Steps to Buying a Vacation Home With Pacaso

You’ve dreamed about buying a second home — the relaxing summer afternoons on the patio, the cozy winter evenings gazing out at the stars — and now you’re ready to make it happen. You’ve come to the right place! If you’re unfamiliar with co-ownership, you may be wondering how the buying process differs from a typical whole home purchase. In some respects, it’s similar — but when you buy with Pacaso, it can also be faster and easier.Here are 11 steps to buying and owning a Pacaso.

1. Find a home you love

Dream big! All of our listings are exceptional, so the challenge might be narrowing down your choices. Properties that meet Pacaso’s selection criteria offer great amenities and features, and are located in top vacation home destinations. A few things to keep in mind when you browse our listings:

Property prices reflect the cost of one share, or 1/8 ownership. In locations where Pacaso does not operate, you will see the cost of whole home prices.
Financing can be estimated on the listing details page, so you know upfront the monthly costs to expect.
Properties marked with “Available now” are fully furnished, luxury Pacaso homes ready for immediate co-ownership. You can buy the home, close within a couple of weeks and enjoy your Pacaso right away. Listings marked with “Coming soon” are homes we’ve just closed on and are preparing to meet our design standards.

Listings that have an “Unlock” action and/or marked “Hot” are curated, third-party listings under consideration for purchase. These listings meet Pacaso’s highly selective property selection criteria. If there’s enough buyer interest in the home, we’ll conduct our due diligence process, purchase the property and then turn it into a Pacaso.

Tip: See a property you like? Learn how you can express interest in a listing. The more interest a home receives, the faster our team can transform it into a fully furnished, luxury Pacaso home.

You might also see properties marked “Under Contract” — these listings are being inspected as part of our multistep due diligence processes just before we close on the home. If you’re serious about buying one of these listings, you can express interest by making a $1,000 refundable reservation. If you don’t see your perfect match among our listings, let us know what you’re looking for, and we can help guide you! We also offer DIY legal resources if you’re looking to start a co-ownership structure of your own, either for a secondary home or a primary residence.

Co-owned second homes

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2. Talk to us

We’re excited to share all the details about our homes. If you’re not sure which one is best for your needs, we’ll go through each home’s unique attributes and location to help you decide. You can easily schedule a time to talk with one of our Crew members from any listing details page, or if you have general questions about co-ownership, you’re welcome to get in touch via our contact form.

3. Take a tour

We’ll give you all the information we have about the home, but seeing is believing. While you’re on the call with our Crew member, they can arrange a time for you to tour the home. Buyers can schedule a virtual tour or in-person tour or attend an open house. An in-person tour can be a great opportunity to involve the whole family and enjoy a day in your future vacation home town.

4. Say yes!

You talked, you toured, you fell in love — you’re ready to buy your vacation home! We’ll walk you through the purchase process and paperwork, and our Crew will make sure you understand all the terminology related to co-ownership, such as:

What it means to have ownership interest in a home (the short answer — it’s true real estate ownership)
How a LLC (limited liability company) with Pacaso makes co-ownership simpler and more enjoyable
The purpose of a LLC operating agreement

We want you to feel confident in the process, so ask as many questions as you’d like. Once you’re ready to proceed, you’ll reserve your share with a 10% deposit.

5. Secure financing

If you’re interested in financing a portion of your purchase, you’ll work directly with Pacaso and our banking partners. You may be able to finance up to 70% of your Pacaso and take advantage of our special financing offers. The approval process is straightforward and fast. Once all documents are provided — typically your most recent pay stub, bank statement and tax return — approval takes just a few days. You also have the option to pay all cash or take out a HELOC or personal line of credit through a lender of your choice.

6. Close on your new home

Pacaso’s closing process is streamlined and, unlike most traditional home purchases, can be completed within days rather than weeks or months. Once you’ve signed your purchase agreement, we’ll send additional documents to review and sign. Some will look familiar if you’ve bought a house before, such as the inspection report and seller disclosures. Others are specific to Pacaso and our property LLC model, including the program manager agreement and operating agreement. Once you’ve had a chance to go through the paperwork, we’ll schedule a call to review the documents and answer any remaining questions. You’ll sign, wire the funds to complete your purchase, and you’re done!

7. Get ready for vacation home bliss

Congratulations, you own a Pacaso! Our commitment to owners doesn’t end at closing. We assign a home management team to each home, and they’ll schedule an onboarding session to ensure you have the Pacaso app, which you’ll use to book stays, and answer any questions. Your Home Manager will be your point of contact throughout your ownership, and they are available to provide support whenever you need it.

8. Book your stays

You can begin scheduling stays after completion, and the property will be ready for your enjoyment as soon as all upgrades to the property are completed. As an owner, you have ongoing access to the property, and you can quickly and easily book multiple stays with the Pacaso app, powered by our SmartStay scheduling system. Go ahead, plan that weekend getaway you’ve been talking about!

9. Experience the ease of managed ownership

One of the best things about owning a whole vacation home? It’s all yours! One of the worst things? It’s all your responsibility. The hassles of vacation home ownership can take a lot of joy out of the experience. Pacaso’s fully managed co-ownership model gives you the benefits of vacation home ownership without all the headaches. We take care of maintenance, repairs and cleaning; manage payments for utilities, insurance and taxes; oversee property management; and so much more. You just show up and relax, every time.

10. Flex your ownership muscles

Pacaso’s management services are designed to make your ownership experience easier — but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a voice. In fact, you and your property’s co-owners have 100% ownership of the property once all shares are sold, which means your co-ownership group has decision-making authority. Here’s how this works in practice: Owners can bring major issues about their property to a vote of the co-ownership group, and every share owned holds one vote. A major issue might be a costly property upgrade, like the installation of a hot tub. To call for a vote, you would get in touch with your home management teamRoutine maintenance and necessary repairs (such as replacing a broken dishwasher) are handled by Pacaso and do not require a vote.

11. Feel confident if it’s time to move on

We think you’ll love your Pacaso for years to come, but at some point, your needs may change. After 12 months of ownership, you are free to sell at any time, and you set the sale price. We'll work with you to facilitate a fast and streamlined resale. Unlike a timeshare, which can be hard to sell and typically depreciates in value, your Pacaso is sold on the open market and any equity gains are yours. Historically, Pacaso homes resell for an average 10% gain.Our goal at Pacaso is to make vacation home ownership simpler, more enjoyable and attainable for more buyers. We’ll help you every step of the way, but the first step is yours — so check out our listings and imagine where the journey can take you.

Steps to buying and owning a vacation home with Pacaso