Two heads make a monster.

You have apparently had some very bad experiences - that is too bad.

Thanks Bill - I will.:popcorn:

couple ownership
 

i have always heard not to do business with family or fiends

LMAO: Not sure if that was on purpose or accidental or a Freudian slip, but I will definitely avoid doing business with fiends. :a20::a20:

One issue that you will need to address is master bedroom usage. Most homes have a large master bedroom with en suite bathroom. Guest bedrooms and bathrooms are very small with small closets. So who gets to sleep where when both couples are there for 3 or 4 months? Also I have been told each home only gets two resident ID's. Who gets those? Two golf carts and two cars? Need a large home with a very large garage. Probably a premier with a three car garage.

A better solution would be to each buy a smaller home very close together, even side by side. Two patio villas or two courtyard villas. Even two small ranch homes side by side or on the same street. Also give you lots of extra space for other friends and family.

That is a good solution. We had friends, two couples, who together bought a cabin at the lake. They got along fine there, but the kids would come and bring friends and they would not take good care of it and that caused tension. If someone spills wine or coffee on the furniture it usually can be fixed if attended to right away but not if it is set in and dried for weeks....as an example. Or if one couple would arrive to find that the beds weren't changed and stuff was left in the refrigerator and the blinds weren't pulled. or the water wasn't turned off, or the door left unlocked...it is hard to express criticism of another's kids or guests.

I think the side by side or near each other idea is a very good thing to consider. I think anyone could get along with you Coach Ed, and I know you choose like friends, but think and think again on this.

Familiarity breeds contempt.Plus....

What if one couple never puts a new toilet paper roll in? When you're older, little things mean a lot. ;)

eweissenbach: My apology. My remarks were not directed toward you or anyone. However you have drawn on a sensative area for me because from my view any such arrangements threaten the original intent of TV being a retirement community. The Developer has shown his propensity to make TV a resort style sort of draw and I for one feel retirees will be lost in the shuffle.

Methinks the developer needs to look closely at this issue. If everyone on the deed gets an ID, we could have group ownership, and a whole new set of nightmares with lower degrees of vested interest by owners.

Ed:

It sounds like you thought long and hard on living together with this couple.
Have you been on trips before where you shared acomendations? Was it totally harmonious?

I have a friend that is like a brother to me and stay at his house once in a while. We are totally harmonious and never have any problems. BTW - He's married.

It sounds like a win win situation that you are going into with your eyes wide open. I say go for it.

Ed,
It seems that you have thought this thru and have tested the waters by living with each other for a two month stretch already. Since it worked for you, I say " Go For It" You are very lucky to have found such a good friendship.

The master bedroom is a concern, and we have thought about it a lot. When we stayed in an Iris this year we simply switched the bedrooms after the first month. One of our criteria for a home is a good second bedroom and bath - some homes have a large master and the second bedroom is way too small. We have considered having a Zinnia built, which has essentially two master bedrooms. The garage issue could be problematic, but we have looked at two-car plus gc garages, and even three car garages with an adequate lot. Leaving one car out is not beyond consideration, since my car has not been in a garage for nine years. As for the resident passes, we checked on that early on and were told that all four would get resident passes if we were all on the deed. Two seperate places would be possible but we have pretty well settled on the sharing of one as ideal for us. Since neither of us plan to be there anywhere near full time, we feel the cost sharing of taxes, utilities, cable, etc. when not there makes sense for us as long as we can get along.

This is, of course, the key. We have gone on vacations with other friends and family members many times over the years, and by the time we got back were ready to strangle each other. We are so compatible with this couple that we hate to leave when the time comes. My wife and the lady have been friends since they were infants and are both very easygoing and loving, and like the same activities. Myself and the gentlemen have been friends since college and both like to go to bed and get up about the same time, have eerily similar belief systems, similar senses of humor, and like to do the same things. We have stayed together in TV three times now - first for a six day LSP in 2010, a month in Summerhill in 2011, and two months in Hemingway in 2012. We already have a place rented for Feb and Mar for 2013.

Since you are both familiar with renting, why not one couple buy the house and rent to the other? Would make tax time easier(one couple getting the deductions, rather than splitting interest and property taxes to the satisfaction of IRS) and also parting ways if at some point things don't work out.

I know of people who rent every year together and have this problem. They have decided that odd years, one person gets the master bedroom and even years, the other. It seems to work for them.