Legal advice for shared residence

Questioner

Good afternoon, As a starter I am looking for a place to live. A family member has put his old house up for sale. It is an option to buy this house (partly). Is it legally possible to have two owners for one house? What should I pay attention to? Who is liable in that case? Thanks in advance!

Lawyer

Yes, it is possible to become a co-owner for e.g. half. You will then also be jointly liable for the same percentage for maintenance, owner charges such as OZB etc. If you are going to live there, your rights in that regard must also be properly arranged and the user charges are for you (as you probably also pay now as a tenant). It is of course important that the purchase agreement regulates everything properly. For further advice/assistance, you can contact one of the lawyers here directly, without obligation, e.g. via the 'direct contact' link that you will see with this answer if you are logged in. I'm happy to help you with this.

Lawyer

Dear questioner, it is not possible, purely legally, to acquire half ownership of a property. It is indivisible. Sometimes banks cooperate in partial ownership so that you will not be held personally liable for the entire loan; I suspect that this is what your question is actually about. I do not know exactly which banks cooperate in this construction, but recently partial ownership, better called shared liability on an indivisible thing, has become increasingly common.

Lawyer

You can become 50% owner of the whole or, through a deed of division from the notary, become the owner of a portion of the apartment rights. The problem is that shared homes are harder to sell if there is a disagreement between the owners. I would also have clear written agreements put on paper in advance for such a situation!