Sharing the Purchase of a Vacation Home

Communication Smackdown

Typically in a group that's looking to buy something, there are one or two people who serve as the troop leaders, doing most of the groundwork and letting everyone else in the group know what's happening.

With everybody on IM or BlackBerries, there's no excuse for everyone not to know about a meeting with a realtor or news about whether the loan was approved.

When the principals are hard to reach and money is involved, you get worried, even if they are your brother and sister.

Legalize Your Efforts

No matter how close your group is, if you're not setting up an entity to purchase the property you're setting yourself up for trouble.

"Creating an LLC or a trust protects everyone involved, and it can be written so that when one person wants out, the entity stays intact," says Steve Diaz, a San Diego-based attorney.

An entity will also help protect everyone's privacy, since it's listed on the title rather than everyone's names. But make sure the home insurance is in the trust's or LLC's name or it could affect coverage in a property loss. Part of the paperwork should specify how maintenance costs are divided and how improvements on the property should be decided.

Share Time

The best-run partnerships are those that are well-planned. If couple A gets the place on July 4th, Labor Day and Christmas, while families B, C and D have to make do with Flag Day and Halloween, there are going to be bad feelings even if everyone agreed to roll dice to see who got the choice vacation times.