Dear Urban Diplomat: How can I stop my husband’s parents from moving in next door?
A couple of years ago, my husband and I bought a pre-construction condo. His parents thought we got a great deal, so they purchased the unit next door as an investment. Except now, just two months before we’re scheduled to move in, they say they want to sell their home in the burbs and live in their condo. As far as in-laws go, they’re great, but neither my partner nor I want them that close. How do we stop them?
—Parent Trap, Liberty Village
As soon as they snatched the neighbouring unit, you should have seen the writing on the (adjoining) wall: where better for an aging couple to downsize than a place they already own within shout-for-help distance of family? Your only real course of action—unless you want to risk a permanent rift with your in-laws—is to embrace it. Move your bed as far from their unit as possible so you don’t have to wonder whether they can hear you having sex (or, worse, hear them) and focus on the upside: a free, built-in babysitter if and when you have kids, and freedom from parental nagging about never visiting. It’s either that or start combing the listings again.
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