I sold a house a few years ago, a duplex to be exact and the unique part about this situation was that two separate couples were the Buyers. They were two young couples, 3 of which are teacher’s and in order to make their down payment go further they pooled their savings together and purchased more property than either one of them would have been able to on their own.
One side of the duplex boasted 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms set-up while the other side had a more modest 2 bedrooms and one bathroom layout. After many discussions it was decided to split the purchase 55/45 based on who would live in each side. As a group we sat down, me as their Realtor, and them as husbands, wives, business partners and first time buyers and did our best to brainstorm every possible scenario that could possibly come up in the future. All the scenarios weren’t pretty to discuss but important to hash out up front before jumping in!
What if…one couple wants to sell and the other doesn’t, one couple separates and the sale of one side is necessary? What if one couple has children and needs a larger space? Heaven forbid someone dies? I mean we really tried to think of everything and there were plenty of other scenarios that we discussed. We took the ideas and potential situations and had an attorney draft a contract that outlined them and all parties signed on the dotted line. Escrow closed and that was the last I heard of it. Now who says people can’t work together and people can’t do business with friends.
Now fast forward a few years. I bet that you, my dear readers are already thinking that things got ugly…well, they didn’t. All are still happy at their property and should they decide to move into different properties, I am here to help!
