How to Share a Summer Home (and Leave on Good Terms)

Sharing a vacation home with friends and family can be a fantastic arrangement… if you know how to handle it in just the right way. You’ll be able to save money (million dollar luxury real estate rentals at your fingertips!) and shared holiday time that works out for everyone. Having things and interests in common will help head off any real problems. You don’t always have to do everything together, and having delineated private areas where you can get away is always important. Let’s see how you can share a summer home without wrecking your relationships.

Did You Know: It might be winter now, but it never hurts to look ahead! Look around among your workmates and personal friends to try and find a good summer home fit.

Start Planning Finances Ahead

The last thing you want to do is take a “live and let live” approach to your financial situation with your summer home roomies. Are you going to split the rent, utilities, house keeping costs, food and whatever other costs you might face down the middle, or will one of you have a larger share?

Pets and Lifestyle: Where Do You Fit?

Do you stay up all night? Will your housemates have to bring their cockatoo that croons Elvis songs loudly, and strangely enough, slightly out of tune? Just how are things like smoking, hard partying, favorite espresso machines and mandatory Thai Nights on Thursdays going to impact everyone’s good time?

Guests, Partners and Friends

Will you have any special rules about having overnight guests at the cottage? What about partners? Is this a singles or friends only affair? If so, what happens when someone brings someone else in that’s eating up all the food, taking up space and using more in the way of utilities?

Maid to Order: Housework

How are you going to distribute labour? Are you going to each put money into the kitty to hire some help that comes in every couple days to tidy up? Are you going to split the chores?

Will there be a schedule, will someone have to put money down for cleaning if they’re not willing or able to clean themselves? Sort this out before you decide to rent together!

Respecting One Another’s Space

You want to make sure that boundaries are drawn. Are you allowed in one another’s rooms? Will you each need your own bathroom? Planning this out ahead will make everyone’s time more fun and enjoyable.

But most of all, you want to have fun! You want to be able to have a fabulous summer break way, but you want to spend it with people you can get along with. You want to be able to know that everything is taken care of and that everyone will have a great time.

The Goodale Miller Team is the #1 team in Canada for Century 21 8 years running. Specializing in Oakville luxury real estate including Lakefront homes, infill building lots, condominiums and more. You can view their luxury homes for sale in Oakville here: http://www.goodalemillerteam.com/Homes.aspx