Plan & Build Consensus Section Overview
"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."
- Benjamin Franklin
Welcome to the first stage in the co-buying process: Plan and Build Consensus.
Description
Co-buyers need to build informed consensus—to get on the same page—about key elements of the co-ownership arrangement. In any joint venture, alignment between parties is a hard requirement.
Why It’s Important
Getting this stage right is crucial for a smooth and successful co-buying experience. Any ambiguity or failure to align between co-buyers will result in inefficiencies, unnecessary risk, and, ultimately, costs.
The information, decisions, and other outputs of this stage inform the next steps and determine the success or failure of the co-ownership arrangement. Nail this part of the process, and other pieces fall into place. This stage is both the highest impact and least appreciated part of the entire co-ownership journey. In the wild, many folks skip planning and consensus building all together.
Realistically, many variables in life, finance, and real estate are simply beyond our control. Successful investors know this. Instead of gambling in hopes of profit, they manage risk. In co-ownership, our goal is Return on Investment of financial capital, social capital, time, and energy. So, we put on our investor hats and pull the levers at our disposal.
What You’ll Learn
There are three areas to focus on building consensus before moving forward:
- Participation
- Property Criteria
- Co-ownership
You’ll gain practical insight into the collaborative decision-making necessary to assess and confirm readiness, which involves making a go/no go call about moving forward based on two criteria—eligibility and viability.
Outcomes
By the end of this section, you'll have the knowledge and tools to:
✅ Effectively communicate and align with your co-buyers
✅ Use a methodical, input-based approach to joint decision-making
✅ Use our guided template to co-create a game plan for the next steps in your co-buying journey
Matt Holmes (LinkedIn) is co-founder and CEO of CoBuy, formed in 2016 to unlock homeownership for everyone. Before hopping a flight to Seattle to start CoBuy with his mother, Matt worked in investment banking and financial markets in London for a decade. He holds degrees from University College London (BSc Economics) and ESCP Business School (Masters, London & Turin).
Pam Hughes (LinkedIn) is Co-founder and COO at CoBuy. She has over 40 years of experience across finance, real estate, insurance, and construction. Pam has committed to personal empowerment through financial education for decades, which inspired her to start CoBuy with her son in 2016. She's best friends with a small dog known as Francis.