Steps to Buying a Vacation Home With Pacaso

You’ve dreamed about buying a holiday home — the relaxing summer afternoons on the patio, the cosy 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 property 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 place you love

Dream big! All of our properties are exceptional, so the challenge might actually be narrowing down your choices. Properties that meet Pacaso’s selection criteria offer great amenities and features, and are located in top second 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.
Operating expenses for each property can be accessed from the listing details page, so you know upfront what costs to expect.
Properties marked “Available Now” are actively listed and ready for co-ownership.
Properties marked “Prospect” are under consideration for purchase. They are listed for sale in the normal way and meet Pacaso’s highly selective property selection criteria. If there’s enough buyer interest, we’ll purchase the property and turn it into a Pacaso.

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. Or, if you’ve seen an amazing place you think would be a great Pacaso, share it with us! If it meets our criteria, we might purchase a portion of the property through our discovery programme for buyers.

2. Talk to us

We’re keen to share all the details about our properties. If you’re not sure which one is best for your needs, we’ll go through each property's unique attributes and location to help you decide. You can easily arrange 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. Have a look round

We’ll give you all the information we have about the property, but seeing is believing. While you’re on the call with our Crew member, they can arrange a time for you to see round the property. Many buyers choose a virtual tour at this stage, but in-person viewings are available as well. An in-person viewing can be a great opportunity to involve the whole family and enjoy a day in your future second home town.

4. Say yes!

You talked, you viewed, you fell in love with it — you’re ready to buy your holiday 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 property (the short answer — it’s true property ownership)
How a Pacaso property limited company is organised and managed, and why it makes co-ownership simpler and more enjoyable
The purpose of an limited company 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 the approval process is straightforward and fast. Once all documents are provided — typically your most recent payslip, bank statement and tax return — approval takes just a few days. You also have the option to pay all cash or take out a home equity loan or personal loan through a lender of your choice.

6. Complete on your new property

Pacaso’s completion process is streamlined and, unlike most traditional property purchases, can be done in 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 property survey and exchange of contracts. Others are specific to Pacaso and our property limited company 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, transfer the funds to complete your purchase, and you’re done!

7. Get ready for holiday home happiness

Congratulations, you own a Pacaso! Our commitment to owners doesn’t end at completion. We assign a dedicated Home Manager to each property, 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. The property does not need to be 100% sold before owners can begin using it. 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 holiday home? It’s all yours! One of the worst things? It’s all yours. The responsibilities and hassles of holiday home ownership can take a lot of joy out of the experience. Pacaso’s professionally managed co-ownership model gives you the benefits of holiday 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 Manager. Routine maintenance and necessary repairs (such as replacing a broken dishwasher) are handled by Pacaso and do not require a vote.

11. Feel confident when 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. Our goal at Pacaso is to make holiday 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 holiday home with Pacaso