Understanding Pacaso ownership costs

Published Date: February 15, 2024

Modern white and brown house
If you’re considering a Pacaso purchase, you want to know the bottom line. Buyers who purchase a traditional whole home often have zero insight into both the upfront and long-term costs needed to maintain their home. Rest assured, we’ve got you covered. When you co-own with Pacaso, you can expect both full transparency and fairness in the costs of buying and operating your home. We make sure buyers understand the cost breakdown from the get-go, so there are no surprises later on. Our structured pricing details the intricacies of managing a luxury home so that owners have a clear understanding of their financial commitment. Beyond showing where these costs are going, we also manage your home, so you don’t have to deal with any of the typical hassles of home ownership.Once you find a Pacaso home you love, a Crew member will walk you through the costs associated with the listing. In the meantime, if you’re trying to understand the whole financial picture, our pricing model covers three main areas:
  • Share price
  • Monthly home operating estimates
  • Turnover services
Here’s how we approach each cost area.

Determining the share price

When you browse Pacaso listings, the sale price you see reflects the cost to purchase 1/8  ownership of the home. If you want more ownership, multiply that price by the number of shares you wish to purchase, up to four (1/2 ownership of the home).We determine the sale price of a share by adding these costs:
  • Whole home purchase price. This one is self-explanatory — it’s the amount Pacaso paid to acquire the home on the open market. 
  • Home upgrades and closing. We give each home a design makeover to create livable luxury — a beautifully and comfortably designed home, with all the amenities you need to enjoy your stay. This includes big-ticket items, like high-end furnishings and state-of-the-art appliances, and small details, like board games and handy kitchen gadgets. Our professional interior designers customize each home. We also calculate the real estate transaction costs (agent commissions, inspections and closing costs) and complete any necessary maintenance work to make sure the home is ready for its first stay.
  • Pacaso service fee. This one-time fee covers the costs of buyer aggregation (finding and vetting qualified owners), LLC formation (including legal fees) and onboarding the home (installing and furnishing).
  • Financing. For qualifying buyers who choose to finance up to 70% of their purchase through Pacaso, a financing fee will be assessed at closing.
You'll also find curated listings that waiting to become fully furnished Pacaso homes. We use the same criteria to estimate the share price, but the price may change slightly when the home becomes available for co-ownership. For example, we would determine the exact cost of upgrades once we walked through the home with our design team.

Keeping the lights on

For many people considering a second home purchase, one of the biggest downsides is the burden of owning another property. If you only expect to use your second home a few weeks or months a year, you are likely renting it out or struggling to find reliable local vendors to help with maintenance issues — especially if problems arise while you’re away from the property.When you co-own with Pacaso, you share the cost of maintenance and property management with the other co-owners instead of fronting the bill by yourself as with a traditional whole home. A key benefit of Pacaso is that we relieve you of the hassles of a second home by managing the headaches of homeownership. Our property management team ensures your home is well-maintained and ready for your next stay, and we manage the bills, cleaning and maintenance, and even handle the property tax payments on your behalf. Because we do this legwork for you and other co-owners, you can always expect your Pacaso experience to be cost-effective, transparent and stress-free. 

Monthly costs

To get a detailed picture of ongoing costs, we budget for owner expenses annually and break the total into 12 monthly payments. Costs are shared between owners pro rata, based on the number of shares they own. Monthly payments are deposited into the LLC account, and Pacaso uses the funds to cover expenses as needed. Monthly expenses include:
  • Financing. This is an individualized expense based on your financing terms.
  • Property management. Pacaso provides in-house property management services in most regions, and elsewhere we maintain strong relationships with experienced local property management companies who take care of the day-to-day needs of the home. Our strong, behind-the-scenes vendor management means you receive prompt and streamlined quality of service throughout your ownership experience. Pacaso maintains the LLCs for all homes, which includes resolving any disputes between owners, aggregating and managing billing, and keeping the LLC in good financial standing.
  • Preventive and routine maintenance. Depending on the property, this may include landscaping, pool maintenance, snow removal, HVAC servicing, gutter cleaning and more.
  • Technology systems. This provides access to service features in the Pacaso app, including our SmartStay technology that makes scheduling easy and equitable for every owner. 
  • Estimated home costs. This includes (gas, electric, water, sewage, garbage and internet/TV) to keep your home functional and ad hoc maintenance services, home essentials and utilities.
  • Taxes and insurance. Pacaso manages the payments for property taxes and homeowners insurance premiums when due. We’ll provide an annual K-1 tax form for each owner. Learn more about ownership and tax reporting in a multi-member LLC. 
  • Reserve fund. As any homeowner knows, things break or wear out, so Pacaso maintains reserves in the LLC to cover those unforeseeable or longer-term expenses, such as a roof replacement. 
Monthly owner expenses may change as needed to cover any increases in the actual costs of the home, such as insurance, taxes or other increased rates. Adjustments are made quarterly, and all cost statements are proactively communicated to owners and backup documentation is available upon request.  

Turnover services

To make sure the home is always stay-ready for the next owner, we also charge an individual turnover fee after each stay to cover cleaning, home essentials replenishment, inventory assessment and light functionality checks.

Providing a hassle-free ownership experience

Pacaso is not only committed to providing a stress-free ownership experience, but also to giving you a detailed picture of your bottom line so you know exactly where your money is going. We believe that transparency and meticulous management are the keys to making your second home ownership dreams a reality. With Pacaso, you can truly focus on what matters most: Enjoying your beautiful second home and creating lasting memories.

headshot of writer Tony Huynh

Tony Huynh


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