Sharing a property with a camper
September 16, 2024 1:34 PM   Subscribe

An an acquaintance is offering up half of his place near the river. He says it's getting too expensive for him and he wants to split it.

Assuming this isn't a terrible idea, what kind of questions should I ask him? Obviously I'd have to have some kind of contract as well as a agreement as to when his family/my family would be there.
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock to Shopping (15 answers total)
 
Do you know if he meant sharing ownership, or literally subdividing the property to create a new plot which would be yours? These are meaningfully different outcomes.
posted by aramaic at 1:37 PM on September 16, 2024 [1 favorite]


Yeah, does he want you there as a caretaker? An equal owner? And you're gonna be camping? In a tent, or a camper? Is there a house? We need more details.
posted by mareli at 1:46 PM on September 16, 2024


Response by poster: He meant share the existing property, not subdividing.
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock at 1:47 PM on September 16, 2024


Response by poster: Not a caretaker, sharing the structure (camper). I will drive up there tonight and return with more details.
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock at 1:49 PM on September 16, 2024


So like, he owns a piece of land and has a camper on it that he also owns? And he, what, wants you to rent it for weekends or something? Buy into half ownership of the camper? Half ownership of the land?

Agreed many more details are necessary.
posted by greta simone at 1:54 PM on September 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Well at one point, my extremely close friend and I were going to buy a rural cabin together, to share as a retreat from the city. When I ran it by my accountant, he said he'd seen so many people do this and then it *always* turned into a nightmare when the personal relationship fell apart. I thought he was nuts -- this was an incredible, long-term friend who I knew inside and out -- but then the market changed and we'd missed our moment to make the purchase.

Anyway, about ten years later, this friend demolished our friendship in the most incredibly painful way, a way that still hurts me almost a decade later, and the only good part of that was my gratitude that we'd never bought that property together. YMMV.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:38 PM on September 16, 2024 [20 favorites]


I think the most important questions are for *you*, not for him - what's the advantage to you? is this something you actually want? how does it look compared to your other housing options? realistically, how long would you imagine doing this for (months? years?)?

If you think it's something you actually might want to do, you would need to negotiate landlord-tenant things (e.g. rent, notice periods, who pays utilities, etc.) and roommate things (e.g. cleanliness, guests, food sharing, pets, etc.).
posted by mskyle at 2:43 PM on September 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


For clarity - it *sounds* like this is a vacation property, for both of you?
posted by kickingtheground at 2:53 PM on September 16, 2024


Best answer: You'd need an agreement about maintenance and caretaking, as well as an agreement about how/when to use it (and whether/how each person can invite other people to use it, like family or other friends). How do taxes get paid? Who pays for utilities or water delivery? What about food? Do either of you get to leave clothes or belongings there between visits? Is there any possibility that one of you would want/need to live there full time? What if one of you wants to sell and get out of the deal? If one of you gets hit by a car, how does inheritance work?

I'd agree that you'd need to have a good sense of exactly what benefits you'd be getting out of this to offset the hassle of co-ownership with someone who is used to sole ownership.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 4:01 PM on September 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Especially because he says it’s getting too expensive: what kind of savings / escrow will you set up for repairs / maintenance / insurance / etc.? Who is responsible for these things? Does the camper need to be winterized? What kind of repairs has it needed in the past and who did them?

What gets stored in the camper and who does it belong to? Do you each have private storage space?

How do you decide who gets the camper when?

How do you go your separate ways if circumstances change?
posted by momus_window at 4:52 PM on September 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: It might be easier to treat it as a rental, wherein you pay a certain sum (agreeable to both of you) for your actual usage. This would be MUCH easier to handle, legally, financially, and in terms of your relationship.
posted by aramaic at 4:57 PM on September 16, 2024 [16 favorites]


If it's just raw land with a camper on it, what expenses could he possibly have besides property tax, which is typically quite low for raw land? That smells funny to me.
posted by bricoleur at 7:27 PM on September 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


Don't assume that you will be able to build there.
A river might mean a floodplain designation.
Neighbouring buildings may be grandfathered but not new builds.
posted by yyz at 6:43 AM on September 17, 2024


Response by poster: "...buying it from me, or splitting the fees [it's lot rent] and sharing it." Later in a text he said, selling it would be his first choice. Splitting fees seems tricky without legal backup.
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock at 6:28 PM on September 17, 2024


Response by poster: So he wants to do something illegal; the place does not allow subletting. He said he would just tell them "Aunt Rumi was here for the weekend visiting." Uh, no. I like the idea of renting as someone said above.

So I guess he made his own decision, because I don't feel like being all cloak-and-dagger about this.

It's not raw land, it's in a park with showers and a store and other things. And it certainly has flooded in the past.

And Ive certainly considered about the friendship aspect of it! I'm thinking RUN!
posted by Rumi'sLeftSock at 6:38 PM on September 17, 2024 [3 favorites]


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