How Plum simplifies co-ownership of real estate and vacations

Everyone is looking forward to their next vacation. That’s great and could be a recipe for fighting burnout. No doubt people are back on vacation now that Covid is somewhat in the rearview mirror. In fact, more than half of Americans plan to travel in the near future, according to a ValuePenguin survey. However, figuring out where to stay can be a problem. For many people, co-owning a vacation is an attractive option.

Why is it so hard to pinpoint the perfect place to hang out for a week? Finding affordable lodging in prime locations despite the proliferation of sites like Airbnb and VRBO is not always easy. Many travelers feel they can’t afford the best accommodation for their money. As a result, many individuals and families are considering purchasing vacation properties or looking for timeshares.

Take a break…without breaking the bank

However, these solutions have problems.

Investing in a home, condo, bungalow, or cabin in a tourist hotspot can be expensive. That’s why so many people rent out vacation properties. Unfortunately, the most favorable times to rent are during the popular times of the year. Therefore, many property owners give up the opportunity to enjoy their vacation homes during peak season.

Many people may be dropping off timeshare units in bulk because timeshares are not always a good option. Timeshares seem cheap upfront, but they are very restrictive.

Furthermore, the timeshare “owner” only owns the time. They don’t actually invest in real estate. Therefore, they may not be able to profit from the timeshare arrangement, making it a poor choice for budding investors.

What should individuals and couples who want to go on the same vacation trip after vacation do? Serial entrepreneur Matt Williamson asked himself the same question a few years ago. His answer became the seed for his Plum CoOwnership, his startup his venture.

Streamlined Path to Owning a Real Vacation Property

Williamson created Plum to help vacationers worry about where to stay. A rollercoaster permanently through a co-ownership agreement. Co-ownership of property is, as the name suggests, the purchase of one property of hers by more than one person or couple together.

For example, four friends want to buy separate seaside cottages. But one friend can only buy a house up to her $250,000. That alone won’t get you close enough to hear the waves.

But if they work together, they have the purchasing power to buy properties in the million dollar range. If they invest in that type of luxury property, they can spend 13 weeks a year saving.

Not only do they share ownership of the property, they have a place to stay wherever they want. And they own the property outright instead of paying a third party for their time.

Sharing is certainly not a new concept. In fact, there are over 2 million co-owned villas. Still, it can seem daunting to groups interested in buying a vacation home.

Ultimately, there are multiple considerations such as how to set up a joint ownership group, how to find the right real estate agent, and how to set a fair use schedule. Williamson’s brainchild platform Plum aims to remove the biggest barrier to joint ownership, allowing interested people to own vacation properties.

The Plum Approach to Streamlining Shared Vacation Property Ownership

Backed by advanced technology, Plum serves as the starting point for ambitious co-owners to make their vacation home dreams come true.

Individuals can set up a Plum account for free and start their journey. If they don’t have a group in mind, they can promote other real estate investors to join in. Once the group is set up via her Plum, the site’s intuitive system allows the co-ownership process to the group.

Below are just a few of the benefits for co-owners using Plum.

1. Joint ownership groups can become LLCs through Plum.

Co-owners have the option of having Plum help set up the LLC rather than hiring outside legal help. After that, the LLC officially becomes the entity that owns the assets.

LLC backing protects individual owners and makes the experience safer and more satisfying. LLC status also increases efficiency in setting up joint bank accounts that are transparent to all her LLC members.

Plum recommends allowing only a few members access to fund transfers, but making full and transparent access to monthly statements and all transactions available to everyone is needed.

2. Co-owners can outline mandatory and negotiable items in Plum.

For property co-owners, it’s important to outline everything from house rules to maintenance schedules. The sooner this is done, the less likely surprises will occur in the long run.

The Plum system walks the group through the process of negotiating all responsibilities. Final results are documented. Ideally, documentation should be done prior to bidding on vacation properties to reduce the chance of misunderstandings.

3. Co-owners can bring properties to the table or search them in Plum.

When Williamson began digging into co-ownership, he realized that some people already owned vacation properties. However, I was interested in dividing the property to reduce monthly expenses such as mortgage payments and taxes.

Plum allows such owners to find other owners to form co-ownership groups. For groups that don’t have a property in mind, Plum’s site offers a property search feature. In addition, Plum can suggest co-ownership friendly realtors and lenders interested in selling to co-ownership groups.

4. Users can let Plum take care of the financial management of their real estate.

After investing in real estate, joint ownership groups have every reason to keep the property running smoothly.

Plum ensures this by including reserves in the original financial forecast. Co-owners contribute a certain amount to the reserve each month. That way the fund can grow and support regular and emergency maintenance costs.

Ultimately, the property is in better shape and co-owners can cut back on unbudgeted spending.

Ume’s Future for People Interested in Buying Vacation Property

Plum has just launched, but it’s getting quite a bit of attention.

Recently, Plum was featured on Entrepreneur’s Elevator Pitch show. That resulted in his $175,000 investment from the former CEO of Netflix. Williamson and his team will use the investment funds to further improve the benefits for users of the site.

In the meantime, Plum presents a compelling way for people to finally achieve low-stress vacation home ownership. After all, stress is the exact opposite of travel. With Plum, everyone can relax and spend their vacations in a home they both love and own.

Featured image: Pixabay; Pexel; Thank you!