Hello
Welcome to yours2share's October 2010 newsletter.
- Contract, what contract?
- Glass engraving by Lesley Pyke
- Special offer for property share advertisers
Plus the usual selection of recent ads to whet your appetite.
Contract, what contract?
Over the last four years I’ve had many conversations with yours2share members and their views on written contracts fall into three camps:
- It’s all in the contract: it took a while to agree, but was well worth the effort
- Contract, what contract, I don’t need a contract
- I don’t know where to start, who can help me?
1. It’s all in the contract
Thankfully most people fall into this category.
Good sharing arrangements are built on two key components: like-mindedness and compatibility.
Like-mindedness is about the partners: do they trust each other and have similar values such as taste, skills, cleanliness and maintenance.
Compatible means you all fundamentally want a similar asset and you can agree an acceptable usage pattern.
A written contract is proof of like-mindedness and compatibility. It also proves the partners can negotiate and agree the details;
which means they can probably handle any other issues that may arise.
2. Contract, what contract
The people least likely to have a written contract are:
- Friends
- Sharing an asset that they see as less valuable
In four years running yours2share, the only sharing disaster stories I’ve heard were between friends:
in every case there was no written contract and they had never considered what happened if something went wrong.
My advice to friends who are considering sharing is avoid it unless if you can happily negotiate a contract with them.
If doing this will upset your friend, then politely make your excuses.
The second scenario is common, particularly between horse sharers and land sharers.
There are some potential pitfalls in sharing horses and
land/gardens/allotments
if the issues are not agreed at the outset.
At the very least, write down how the arrangement is going to work.
Nonetheless I strongly recommend that every horse sharing arrangement has a proper contract,
even between happy hackers.
3. I don’t know where to start, who can help me?
These are people who know the contract is important and don’t know where to start.
Thankfully this is easy to address. The best place to begin is with yours2share’s guidance and a template contract from the suite
created by yours2share and internet document provider Net Lawman.
The guidance and templates give you basis for discussion enabling you to create a draft contract.
Then get your solicitor to check it for you. This will cost much less than having a solicitor drawn it up from scratch.
I’m often asked if I can recommend legal experts in sharing. Sharing is a common legal practice so start with your family solicitor.
They will tell you if you need to involve other professional advisors.
To be clear, I am not a professional legal, financial, tax or property advisor.
The laws on ownership, finance, tax and property vary enormously from country to country
and if you are considering sharing property or any other major asset, you must get independent professional advice.
Sharing is very cost effective, but you need to invest time and money into ensuring the arrangement is properly set up.
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Glass engraving by Lesley Pyke
I met Lesley recently and was astonished by the complexity and range of her glass engravings |
Special offer for property share advertisers
Over the last few weeks there has been a significant increase in yours2share’s property share listings, many of which are stunning - see the pictures below. If you want your property share ad to get noticed,
the easiest way of ensuring people see your ad is to sponsor it so it stays at the top of the listing with any other sponsored ads.
Usually the cost of sponsoring your ad is £50 per ad. But for the next week
if you follow us on Twitter
or become a fan of our Facebook page,
we’ll give a whopping 40% discount so sponsoring your property share ad costs just £30.
To take a advantage of the offer:
Once we have received the payment, we will amend your ad so it appears at the top of the relevant property share listings.
Offer ends 23rd October 2010. Only available to property share advertisers. If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account, just give me a call on 0208 133 1234 and I'll see what we can do.
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And finally, here are a few of yours2share's recent ads that I really
like.
Selected ads are entirely my choice, but the quality of the pictures is the key factor. Remember this if you are posting an ad. |
