In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks Chris, that was very informative.
I was offered a situation where I didn't know the other two parties and although they were friendly they were already friends, and I was the 'outsider'. My intuition told me they needed a cash injection only (times are hard with the Euro at the moment, aren't they!). I pointed out I would need legal docs and although the right noises were made at the time I got the impression neither really wanted to go down that route. The 'were easy going' part did concern me greatly and coupled with the fact my partner felt the property wasn't right for our needs.
Maybe we would have all got on fine, I am easy going too, but you cannot predict the future and like you say, problems with wanting the same weeks and what happens with death etc.
It is a real pity as financially it offered me a leg up into a property in a nice area. Wrong property though and wrong set up.
I would consider it in the future if everyone started from a level playing field with the correct legal docs in place and the right property. It's great for only paying partial bills too.
Of course, if I win the lottery then I will buy outright. Dream on!
Thanks again for your reply.
Mrs T.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
You took a wise decision Mrs T as it is very difficult for this type of arrangements to work out the same for all the owners. Keep on buying lottery tickets! Best wishes,
My parents had a 50:50 share of a villa in Spain with friends and some friends also had a 50:50 with another couple. In each case the friendships suffered as a result (in one case almost ending up in litigation!) The advantage of a formal fractional ownership arrangement is that it is a business agreement with terms etc set out but as with all forms of ownership (other than 100%) issues arise if you want / need to sell - what is the value of a share? will anyone buy it, can couple A force couple B to sell? etc Other issues arise with fractional ownership in who gets which weeks/months - everyone wants August/Easter etc - not much call for November. If you rotate it then if you get August this year you have to wait 11 years to get August again (assuming a twelfth) even with 1/4 you only get the good weeks once every 4 years (although you can split it so that everyone gets some good weeks each year).
If you are looking to set an arrangement up you need to take specialist legal advice (including how the ownership is structured - is a company which everyone has shares in which owns the property, or do you own it collectively, what are the arrangements for running costs, can ownership be passed on (eg on death, divorce etc) etc). If you are looking at buying into an existing scheme then you need to also consider these questions.
Not sure if this helps.
Chris