Should you co-own a home with your friends?

There isn’t a formula for deciding whether or not you should invest in home with a friend or family member, but you should be aware of pros and cons before you start the process. As with any relationship, they require work, trust, and communication.

Before you start talking with someone about places, prices, and numbers, you should invest your initial energy in asking yourself and your partner(s) some hard questions. We compiled what we think are some of the most important things you should consider before buying a property with anyone.

Benefits:

• More affordable down payment.
• Access to wider market of property.
• Split up the work and management.
• Bigger network of people you can potentially tap into (contractors, plumbers, designers, etc.)
• Split the costs of maintenance.

Questions you should ask yourself:

1. Can I communicate openly and honestly with this person?
2. Is this someone I respect?
3. Does this person respect you?
4. Does this person surround themself with good people? Who are the people they have in their life?
5. Name qualities that make this person responsible.

Awareness of potential scenarios:

List out scenarios both good and bad that can realistically happen in your partnership. Have you considered what will happen if your partner gets hurt and is in the hospital for an extended amount of time? What if you or your partner moves out of the country for work? What if the real estate market crashes?

Write down these scenarios and spend some time answering them with your partner(s). It will level set expectations and give you a guiding foundation to work from if these scenarios do occur.

Honestly, take an hour or so to actually write down your thoughts, concerns, and expectations. As cliche as it sounds, writing things down truly helps you get a better perspective and a more accurate picture of what you are considering.

Set yourself up for success from the very beginning.

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Nestment, Inc. does not guarantee and is in no way responsible for the accuracy of information provided in this blog post. All information is provided “AS IS” and with all faults. Data presented here may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.  While the information on this site is about legal and tax issues, it is not intended as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for the particularized advice of your own attorney and tax professional.