Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Pacaso’s ownership model. Its buyers are co-owners of a property, with their names on the deed.
A growing number of homeowners are gaining access to luxury vacation homes that were out of their reach thanks to a co-buying model that enables them to make a purchase with people they don’t know.
The concept of home co-ownership is not new, said Pacaso CEO and Co-Founder Austin Allison. But while it might be more typical for friends or relatives to pool their money to buy a property, then share in the costs, Pacaso allows you to make the purchase with strangers.
“You don’t have to know the other people because Pacaso is putting together the ownership group and managing all the little details associated with the process,” Allison said.
His company offers one-eighth shares of luxury vacation homes and then helps with “the entire process to make ownership seamless and turnkey, which means we handle everything from designing the homes to paying the bills, to providing an innovative scheduling software that enables owners to share access to the homes,” he said.
If a co-owner in a traditional model wants to sell, the others would have to buy that person out or sell the whole property, said Allison. “With Pacaso, we created a first of its kind co-ownership marketplace. So with Pacaso, selling a share of a home is really not any different than selling a whole home.”
The seller chooses the…
