Jive Weasel

Archive for November, 2009

With many things in life, there is strength in numbers. You may be able to get more home for your money and may need to come up with less up-front cash if you find partners for a multi-unit real estate purchase. For example, you could find one or two other partners and go in together to purchase a duplex or triplex.

Getting involved in the real estate version of Siamese twins or triplets is not without risk, however. Before you go into a partnership to buy a building, be sure to consider all the “what ifs.” (What if one of you wants out after a year? What if one of you fails to pay the pro-rata share of expenses? What if one of you wants to remodel and the other doesn’t? And so forth.) Have a lawyer prepare a partnership agreement that explicitly delineates how issues like these will be dealt with. Otherwise, you could face some major disagreements down the road, even if you go in together with friends or people you think you know well.