Buying Home With Friend

[HV_Mom]

Is there going to be a mortgage? If so, you need to think about what would happen if your friend stops paying their share. If you do not have enough money to cover it then you could end up with a short sale or foreclosure on your credit. (If there is no mortgage, you could end up losing all the money you put into the house.)

If you offer your friend a lease, worst case is that if they stop paying you go through any normal landlord eviction process.

[joe moving]

Someone should buy it and the other rent. It will keep things more straight forward.

[Harpaint]

Originally Posted by TheShadow

Why not buy it and rent the main house to your friend? If your friend is a co-owner of the house it can be counted as an asset of his which may affect his eligibility for Medicaid if he qualifies now, or if he needs to apply in the future due to health changes. I would think that since you won't be a spouse, if Medicaid required him to spend down his assets, the house would need to be sold, or they could place claims on it after his death.

Really, why not just rent to him at a rate that you know he can afford? I don't see the point in having him on the deed.

This would be the most secure for your assets and his ability to qualify for any public assistance such as medicaid.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by Llep

I am having talks with my oldest and dearest friend of 30 years about the possibility of buying a piece of property together. He lives in St Petersburg FL (I am also a native Floridian and spent the first 20 years of my life there) and the thought is to buy an older single family home with a separate garage apartment or detached mother in law apartment. My friend will occupy the main house and I will use the other dwelling. I am hoping to retire soon and want to use the property as my part time home while I travel and decide how to spend the rest of my life. My friend is retired and on a small pension with few other resources. The benefit to me would be having a trusted friend onsite to monitor the property while I travel (which I hope will be substantial travel for months at a time). My main concern is limiting my risk and not taking on any unexpected exposure that puts my assets at greater risk. I am living on the other side of the country now but will be in FL in a few weeks. I plan to meet with an attorney here beforehand to run the issue by him. What are the things I should be thinking about and discussing with the attorney when we meet? Thanks.

No
One party buys and rents a space to the other. Done.

Over the years I have made deals with friends and family. I have also been burned by friends and family. That's why I do not do business of ANY kind eith friends or family. I don't care how much money I stand to make. You can come back and tell me "I told you so"