It is difficult enough to find true love and now real estate too - Do Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures?
So, you are at a local coffee shop or on e-harmony (really any place you go looking for Mr./Mrs. Right) in the hopes you will meet that perfect someone. A glance and sweet smile, a perfect profile picture or maybe their occupation gets your attention. Now it doesn’t take long before your mind fast forwards to getting married, having babies and buying that perfect home.
So, far they are really good on paper and also a complete stranger.
In a world full of skeptics where fairytale ending of ‘happily ever after’ are rare, homeownership does not have to be.
A start-up in London has created a “match-making site” for people to find each other to buy homes together. This brave new site, www.PropertyBuyersMatch.co.uk gets members to create an online profile outlining their property and personal preferences and what they’re looking for in a co-buying partner. Yes, co-buying partners!!
Here, the words ‘Honey, I found the perfect home’ could be the 21st century version of a perfect love story.
But what if its anything less than happily ever after? Here are some things to consider and keep in mind before you say “I do….wanna buy a home with you… “
You need to outline your exit strategy and have an talk about the financial burdens of the costs, any repairs, updating, utilities, everything. This would be the only relationship that should require a credit check and to get a legal document drawn up by a lawyer who can address all the what-if’s to protect you and your investment.
1)what if one wants to sell before the other?
2)what if one party wants to move out or move in (depends on if you are buying as an investment or to live in)?
3)what if one person dies?
4)what if one gets married?
5)what if the new partnership goes sour?
6)what if the market goes sour?
We all just start of as strangers anyways and for the love of real estate, It’s like taking your legal vows in sickness and in health till death do you part, or at least until the check clears.
- shali-