Dear Brooke,

I have a very close friend who is in a tough situation–she is a single mom with 2 kids who receives no child support from her ex. She has been renting a house well under market value in our very expensive area for many years but that home is being sold and she must leave. My husband and I have money we’ve been wanting to invest in real estate and are looking at homes to buy in our area and would allow her to rent it but we are both very concerned about this affecting our friendship. I remember Brooke talking about hiring a good friend in the past (maybe in a podcast?) and making an agreement that either party could leave the agreement at any time but would stay committed to loving each other no matter what. Brooke, can you give me some tips on how we might want to approach this arrangement with my friend? Obviously, we would have her sign an annual lease but I am particularly interested in the verbal agreements you made and the mindset you took. I think it would be very easy for me because of my SCS experience to not take anything she does in the future personally. Also, if she were to decide to move or find another place to live, we would likely be able to rent the house for a much larger fee since we would be renting to her well below what the few rentals in our area are going for currently. Any advice/tips would be SO appreciated! 😄