Tom

Doug, Sally, Jed, and SFisHome--

Thanks to all of you for providing answers. I appreciate the advice, as well as the time and effort you took.

To motivate my question, and give you an update, I have now bid *twice* on a single unit in a two-unit building for sale, and each time the building was sold to one buyer willing to purchase the entire property. If I had a TIC partner in either case, I could have at least had a chance...perhaps our joint bid would have been higher enough than the single bid to make the seller interested.

So...I'll try Craigslist and going though my real estate agent...if you have any other ideas for widening my search for potential TIC partners, let me know.

SFisHome, you asked me what my concern is about screening TIC partners and why I'm not considering 3+ unit TICs.

I want to screen a TIC partner for a couple of reasons. First, I need to understand what their priorities are in terms of living in, and possibly improving, a building. I also want to know their financial situation and get a sense as to whether they seem like the kind of person to compromise or to be firm and difficult in their positions. Suppose I want to condo convert quickly and they are in no rush? Suppose I'd like to make some general improvements to the property and they don't want to? It may be that my impressions lead me to believe that they are not the right partner for me. I understand that these issues aren't all unique to TIC partners, and that condos also involve the potential for divergent interests, but if I'm have the chance to see whether I'd like to live with someone in the same building, I want to take that opportunity.

SFisHome, I'm not sure I understand some of the advantages you suggest a large TIC has. I can certainly see how you can get more "bang for the buck" in terms of living space for the money. But anything that is cheaper to buy is also cheaper to sell. So if demand is less for a 3+ unit TIC (as its value indicates) then it will likewise be more difficult to sell when the time comes. On the one had you say that I can sell to whoever I want, but then you say that I can potentially screen potential new neighbors; this sounds contradictory to me. If I can screen, then so can my neighbors, perhaps negating a potential sale when I want to sell. Also, for me more people involved in a legal situation means more complication and more potential for unforeseen issues to arise; couple this with a long wait to condo convert (assuming all partners are even interested in this) and it makes 3+ unit TICs look unappealing to me. As you can tell, I am relatively risk averse in these kinds of situations, for better or worse. - Fri May 16 2008, 18:09