How Pacaso Makes Second Home Dreams Reality

There’s another new kid on the real estate block. Welcome Pacaso! A play on the name Picasso and similar in sound, but not mission, to the vacation rental platform Vacasa, Pacaso offers a new twist on buying a second home.

The model focuses on allowing buyers to purchase shares, from 1/2 to 1/8, of a private home, which Pacasa then administers, prepares, and manages. The model is similar to a timeshare, but instead of a resort condominium setting, this is a private, luxury home. On a recent company call, we were told to think “Restoration Hardware” level, and the quality of any proposed property should be at least “a 7 out of 10.” Instead of owning the rights to use the home for a week, or rights to 1/52nd of the property as in a timeshare, the buyer is a member of an LLC with only a few other people.

Who might those other people be? That’s up to Pacaso to figure out. If you’re a buyer interested in sharing a vacation home, you can work with your agent to propose a home to Pacaso. You work with Pacaso to set up the LLC and buy half. Pacaso will buy the other half and then focus on selling that real property as part of its listing portfolio. You can see some examples here.

The model can also benefit home sellers. If you own a home that fits the Pacaso quality standard and is in a vacation destination, but you don’t want to live in it full-time, work with your Realtor to propose the home to Pacaso and allow the company to sell shares to other owners and manage the home for you.

Pacaso is the administrative platform for the purchase, drawing up the ownership agreements, managing the property upkeep and the booking technology. Realtors still have a role representing the buyers and sellers to find the right home or finding buyers for those extra shares. Buyers and sellers gain an opportunity to own the right amount of a trophy home for their budget and needs. So, Pacaso now makes second home ownership attainable for a larger group of people.

With some powerhouse real estate names and potent funding behind its launch, Pacaso is one to watch. If you have questions about buying or selling a portion of a vacation home, I’d love to hear from you.