ISSUE #207: Pacaso - An artful new real estate twist in Aspen (11/21/21)

"Those who can adapt to the sudden paradigm shift and new environment do. Obey the rules. Search for the loopholes. Sneer at the guidelines despite being bound by them. In the end, everyone learns that rules are necessary to make the system run smoothly." 

-- Carlo Zen

Ahhh - this one is a doozy. Have you heard of the new real estate company, Pacaso? They're buying up resort real estate via a novel model that affords its customers co-ownership interests in what amounts to high end real estate. The catch is, the co-owners don't technically own the deed to the property, they own an interest in the property-specific LLC that does. Very clever.

But the ramifications for the affected communities are obvious: legal but unlicensed mini multi-user resorts in local single-family homes, impacts on small town infrastructure when more local homes are occupied 100% of the time, and perhaps the most impactful, no more RETT revenue from that property (benefitting subsidized housing and the Wheeler Opera House) after the initial purchase. And those are the obvious ones.

And it's here, in Aspen.

I did the deep dive. Read my column in today's Aspen Times HERE.

And please let me know what you think!