Or rather the lack of one?
My parents have been renting for many years due to financial difficulties in the past. They want their own place again, so cashed in my father’s pension plan. They put in an offer on a place, but it fell through because they needed a top-up loan and couldn’t get it. This was over 18 months ago. Since then they’ve offered on one other place and were outbid - otherwise, nothing.
The area they live in now (which they like) was potentially affordable three years ago, but not now. The same goes for the area my brother lives (my mother’s other top choice). My father, who is generally more realistic, has managed to get her to compromise on a cheaper nearby area and I thought they were finally getting somewhere.
However, I can’t remember the last time they physically viewed a property. My mum finds something wrong with every one they see online - ‘It needs a lot of work’; ‘the kitchen’s VERY small’; ‘it’s not a very nice view from the back’. I get that they probably won’t move again in their lifetime, but they simply can’t afford somewhere in perfect condition and exactly where they want it. My dad was getting hugely frustrated, but even he seems to have given up now and is saying ‘maybe we should just wait a bit’. Just waiting a bit is pricing them out of the areas they want even further. Meanwhile they’re paying out significant rent every month and have no income from the pension scheme.
If they were happy to rent, I wouldn’t interfere. But this was THEIR choice. And they’re not happy. My dad wants to retire, but can’t while there’s still rent to pay. The past two Christmases it’s been ‘Hopefully we’ll be in our own place for next Christmas’. I can just hear my mum wistfully saying ‘Who’d have thought we’d still be here for another Christmas?’ come December - but I don’t think they’ve even looked at anywhere this year.
It feels odd to talk about giving my own parents a ‘talking to’, but I’m worried for them. They wouldn’t think twice about talking to me if I was dragging my feet like this - when I bought my first house I couldn’t go a day without my dad asking if I’d spoken to the estate agent, had I chased my solicitor etc. If they can give out advice, shouldn’t they be able to hear it?
What would you do?