Sharing the Purchase of a Vacation Home

Sharing a vacation home seems like such a naturally great idea.

You and a few college buddies or a cousin, sibling or two decide to pool your resources and purchase a ski condo in Park City, a beach cottage in North Carolina or maybe a nice piece of land near a lake in Wisconsin with the thought that in a few years, you can put up a vacation house there.

But purchasing real estate with people you like and/or love can create the kind of problems that end those valued relationships. Dreams of good times, shared vacations and watching everyone's kids grow up together can be replaced with broken furniture, angry calls about "holiday hogging" and even process servers delivering those headache-inducing lawsuits.

So how can you buy property with others and end up not hating each other? Here are a few tips on how to take advantage of the real estate market with friends and end up staying friends.

No Secrets

You and your potential partners may be close, but do you talk about what's happening in your lives financially? Have you seen your sister's credit report? Buying a vacation house together is not unlike going into business together.

If you're successful now, but embarrassed to tell everyone involved about a judgment levied against you years ago when you couldn't pay off a credit card, you had better come up with an explanation or decide not to be part of the group. Otherwise, your past might torpedo the attempt to get financing.