"AITA for refusing to sell my house to a landlord?"
I bought a fixer-upper in my 20s with my now ex. I bought him out, but agreed to give him back his portion of deposit he paid upon sale whenever that may be. We remained friends as we've known each other since childhood, regardless of that I still plan to stick to my work 8 years later.
I told him I was in the process of selling the house, he asked me if I had any offers and told him yeah but from a few landlords. I didn't think that needed further explanation because he knows full well how I feel about landlords buying up starter homes in lower income areas, and how strongly I felt about turning this house into a home for myself and the next occupants.
He's absolutely furious at me for not going for a quick sale because he wants his measly 5k back now. I told him no way, and tried to remind him of all the offers we made on starter homes that just got swept up by landlords. It was devastating and we almost lost all hope of getting on the property ladder. None of them wanted this one because it needed so much work.
He's blowing my phone up, and told my parents who are more gently telling me to just go for the easy sale but I'm in no rush to move and want all my hard work to go to a family instead of someone's business. AITA?
Note: giving him the 5K specifically from the sale has been discussed over messages many times in the past. If I just give him 5k now, he could still say I owe him from the sale of the house. Getting him out was a nightmare as he can be pretty nasty. Most of the time he's fine but he suddenly switches and "goes to war" with people.
Here's what people had to say to OP:
only_child_by_choice said:
NTA. If you promised him 5K “from the sale of the house“ and it’s in writing…then you obviously owe him that money. However, pay him early and have them sign a contract that he can’t come after you.
Talk to a lawyer about it, pull up a generic contract, and have witnesses with him, signing it, get it notarized, whatever you have to do in your state. And then block contact with him.
fargo-utah said:
NTA. Never sell to a landlord and especially not to an agency that wants to rent it out at a high markup.
Rev_Dean said:
NTA!! And thank you for sticking to your guns! When my wife and I got our first house, it was between us and someone that wanted to turn the house into a two-unit rental.
The seller took slightly less to accept our offer, specifically because they wanted the house to go to a young family that would treat it like a home, not someone that would treat it strictly as an investment. The world needs more people like you, OP.
superstition40 said:
NTA and I respect that you don't want to sell to a landlord. However, I'm not sure how you can tell which buyers are landlords and which are deserving families.
Squirrels-love-me said:
NTA-way to stand up because you have morals!! That matters!
One-Writer-4376 said:
NTA - I've given up on my dream of home ownership but thank you! Thank you for thinking about those who are starting out in life. Maybe my children will be able to do so if more people stood for something other than money. Block your ex and tell your parents to block him too. He's clearly broke and is in desperate need of cash. When the sale is complete, send him his money.