Rationale for Co-ownership
Many more retirees would be able to afford a
vacation home if they are willing to consider shared ownership. This is
in essence a variation of timeshare or REIT. The difference is that
while your investment is higher initially you have control over choice
of property as well as who the co-owners are.
Diversification of assets is the name of the
game. My husband and I would love to co-own a vacation property without over-leveraging ourselves. We are particularly interested in
folks who are interested in properties in Alberta, Canada. We have visited Alberta repeatedly and would love to co-own a house there.
Desired Preferences We presently have no particular property in mind. We are open to negotiation depending on who are the interested parties. We would prefer a triple-share or quad-share. Property would probably be in the range of C$300K. Co-owners should be able to pay up at least 30% of their share as a down payment to keep financing costs low. Co-owners will annually put up mutually agreed amount in escrow for property taxes, insurance and maintenance regardless of whether or not they lived in the property. | Key Requirements The key to this arrangement is that the co-owned property is to be considered as a secondary vacation home and NOT a primary home by the co-owners. Co-owners must sign an agreement designating the bedroom to which they are entitled. The master bedroom co-owner would be expected to pay a one-time premium agreed to by the other co-owners. |