Shared Vacation Ownership

Many of my clients have expressed an interest in owning vacation property at Lake Tahoe but are discouraged by high prices.

One option most people haven't considered is shared ownership. Think about it. If you could find one to three other people with similar goals and interests, you could band together, mulitiply your buying power and end up owning a piece of a significantly more valuable property than you could have purchased on your own.

Buy More, Pay Less

Let's say you have $400,000 to spend. That basically gets you a crummy little fixer condo in Incline Village. But if you teamed up with three other people who had the same amount to spend, you could jointly buy a $1.2 million condo right on the Lake.

The average person only spends 17-20 days a year in their own vacation property. So why carry all the costs yourself the rest of the year when you can share with other people?

Consider the Advantages

• The dramatic rise in the cost of vacation homes over the past few years has made single-family ownership of a vacation home basically unaffordable.
• The rising carrying costs and expenses of maintaining a vacation home that is only used a few weeks a year is impractical.
• Shared ownership makes it possible to purchase a fully managed luxury home and share the expense burden with co-owners.
• You will realize the benefits of appreciation over the years along with your co-owners.
• You are generally free to sell your share any time you want.
• Shared ownership through tenancy in common (TIC) can be an affordable housing opportunity by enabling the purchase of a small cottage in a complex or a part of a duplex or triplex that otherwise would be unaffordable if the property was purchased as a whole.
• TIC properties may be purchased through a 1031 exchange.
• Purchasing a TIC interest in a vacation property at Tahoe will probably be a good long-term investment that will also bring years of enjoyment as a vacation property to share with family and friends.