Is Sharing Caring? Buying A Vacation Property With Friends Or Family
Posted on: 20 June 2017
Buying a vacation home is a nice way to ensure your family always has somewhere to go for a break, but it can be expensive -- and the house can sit empty for months at a time, leading to potential maintenance and security issues. One solution is to grab a bunch of friends or family who are all interested in buying and then chipping in to buy one place for everyone. This can work in many cases but can also be a can of worms in others.
Avoid Time Shares
First, what's being suggested here is not a time-share. You're not buying certain weeks in the year at a resort, and there are no weird fees. You're just presenting a pool of money that allows a certain group of people to all use the same house. So while it sounds similar, it's much less corporate and does not include any high-pressure tactics or restricted housing lists.
Coordination Is a Must
If lots of people are buying in, coordinating schedules is a must, especially if the rooms are limited. One solution is to buy a big place that could accommodate everyone at the same time, but that's really pricey. If you want to save money, buying a smaller place and drawing up a contract regarding how to reserve the space is another option.
Sharing the Burden
Given how housing costs have been rising in desirable areas for the past few years, splitting the cost of a vacation home with friends or family can really help remove a burden. All of you can put that saved money toward retirement or into a general fund for repairs.
What Happens if One Wants to Sell?
If you do buy with others, that contract should cover not only sharing, but also what to do if someone wants out. If three families own the home and one wants to sell, does that family have to find an outside person to buy in, or do the other two families pay off the family that wants to leave (in effect buying that share in the house from them) and then find someone else?
If you and a few other people have been tossing co-owning around for a while, talk to a real estate agent if you want to buy vacation homes. The more information you have now, the more smoothly your sale and then use of the house should go.
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