Partnership with your spouse?

Found this amazing forum and had been reading heaps in the last few days. Cant help myself and wish to ask the knowledgeable people here for some insight.

I have been recently made redundant, and not too sure if I can find work quickly.
Husband has been out of job for 2 years (sold his business but had only searched for jobs half-heartedly)

We own one PPOR which we had improved a lot over the years, and own another IP together. Basically I am the driving force and he is the handyman. (He is currently developing a family land into 3 houses.)

I love properties/development/renovation and had identified a few opportunities that I/we can venture into. But the question is: what entity should that be? Should it be joint (50/50), me alone, him alone?

My fear is we have different ways of doing things and might have conflicts that would damage the relationship. Also with our two properties, he had been very passive as I am the driving force the whole time. Not by choice but it is his nature. (With the development, they just give it to a builder and he doesnt have much input)

Please share your thoughts, I would greatly appreciate.
 
Ownership structures can be very important to consider from an asset protection and tax perspective. This requires specialist advice.

From a finance perspective, you will need some income to be able to qualify to lend money. This may come from your husband's projects but it's unlikely (and almost certainly not before they're completed). It doesn't matter how much equity you've got in other properties or projects, this doesn't show the bank that you can afford loan repayments.

It would be worth talking to one of the brokers to discuss your circumstances more specifically, but you may have to find another job before you can really start anything.

I'm also inclined to agree with your husbands approach to development, at least when starting out. Getting a builder to build via a contract is easy and reliable. Running it yourself as an owner builder is very risky and very difficult to obtain finance for.
 
Impossible to comment without knowing your situation. Someone might say buy in the wife's name, but what if you had children from a previous relationship and you and your wife died. Even if there was a will with her leaving everythign to you, you may receive nothing (because older are presumed to die first in these situations) and your kids could miss out completely.
 
Sunshine, first off welcome to the good ship SS forum - setting 'sale' to your dream destination.

In relation to your question/s I strongly suggest, if you haven't done so already, find yourselves an investment savvy accountant and sit down in front of them to advise them of your personal situation/circumstances, your goals, time frames and your investment strategy in what you are wanting to do and achieve.

This is the only way you should be planning and taking advice.

If you dont have a professional investment savvy accountant at the moment, search/ask around on the forum for any recommendations.

I hope this helps.
 
They say the two biggest causes for divorces are finances and building a house :eek:

What you are considering involves both so, I believe you really need to have a serious heart to heart.

If he is not enthusiastic then you will need to use tradespeople which erodes the profits PDQ and may even turn into a loss. Not all properties reflect a capital gain equal to the amount spent on a reno.

If you are both involved cleaning, painting, bashing and crashing then your profit is more likely but will he get involved ?

I realise your question is about structure but first you need to know his feelings then that will effect your structuring decision.
 
Husband has been out of job for 2 years (sold his business but had only searched for jobs half-heartedly)

I am the driving force and he is the handyman. (He is currently developing a family land into 3 houses.)

I love properties/development/renovation and had identified a few opportunities that I/we can venture into. But the question is: what entity should that be? Should it be joint (50/50), me alone, him alone?

My fear is we have different ways of doing things and might have conflicts that would damage the relationship. .

Sunshine, good on you. I can't tell you how to structure your ventures. If it is both of your money, and you are both in agreement about investing/developing, I would do 50/50. But there are so many variables.

Does he want to come along for the ride or is he resistant? Does he trust your judgement and decision making in investment properties? If he is happy to leave all the decisions up to you and wants to take a hands-off approach, then it might work out well. If you are the driving force and he is happy to sit in the passenger's seat, do it. If however he doesn't want to invest and you have a different philosophy on money/investing, there could be problems. I don't know the answer to that one.

I'd be more concerned about the fact that he hasn't worked in two years.
 
This is probably going to sound a little harsh, but anyway....

From what you've said:
your husband sold his business 2 years ago & hasn't been trying very hard to get a job i.e. he's been cruising
your husband has the capability to contribute physically (handyman)
you've just been made redundant
your husband is somewhat involved in a family development but in a hands off way
you're the driving force

Sounds like your husband could do with a kick up the tooshie! he's been able to cruise while you've been working but I'm guess your redundancy money may not last forever. While structure obviously needs to be considered I think you really need to have a good chat to your husband, if he's going to cruise or you're going to have to nag him to do his bit then I would imagine life will not be a whole lot of fun. From what you've said, get him to get a job, that'll help with being able to borrow & then you can drive the projects, getting him to do some work when he can but using tradies when you need to. Tradies will cost more than your hubby but by the sounds of it they'll get a lot more done!
 
Thank you all

Thank you all for your kind replies. Sorry I am a newbie here..

I thought I had subscribed for instant notification of responses.... As I didnt receive any emails or bells ringing, I was rather disappointed that noone looked at my post:-( I stumbled onto this page again to day and voila, saw your wonderful replies. Will read them carefully and respond one by one.

Have a wonderful day.
 
I would say take a step back and work out what your trying to achieve. Maybe sit down together and have a chat about it and see if he is keen on the idea. Its like any business deal you have to make sure everyone is keen and ready to do their part. No point forcing someone to do something if they don't want to do it.

If all is go then seek professional advice on the best structure/ lending and so forth.
 
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