top of this, they need to get rid of stuff. ALOT of stuff. They'd be going from a 3 bedroom to a 2 bedroom...which alone isn't an issue for them. One BIL has 2 kids, but kids can sleep on a couch when visiting (because they aren't welcome in my house, but that is another story altogether...), and they can have 1 guest room. But there is just an abundance of TRASH. They keep things no sane person would keep. I don't get it. I think the joys of purging will fall on not just DH and I, but I think we will have to recruit his sister and her DH to help with that. And it will get ugly...but we have all agreed for a long time that most of that can be thrown out.

On top of that, there is the fact that DH and I put alot of work into that trailer...replacing floors, cabinets, painting, etc. We KNOW that they will be no better about keeping that place clean than they were about keeping their old one clean. Do I REALLY want to see DAYS worth of work and THOUSANDS of dollars in improvements trashed in a few months?

So, you NOW might be wondering why in the hell we would even consider renting to them, with the likelihood of not getting paid, and all the cleaning involved, and the emotional trauma of my work being trashed. Well, it's simple. We budgeted for about 6 months of carrying the trailer after we bought the house. And we could. But we miss having disposable income...and to maintain 2 houses (cutting the grass, making sure nothing happens there, etc) is a hassle. So yeah, it's not really a NECESSARY thing, but we REALLY want to get out from under that. And we figure, even if they just pay the lot rent, we will be okay with it. Not happy...but ok.

I do also worry about the entitlement factor. Meaning, his parents CONSTANTLY have this sense of entitlement going on. They expect everyone else to pay for them. They think because they are old (they aren't, BTW...they are in their 50's) everything should be done for them, and the world is owed to them because they raised their kids. Um, yeah. That's what you are supposed to do when you have kids. Raise them. And NOT expect anything in return.

Oh, well. I want my fiscal freedom back. And if it means trusting someone who I know damn well can't be trusted, well...so be it. Cross your fingers for us.