To me it sounds closing to an independent living/assisted living arrangement rather than a condo.
With independent living you buy the apartment and still pay a monthly fee to live there. There are additional fees depending on what meal plans you select- 1,2,3 meals a day=extra hay and housekeeping=turn-out boots.
With condos they don’t provide housekeeping, meals, walk your dog or clean the litter box.
Although with most assisted living/independent living you get 90% of a higher fee back when you “leave” or 50% of a lower fee so you lose money not make money.
I think being a BM for a set up like this would be awful. All the boarders are equal owners. With an ownership stake the members will feel like they have more say on how the barn is run, maintenance, landscaping, snow removal, what turn-out field Dobbin is in, what time the horses get fed. Does somebody with 2 horses have more clout then somebody with 1 since they have more equity?
What happens if the BM leaves? Do all the members get together and vote on a new BM? Who initially screens them? What do you do about a BM until you get a consensus on who to hire?
So you get a new job in another state. No only do you need to sell your house your need to sell your stall. If there isn’t a waiting list good luck on that. Plus the waiting list may need to be a few deep before you find the person on the list that is ready right at that moment to move Fluffy and plop down a big upfront fee.
What happens if you bought in 2006 when everyone had lots more disposable income and now it it 2008 and you need to sell? Oops the economy has tanked, people don’t want to commit that much money for a hobby so either you can’t sell your stall or take a 50% loss.
So you love the place when you move in. You now hate the new barn manager, trainer. You decide to go from being a hunter to an eventer so want a barn with XC course on-site. The drama llama arrived with a big clique of witchy women so you dread going to the barn.
You need to sell your stall to leave. No just giving 30 days notice. If the care really detoriorates that giving 30 days notice but leaving that day really hurts since you still need to sell your stall.
Condos do not involve the care of a living breathing animal. It is ownership of property and maintenance of the grounds and facilities such as pool or gym and maintenance of the exteriors of the dwellings.
You might be able to take away some of the issues if the BO owns 51% of the facility and by selling all of the stalls the members own up to 49%. This way the BO stays constant. She controls hiring, firing, insurance, barn policies, barn schedules. But the same things hold if she suddenly goes off her meds, has a mid-life crisis, gets burned out so care slips. How do you quickly get your horse to a safe place? Heck if you have a falling out with her she can sabotage you being able to sell your stall. Do you still need to pay the monthly fee even if you left and can’t sell your stall?
