<prompt> Human: Throwaway because of slightly sensitive information.I know the rules say that this is not the place for discussing any kind of relationship, so Im going to try to keep this as financial as possible. Obviously theres a part to this question that belongs on rrelationships, but I can ask that there, and I hope the PF mods will permit this.I am a mid-20s something person, a couple years out from college working in STEM. I have no college debt , it having been paid off due to an inheritance I received in my senior year. Due to the nature of the inheritance I have 5 years to withdraw 180k from an inherited IRA, so Ive planned to take it out gradually so as to lessen the tax burden. I have withdrawn about half of it already and invested that amount in index funds, and have left the rest in cash, thinking I might use it for a down paymentlater investmentsgrad school in the near future. I currently make about 32k a year. I have a 10 month emergency fund saved, budget well, and am financially independent. I am not certain if I will go to grad school in my STEM field in the next two years, but I think I will. Right now, I live in a house with two roommates and my boyfriend, and weve all lived together for about three years now. Its worked out very well and we all wish it could continue, but some unfortunate circumstances have befallen one of my roommates Well call him Derek. Dereks brother has a terminal illness and three preteen-to-early-teens kids, and has recently been given about 8 months to live. Dereks brother and kids have already lived in relative poverty for quite a while, as he has been battling his illness for many years and cannot work. Mom is an addict and is not in the picture, having been denied custody for at least another 3 years. Because Dereks parents are quite aged, Derek has agreed to take custody of the kids once his brother dies as a foster parent. Derek is absolutely woefully unprepared to take care of these kids - hes also a twenty something who spends most of his time gaming and honestly can only just barely take care of himself. Additionally, he is still in college, or was - his college abruptly shut down two weeks ago, when he only had a semester left. Hes currently working part time at a job that definitely cannot support these kids financially, so in all likelihood he and the kids will have to rely heavily on welfare, foster subsidies, and whatever additional financial help that Dereks parents can provide which they will definitely do. So in short, hes probably not getting a college degree, plus he will have to take on these kids. It seems like his life is pretty much destroyed and hes not remotely prepared to take on this monumental task, and could use all the help he can get.Before I learned of all this, I had been considering buying a house- I have the liquid assets for a down payment available, and plan on living in my current location for at least the next 5-6 years. If I go to grad school Id like to stay where I am for school, although I know you cant predict the future with those things. It has occurred to me, that the one way I could really help Derek would to be to buy a property in my city and rent to him, so he and his kids could live in a low-rent house owned by a stable landlord. I know I would need to take landlord classes and calculate how low a rent I could afford including maintenance and the mortgage, but the point is that hypothetically, I could help him by this. I was thinking maybe a duplex, then I could live next door with my boyfriend and keep an close eye on the propertykidsDerek.I have a lot of questions about the feasibility of this idea obviously. First, is it wise to purchase a house with the intent to rent to friends, even if youre certain those friends will stay in one place for a longer period of time?Second, there has recently been a significant 25 property tax increase in my area, which I imagine will affect this decision. Given my income and assets, would I be able to afford a property that had relatively high property tax?Third, can I even afford to buy a house if my income is still so relatively low 32k? I live in a Midwest city with a moderate cost of living, and could probably buy a duplex in an okay neighborhood for about 300k. Single family houses could be as little as 150--200k. While I already have the funds for a down payment, Im aware that if I suddenly lost Derek as a tenant, it may cause significant financial problems for me personally.Fourth, will buying a house make that years tax bill too unwieldly large for the year I buy the house in? The inheritance I received is already untaxed, and each year I take out funds, I pay a significant amount of tax on that money it counts as income for me. Would doing this screw me over, tax-wise? Im especially keeping in mind my relatively low salary here.And lastly, and perhaps this is too bigtoo personal a question for PF - should I even be considering doing this in the first place? Is this a good, or terrible idea?Ive thought about this a lot, and I know there are dozens of potential outcomes, ramifications, and costs associated with this idea. Part of me just feels like I am intrinsically ethically obliged to help out my friend - it feels wrong to do nothing to help his situation, given that I have the money and could help with it. From a selfish perspective, part of me sees this as a potentially a good investment, and I had already been mulling over the idea of buying a house in the near future.At the same time, I recognize that Dereks whole situation is absolutely terrible and ripe for instability. While I know and trust him to pay rent on time and be responsible, I know that factors outside of his control could affect his ability to pay rent - I understand how the tendrils of poverty affect peoples lives. Im aware that this is a tragic and unstable situation, and getting financially involved in this in any way is a complicated and potentially deleterious decision.Any input would be appreciated - I guess more than anything, I want to know if Im actually in a good financial position to do this.  <response>: You make 32k a year and cant afford to be subsidizing anyones housing. 