Structure Co-ownership Section Overview
“Simple is better than complex.”
-Tim Peters
Welcome to the fourth stage in the co-buying process: Structure Your Co-ownership.
Description
In the US, homeownership is designed for married couple households. Unlike married couples, co-owners do not benefit from the rights and protections built into the system to support property ownership.
This means friends, relatives, and unmarried couples who choose to co-own property must explicitly define a structure for their co-ownership arrangement.
Why It’s Important
Knowing how to structure your co-ownership is vital: it lays the foundation for distributing ownership rights, responsibilities, and benefits among co-owners. This structure defines and governs your claim to the home as a physical and financial asset.
What You’ll Learn
Structuring co-ownership starts with two decisions.
- Decide how to take and hold Title to the home
- Agree on how to split ownership interests between co-owners
These factors are related.
You will learn the significance of these decision points, how to assess your options, and how to take action.
Outcomes
By the end of this section, you will:
✅ Develop an informed view about which method of holding Title is appropriate for you
✅ Understand what influences how to split ownership interest
✅ Be ready to engage your co-buyer(s) and quickly build consensus on co-ownership structure
✅ Have the necessary context to formalize your decisions
The knowledge you gain and your decisions will directly impact your return on investment in the near term, over the entire co-ownership lifecycle, and beyond.
Matt Holmes (LinkedIn) is co-founder and CEO of CoBuy, formed in 2016 to unlock homeownership for everyone. Before hopping a flight to Seattle to start CoBuy with his mother, Matt worked in investment banking and financial markets in London for a decade. He holds degrees from University College London (BSc Economics) and ESCP Business School (Masters, London & Turin).
Pam Hughes (LinkedIn) is Co-founder and COO at CoBuy. She has over 40 years of experience across finance, real estate, insurance, and construction. Pam has committed to personal empowerment through financial education for decades, which inspired her to start CoBuy with her son in 2016. She's best friends with a small dog known as Francis.