I'd take a cold shower and get over it. Seriously, co-ownership by families is fraught with headaches, but with people you don't really know? There are not enough lawyers in the world to assure me that this project could be done.

Just to clarify, the co-owners would not be strangers. They are long-time neighbors we get along with.

Families don't even do these things well. These people are still not family, and unless you know everything about them, they are strangers, so to speak. The liabilities of a pool are enormous. The liabilities of a pool with kids is even worse. And an unoccupied house with a pool is an "attractive nuisance". Check with your insurance agent.

IMO strangers do it better than family. Do you have an HOA ? Perhaps with an attorney you could form one and make it the community pool? I once lived in neighborhood that had a private swim club that was very close to what you are describing with dues and such. I kinda like the idea although I know the legalities are another question.

Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper and easier to just build your own pool? $130k/3 families = $43k per family.

Thanks, freeoscar. Here are some additional thoughts: 1) We would not pay the full asking price or we would wait for the property to go into foreclosure. (She's not getting offers or even viewings now.) 2) Our backyard would not allow a pool because of setbacks and shade, and 3) Eventually we could sell the house, or our individual share, and get some return on the investment.

YES - there are a number of ways to legally structure co-ownership incl. cooperative, condominium, partnership or other business entity. Why not? If you can get a substantial discount and if you go into it as a business venture like you would any other business venture... then why not? That part of it could be workable, but not sure about zoning issues - would you be allowed to do what you want to do with it.

Absolutely not. We renovate and flip properties, mainly at beach. I have near seen a co ownership or partnership situation work when it comes to real estate. One family will always need more, have different motivations, maintain more, etc. We have scooped up these multi owner properties when they fail and sell and they always do. Buy it solo.

No way I would do it. This is not a small community pool clubhouse maintained by a CCR. This is a private residential property someone live in.

Have you ever owned a pool? Do you have any experience in up-keeping of a pool labor and financial wise?

Who will live in the house, and who will take care of the house and the pool?

If one of the owners moves away, or wants to cash out, how would you handle it? If the property value drops, how would you share the loss?

This is not unheard of, if someone drown in the pool, or get hurt on the property, who would take care of the liabilities? if you live in the house, can you handle emotion cost even monetary damages are being covered?

Agree with AZMom....nothing but liability for the owner(s).

One of the reasons we have not just a fence around the entire HOA community I live in (for a little while longer at least) but inner fences that are key access only is because of our pools and the extensive water features that comprise the bulk of our landscape here. The insurance that is required even with all the fences and gates that require keys to open is EXPENSIVE. I also would advise caution before forming a HOA - it's not the sort of thing one should undertake casually or willy nilly. :P

Dont know OP's socio-economic/political mileiu, but there is this thing called co-housing where the members have their private space plus common space is an important part of the setup and typically members share their lives and running of the place more than is typical in the usual condominium - to the point of sharing regular meals several times a week if not daily and the common space much more extensive incl wood working shop, library, studios, gardens, exercise space etc.

Certianly not for everyone - I would personally never live in one .... actually I looked into it once and thought NOOOO THANK YOU. Have NO patience for endless quibbling and meetings!

My point though is that this model does exist, does function, seems to be popular esp. amongst a certain boomer/gen x crowd.... and there is a large body of knowledge (how to set one up. (legal structures, operational aspects, etc.) and advice to be had if you were wanting to go in that direction.

PS - editted to add: I think with the above there is are philosophical and other commonalities and sense of purpose that tie a successful community together.

This situation is "fraught with fraughtness" as a wise woman once told me.

There are a lot of things that make doing what you are talking about less than optimal. Having had partners, even in real estate, a few times before I can tell you that it never quite works out the way you expect it to.

First, I find that my partners never seem to live up to my expectations, nor me to theirs. There is no faster way to spoil a good relationship with someone than giving them some of your stuff to take care of. Or try making a decision or repairing versus replacing components, or try writing a big check for a big ticket item for a house you aren't living in or getting money from.

Next, there is the problem of someone needing their money out. Assume one of the families invested in this home needs money, what mechanism are you going to have to get them out?

You are going to have fun with the liability issue on the property. Multiple owners will give you joint and several liability which means if anyone gets hurt they can sue whoever they want. Not only that, if one of the other owners gets hurt because of any known maintenance issue, then that person could sue the other two to pony up their share of his/her damages.

Then we have insurance, which insurance alone is going to make you pay attention. A communal property with no full time resident and a pool. You will not be eligible for homeowner's insurance as the house isn't anyone's home, so you are going to have to get some kind of commercial insurance that will probably cost you close to what the actual house payment is.

Next, you have house and pool maintenance. A huge number of pools end up as nothing more than mosquito pools because no one expects that pool maintenance is that much work. Pool maintenance is neither cheap nor easy. House maintenance isn't going to be a walk in the park either.

There are ways to make it work, however, I think you are looking at all the upsides and none of the downsides.

You'll end up like a bag of cats.

Wait, what?

Cats are great but hopefully nobody puts them in bags?

I'm sure the bag would be a big paper one, the kind cats love.

Thanks to all for the input. I was hoping to hear from anyone who has done something similar. I was aware of all the possible problems, but was curious if people made pre-nupt-style arrangements from the get-go to avoid them or settle them. I guess the hurdles are too high. Sob.

You did not mention the other people - its they and you who would determine the feasibility, not some anonymous posters on Gardenweb. If you went to cohousing forum you would get a completely different angle btw Or does your co. extension have a small business development component ,like ours does, that can provide technical assistance - great source of info re: setting up as a partnership or LLC.

Are these neighbors willing to help with research to determine how the hurdles can be overcome - financing, insurance, legal, decision making process spelled out etc.( Yes you would develop docs/operating procedures similar to condo or cooperative) Are they willing to sit through a lot of meetings and make a lot of phone calls?

Obviously mine is a minority view here but.... the hurdle is NOT too high, IF
(and only if) you and your co-conspirators wish to make it a reality
and have a solid enough grounding in reality to know the difficulties
and are able to think creatively about how to push through them and the emotional capacity to maintain agood business relationship in spite of emotions running high which can hapen.

If its just mostly your fantasy, if it all rests on your shoulders, if these other people are hopeless and see only the obstacles and not able to think creatively - then no. Nice idea but let it go. Defininitey NOT for everyone!

+

Probably less expensive and a smaller, shorter headache to install a pool in your current backyard.