weirdo househack: fourplex with a partner / unequal shares - how?

[Mimi H.]

I may have an opportunity to purchase a fourplex with a partner (non-romantic). What we'd like to do is the following:

I make this a point because he will occupy one of the units and I will occupy the other. He's not interested in "running" a rental and wants to pay for his portion in cash, which helps from a mortgage perspective. I'd be the primary on the mortgage and own the rentals. Does anyone have any experience with this and can offer advice? aka, gotchas, etc?

Thanks!

[Wes Brand]

You'll probably want to set it up as either a TIC, Condo, or Co-Op. TICs can use fractional financing or not, as appropriate. If you're seriously going down that path you'll want to talk to a lawyer experienced in setting up those deals to get the right paperwork and CC&Rs in place.