Who goes when?

April 21, 2008 1:36 PM

How can we fairly split a vacation home between two families?

We have just purchased a vacation home with another family. We are going to set up a Google Calendar to schedule the time that each family uses it.. Basically, we takes turns. They get a week, we get a week. The weekends included. That is easy. The problem comes in when we are trying to divide up the summer holidays. Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. These are holidays when everybody wants to go and take friends and we need to find a system that works. I have some ideas but I want to see if you guys can give me some better ones. What is the best way to share? What is the most fair to everyone? Any and all ideas appreciated.

posted by pearlybob to sports, hobbies, & recreation (12 comments total)

My first thought was to alternate picking one week at a time until the year was taken, and then switch who goes first for next year.

However, I've heard lots of stories that begin, "My family always does X for Memorial Day..." so it would be nice to have some continuity year by year. I'd suggest that one of you always gets Memorial Day, the other always gets Labor Day, and you alternate years with Independence Day.
posted by ferociouskitty at 1:41 PM on April 21, 2008

take 52 pieces of paper, numbered 1-52 in a bowl, take turns pulling them.

they are your weeks. you each get 26 , simple luck of the draw

After that you can trade, bargin " i'll give you two weeks in april, plus christmas week for 4th of July week" . etc...

another thought is agree to both give up those " premium" weeks and rent it out during those weeks, take the money and pay down the morgatge that must faster, or use the money to do some reno work so it is even more enjoyable for both your families down the road
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posted by Mr_Chips at 1:44 PM on April 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

We're in this situation with a cottage at the lake, where July and August are the two most desirable months. We've split it up based on that, where one family gets July (and everything before) and the other family gets August (and everything after). Holidays don't factor into it, just the months. This has led a couple of times to some problems with shifting holidays going to one side a few years in a row, but it all shakes out all right in the long run. I also like ferociouskitty's idea of dividing up the holidays once and keeping them that way to build tradition.

To me, a week-by-week division doesn't make as much sense, since if you're going to the vacation home for a week, you'll probably leave Friday night, stay the weekend, the week, and the next weekend, coming back Sunday, to make the most of your week off. Depends on the way you take your holidays, of course.
posted by pocams at 1:47 PM on April 21, 2008

If the house is in an area where there are lots of other rental homes, you should figure out what the local custom is for week "change-over" day. We have a house in Maine near Bar Harbor, and there the rentals go from Saturday afternoon - Saturday morning, with cleaners coming in during the few hours break on Saturday. You might want to divide your weeks according to local custom in case you ever want to rent out the house; realtors and cleaners would prefer it and your weeks would match up with other houses in the area for people who are renting more than one property (this happens a lot with big family reunions).
posted by tractorfeed at 1:54 PM on April 21, 2008

I need to add that the house is fairly close to both families, only about an hour's drive, so going just for the weekend is doable.
posted by pearlybob at 1:56 PM on April 21, 2008

seconding ferociouskitty's idea.
After you pick your dates, later you can negotiate with your friend and trade days as required.
posted by WizKid at 1:56 PM on April 21, 2008

Give each family $200 in monopoly money, and bid on each weekend. Some weekends may be more valuable than others (memorial day, etc), and may be worth more than others. One family may get more days that way, and the other family may get days that are more valuable.
posted by jenkinsEar at 2:07 PM on April 21, 2008

Instead of alternating weeks (which seems like a headache trying to remember whose "week" it is), how about alternating months? One couple gets Jan, March, May, July, Sept, Nov. The other - the remaining months. That does give one couple Memorial Day, July 4 and Labour Day though - maybe offset by the fact they also get the whole month of August, and Xmas holidays?

Or - couple A always gets the 1-15th of each month, couple B gets the 16-end of month? Still has the problem with the holidays clumping up at the beginning of the month, though...

(For both cases, you'll have to fight it out for NYE...)
posted by cgg at 2:49 PM on April 21, 2008

You could always switch years...one family gets Labor Day weekend this year but not Memorial Day weekend. Next year, flip-flop.
posted by gnutron at 4:47 PM on April 21, 2008

Seconding jenkinsEar -- let the market decide (and do it on a year-to-year basis). Sure, you can alternate picking weeks, but that doesn't allow for the variations in the degrees to which each family wants the place in various weeks. Do I want to shell out $40 to get Fourth of July weekend, or $5/week for the entire month of August? It all depends on how much I value the various weeks (relative both to other weeks, and to the extent the other family values it). That method is an easy way to quantify each family's needs and allocate them efficiently.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 5:06 PM on April 21, 2008

I like the lottery followed by bargaining idea, as well as the pick one holiday and stick to it idea. It might be nice to start a family tradition with your holiday weekend. Depends on the dynamics of the families involved.

I'd probably do it like this- first, see if you even need to do anything- maybe you can realize with one phone call that you have no real conflicts. If you do, implement a "draft". Each family picks a weekend, alternating. Flip a coin the first year for who gets to go first and switch off the following years. That might be a good learning experience for the kids in fairness, making agreements and dealing with minor disappointments.

I don't like the idea of alternating months- I'd feel like I didn't even own a vacation home for the month it wasn't mine. Then I'd feel obligated to go there EVERY weekend it was mine. Sounds exhausting.

Or, decide that you get Memorial, they get Labor, and spent July Fourth together.
posted by gjc at 7:27 PM on April 21, 2008

You sort of suggest in your framing that the only problem is the three summer holidays. If that's really the case, then try this - one family picks a holiday. The other family gets the two remaining holidays. You can decide which family does which by a simple coin flip, or maybe one family would prefer to choose and the other would prefer to have two holidays. This way, everyone feels like they got something.
posted by donnagirl at 7:36 PM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]