Align on Co-ownership Basics

The final layer of consensus-building at this stage involves hashing out the basics of your co-ownership arrangement. Some groups choose to discuss these issues in greater detail early on. Others defer granular discussions until later in the process.

➡️ Motivations & Goals

Discuss the driving forces behind each individual's desire to co-buy. Are you looking for a financial investment, fulfilling a lifelong dream, or perhaps solving a logistical need like caring for an elderly family member? Understanding these motivations will guide many other decisions.

➡️ Timing

Agree on a timeline for key milestones, such as when you hope to close on a purchase and how long you expect to co-own the property. You don't have to have a firm timeline for the latter, but you do want to make sure you're not on entirely separate wavelengths, as widely differing views can lead to conflict down the line.

➡️ Financing

Clarify how you'll finance the property. Will you take out a mortgage? Is everyone on board?

➡️ Expense Sharing

Agree on how ongoing expenses like mortgage payments, utilities, and maintenance will be divided. Will it be an equal split, or based on usage or ownership percentage?

➡️ Policies

Decide if there are any imperative ground rules for how the property will be used and maintained. You can work out some details later, but you don't want to be diametrically opposed.

➡️ Usage

Assess whether any parties have firm convictions or requirements around how the property's space and time are split among co-owners. If anyone requires rights to a specific space or time slot, discuss before moving forward.

➡️ Roles, Rights, Responsibilities

Define the roles each co-owner will play, from decision-making to property maintenance, and outline the rights and responsibilities of those roles.

➡️ Ownership Structure and Breakdown

Determine the legal structure of your co-ownership. Will it be a joint tenancy, a tenancy in common, or some other arrangement? Also, decide on the percentage of ownership each co-owner will hold.

➡️ Risk Handling

While we delve deeper into this in a later section, it's essential to have an initial understanding of how you'll collectively manage risks, from property damage to unexpected financial hardships.

As you consider and discuss these decision points, we recommend you explicitly talk through the following questions face-to-face with your co-buyer(s):‍

What are our expectations?

What are our priorities?

What would be a deal-breaker?‍

As individuals, we value and prioritize things differently. Friends, family, and loved ones sometimes make assumptions about one another's preferences or tolerance levels based on the strength of the relationship. But it's impossible to have a complete view of where anyone else's head is, particularly in complex situations. In multi-party asset purchases and multi-party asset management, uncertainty is bad. Frank, open discussions help to establish clarity, reduce tension, and remove doubt. At CoBuy, we've encouraged the groups we've worked with to have these conversations early and often. They consistently tell us afterward that they're glad they did.

☝️ Heads Up

We drill down into setting the terms of co-ownership and formalizing through creating a Co-ownership Agreement later in this course.

With our new app for co-owners, it's easy to co-create agreements, digitally sign, and make changes from anywhere, anytime.

All course participants are eligible for a 25% discount off Co-ownerOS™.