Shared Ownership: How does fractional ownership work in France?

Some 25 years ago, I bought an old farmhouse in the rolling hills of the Dordogne. We realised this was a somewhat crazy idea as our family lived 3,000 miles away (on a 20-acre farm outside of Portland, Oregon) and also ran an investment business. But the lure of returning to our own old stone farmhouse, surrounded by sunflowers and vineyards, a place where our three youngsters could really benefit from their Portland French School studies… it was simply too appealing to ignore.

So, I set about creating the structure where a few families from our Pacific Northwest area could jointly own and use the property for a month or so, every year. Did we all know one another? No, but my husband and I reached out to a couple of clients who very quickly decided to pool resources with us and become co-owners. From there, Ron and Bernice had friends who wanted to learn more, as did Jeff and Marcy. We grew organically and quickly had a cohesive group of nine co-owners.

Since my first fractional ownership property in 1998, 1 have developed another seven co-ownership properties using the same principles: affordable elegance, shared expenses and responsibilities, all with the benefits of having a place you can really call home.

Each International Property Shares fractional ownership property has its own operating agreement. This spells out the rights and responsibilities of the members/owners. An agreement typically includes definitions, members and membership interests, management, budgets and accounts, meetings, member use rights, accounting and records, transfer of interest, distributions, withdrawal and dissolution, indemnification and amendments.

Ownership: The most fundamental difference is that the purchaser owns a percentage of the bricks and mortar with a fractional title – as opposed to renting the right to use a property with a timeshare. Unlike timeshares, with fractional ownership you can transfer or sell the ownership of your share. Holding market value: Fractionals tend to hold their market value or appreciate over time unlike timeshares, which don’t often hold their market value. Consider also, the expense of sales/marketing that goes into selling a vacation unit 52 times and which is then passed on to purchasers and not recovered.

Slower paced holidays: Slowing down allows us to immerse ourselves in the culture and ambience and truly enjoy our time at the deepest level. Why do you think fractional owners move at a slower pace? Because they can! Most IPS owners enjoy stays of four to eight weeks per year.

Annual maintenance and operation: Each fractional owner pays a portion of the annual running costs which range from around €730-€1,450 per year per owner. The dues cover the operational costs including taxes, insurance, utilities, phone, internet as well as a contingency fund. If you compare this to average annual fees for a time share week (€920), there is no comparison!

Ginny Blackwell, fractional ownership pioneer since 1988 at International Property Shares.

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