Buying a Ski House with Friends

[Thurston]

New member here, hi all!

My wife and I are seriously considering buying a ski house with close friends. We've been renting for week at a time with them for the past few years, and have similar interests, financial situations, etc.

I'm curious if anyone on here has bought a seasonal or year round ski house, specifically with another party, how it worked out and what pitfalls to watch out for.

 

[thebigo]

Wait a year for prices to collapse and you will be able to afford it on your own.

 

[NYDB]

Sound like a good way to become ex friends. Off the top of my head the following could be pitfalls.

Job loss, divorce, marriage, kids, renting to others, splitting weekends, elective maintenance costs, major improvements, remodeling, sickness, selling, buying other members out, uneven usage.....

I could probably come up with 50 more if I really thought about it

 

[KustyTheKlown]

for real. buying real estate with anyone other than my significant other sounds like a mess of trouble i want nothing to do with.

 

[ThatGuy]

I don’t think buying real estate with four different people is a good idea. If anything buy for yourself and rent out the other half to your friend.

 

[NYDB]

Wait a year for prices to collapse and you will be able to afford it on your own.

I don't think the prices will 'collapse' but maybe they will level off and come down 10-15%? So much of what is being purchased is all cash. If the homeowners aren't leveraged prices will remain sticky even if the market drops out and there is no demand. Just an opinion of course

It's not so much the prices that would have me wary of buying right now, although that is certainly part of it. It's that there seems to still be a lot of fomo buying going on. Houses being sold the day they are listed, paying over asking, no inspections ,etc. And there is very little inventory. It's just way too much of a sellers market.

 

[icecoast1]

Have you thought about doing a seasonal rental together and seeing how that works out? Buying a house with friends is a recipe for huge disaster, I wouldn't go anywhere near that.

 

[thebigo]

This guy is amazing, been around one day and found the first topic in the history of AZ we all agree on.

 

[2Planker]

Definitely a BAD idea if they are GOOD friends....
How's their Credit Score ? Are you willing to pay for them not paying their 1/2 ??

They may be good people, BUT handling $$$ the same way is what is unlikely.

 

[Thurston]

This guy is amazing, been around one day and found the first topic in the history of AZ we all agree on.

Thanks for the opinions and thoughts.

I get the concern with going in on a house or any major purchase/business with a friend and it is definitely something I'd be concerned with too.

I understand the market is priced high, but that aside, I'd love to hear from anyone who's actually done this. I can't be the only one who's considered buying a vacation place with family or close friends.

 

[Thurston]

Definitely a BAD idea if they are GOOD friends....
How's their Credit Score ? Are you willing to pay for them not paying their 1/2 ??

They may be good people, BUT handling $$$ the same way is what is unlikely.

They're financially sound. This is something we can both afford to do.

 

[Thurston]

Sound like a good way to become ex friends. Off the top of my head the following could be pitfalls.

Job loss, divorce, marriage, kids, renting to others, splitting weekends, elective maintenance costs, major improvements, remodeling, sickness, selling, buying other members out, uneven usage.....

I could probably come up with 50 more if I really thought about it

That's a good list. I'd think we'd need to agree on how to address all those ahead of time in case they come up and that's why I'm looking for someone who's done it before.

 

[ss20]

I have "good friends" who's eyes I want to gouge out after sharing a house and being on vacation with them for a week... couldn't imagine buying a house together lol.

 

[cdskier]

I have "good friends" who's eyes I want to gouge out after sharing a house and being on vacation with them for a week... couldn't imagine buying a house together lol.

Hah...same here!

I can't see myself ever wanting to buy a vacation house together with someone else. There's just too many things that could go wrong.

 

[urungus]

Do not do this, it is guaranteed to ruin your friendship

 

[RichT]

You don't buy anything with, have work done by or do work for friends, unless of course, you don't mind NOT being friends anymore! Not to mention this goes for family also!

 

[skiur]

Sounds like a bad idea, is it worth losing a good friend over? I do think the idea of one of you buying the house and renting a room to the other could work well.

 

[p_levert]

I believe that there are some former posters who purchased a ski house with friends. But these people don't post any more for one of 3 reasons: (1) they lost all their money in legal battles with the co-owners or (2) rather than sue, they simply killed one or more co-owners, now they're doing hard time in the pen or (3) they suffered a severe mental breakdown, lost their money and now live in a group home, so no more skiing.

Thurston, pick your poison. Or better yet, don't do it

 

[deadheadskier]

Just a thought, but perhaps go in on a duplex together. That way you have the benefits of personal space, but also a larger property that you can trade off vacation time with if your family needs more guest space.

I could never share the same house full-time with anyone but my immediate family.

 

[Thurston]

Man, didn't think I'd get so many HELL NO responses! Really thought this would be more common than it is for a vacation rental.