Month: March 2024

When thinking of a second home, most people probably think about purchasing a property with only their name (or together with a spouse) on the title and the mortgage. However, there is also the option of partial ownership, where multiple people own the second home together.

Owners can be siblings, parents and their children, other family members, friends, business partners and even people who have no relationship with each other except as co-owners.

Such arrangements frequently occur when individuals cannot afford a second home independently. Yet, even though a co-ownership situation might allow you to buy a second home, these deals tend to be more complicated than full ownership.

Forms of Partial Ownership

There are three main ways in which partial second home ownership can be managed.

• Joint Tenancy
• Tenancy in Common
• Fractional Ownership

Joint Tenancy

In joint tenancy, ownership shares are divided equally regardless of the amount each owner has invested. This means owners are equally entitled to enjoy the property’s benefits and responsibilities, such as mortgage payments and property taxes. Yet, if one owner fails to fulfill the contractual obligations, the other owners must pitch in to fill the gap.

Other characteristics of joint tenancy are:

• Shares cannot be inherited upon death but are instead divided equally among the other owners.
• An owner can sell their share without approval from the others.
• All owners must agree if the overall property is to be sold.

Tenancy in Common

In this arrangement, the amount each owner pays determines the proportion of the property each owns. Therefore, when the home is sold (which requires all owners to agree), proceeds are divided based on each owner’s ownership percentage. Nevertheless, each owner has full rights to use the property.

Also, unlike joint tenancy, tenancy in common shares can be inherited, and all owners must approve any share sales.                            

Fractional Ownership

Fractional ownership (FO) is a newer type of partial ownership. While the term is sometimes used to describe conventional multi-owner arrangements, organizations like Pacaso and SecondShare have popularized the concept.

These companies buy real estate and then resell shares in the properties. Buying one or more shares entitles the purchaser to a percentage of the ownership, which results in the right to use the property each year for a time equal to that percentage. For example, owning one-fourth of the property gives the owner the right to stay for 90 days per year.

Many people confuse fractional ownership with timeshares. Buying a timeshare only entitles the purchaser to stay at the property at a predefined time each year. In contrast, an FO property is collectively owned by its shareholders, and the shares can be bought and sold as a real estate asset.

Partial Ownership Pros and Cons

The advantages of partial ownership are:

Affordability

Multiple owners can purchase a bigger and better property. In addition, maintenance and other ongoing costs are shared.

Owning an Asset

Both partial and full owners have title to an asset that can be bought and sold.

Efficiency

Full second home ownership means that the property is either vacant or rented out when the owner is not there. Partial ownership can be managed to minimize the time the property is unused.

Disadvantages are:

Second Home Sharing

Partial owners give up some autonomy. For example, they cannot stay in the property whenever they please. They also need to compromise with the other owners in decision-making about the property for such things as interior and exterior maintenance.

Legal Complexities

Partial ownership contracts can be complicated. Owners must hire an attorney experienced in this type of ownership to handle the paperwork.

Mortgage Hassles

Although many lenders finance multiple ownership arrangements, such mortgages are more involved than those for individual borrowers.

Management

Multi-owner second home property management can be problematic since owners must coordinate everything from finances to rules governing the use of the second home. The cost of hiring a property management company with experience in multi-owner properties is usually money well spent.

Time Allocation

Scheduling the time each owner wants to spend on the property can be onerous. Therefore, owners benefit from agreeing on scheduling rules from the beginning. Software is also available to help manage this task.

Partial ownership can be a way to afford a more upscale second home. Knowing the pros and cons of such arrangements can help buyers decide if it’s the right choice.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you looking for a second home arrangement? Have you decided to buy or rent? Would you consider a partial ownership for a second home?

A friend, your spouse or a co-worker, compliments you. “That’s nice,” you think. By the next hour, day or week you’ve forgotten about it. A friend, your spouse or a co-worker criticizes something about you. “Ouch,” you think. And for the next hour, day, week or even months, you ruminate over it, dwell on it, imagine what else they might find objectionable about you, and generally obsess.

Our Negativity Bias

You’ve fallen victim to the negativity bias – a very understandable tendency we have to focus on negative comments and events far more than we do on positive ones. It’s part of how we ensure our survival. After all, if we don’t seek to avoid or prevent bad things from happening to us, our survival is indeed threatened. That’s fine and normal, except for when it interferes with our ability to enjoy happy and successful lives (which is most of the time).

I Can Versus I Can’t

We tell ourselves “I can’t” as in “I can’t have that, be that, or do that. I’m too old, too weak, too poor, too fat, too thin, too dumb, too untalented, too klutzy…” The list is long. We find umpteen reasons why we can’t be/do/have something when all it would take is a shift from “I can’t” to “I can” to help us line up umpteen reasons why we can.

Take Pat Conner, for example. At 91, she is officially the oldest active player in the “Granny Basketball League.” This is wonderful, indeed, yet Pat, who loved and played basketball all her life, found herself at 84 not only unable to play the sport, but not even able to get herself out of bed. She was unable to un-curl her hands from their claw-like position or lift her arms above her shoulders. Pat could have stopped right there, with a loud “I can’t!” and foresworn basketball forever.

“I can’t,” however, is not in Pat’s nature. With her husband’s help and support, Pat found a physician who diagnosed her condition as osteoarthritis, and with “I can” as her mantra, she was restored to health and activity with appropriate medication and physical therapy. Her fierce desire to return to basketball fueled her “I can” which led to her being able, just a short time later, to run and dribble and shoot baskets.

Now, at 91, Pat has a wonderful time playing in a league that boasts 450 players and 42 teams across 10 states. Only individuals 50 and older are eligible. Pat often plays alongside her 64-year-old daughter, Debbie, and sometimes her 59-year-old daughter, Becky. Pat intends to be on the court, dribbling and shooting, at 100.

You Can Embrace the “I Can” Mindset

You may read this and think “How lovely for her,” and hit delete. That would be a mistake. Pat is no Wonder Woman. She’s just a shining example of what a simple shift of focus can accomplish. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 6, 60 or 106, abled or differently abled, when you start to look at life through the lens of “I can,” everything changes.

You begin to see possibilities and different ways of going about what you long for. This world is so vast, so rich in opportunities, most unimagined but a decade ago, that there is always a way to achieve, in some form, that which you desire. It may not take the exact form you envisioned; it often doesn’t. But one way or another, with “I can” as your mantra, you can still accomplish your heart’s desire.

Use the negativity bias as intended: a survival tool. Yes, get out of the way of a moving car and take those precautions you know to be sensible. But don’t let the negativity bias run your life. Say “I can” far more often than “I can’t” and watch your life get ever happier and happier.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

When do you most find yourself thinking “I can’t”? What example can you give in your life that shows that the “I can” attitude works?

Paige DeSorbo’s Pink Printed Mini Skirt / Summer House Season 8 Episode 6 Fashion

I agree with Craig Conover (and Jesse Solomon), Paige DeSorbo is a pretty girl. And on top of that she has pretty clothes too. Like this pink printed mini skirt she wears going out on tonight’s Summer House. It’s the perfect fun and girly vibe for summer, so don’t be Chicken and not shop something similar from below.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Originally posted at: Paige DeSorbo’s Pink Printed Mini Skirt