Types of Home Ownership

Home ownership has become one of the most sought after type of investment in Kenya and all around the world. Many persons work hard through their entire career life just to save enough to purchase either a ready house or a piece of land in which they eventually put up houses in conformity to their earnings and savings. Consequently many mortgage companies and banking institutions have sprang up with loan schemes to enable many would be home owners to purchase land of their choices and build their dream homes.

 However, home buying is categorized into different types of ownership. These are fee simple, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenancy in common and tenancy in entirety. Joint tenancy with right of ownership simply means that in such an arrangement every owner holds an undivided share of a particular estate. Right of survivorship is upheld in this kind of ownership in that when one of the owners passes, the rights of the others who own portions alongside the deceased are not interfered with at all costs. In case of the demise of an owner in the entire estate, his piece and its inheritance will be dealt with as an independent unit. In tenancy in common kind of ownership, the shareholders in that particular estate have equal and full rights to the estate hence no right of survival.

 Tenancy in entirety refers to the kind of ownership that can only be created between husband and wife. It has some resemblance to joint tenancy with right to survivorship only that in this case one cannot destroy the right to survivorship. This kind of ownership's first requirement is the proof that you are husband and wife. it is however not common since it has been abolished in many parts of the world.

 Fee simple kind of ownership is the most common ownership style in these modern times. this kind of ownership gives one full rights to property ownership. This therefore means that at the time of death or at any point in time when one wishes to dispose it off, he can do it without having to explain anything to anyone. Many home buyers would prefer this kind of set up to the above mentioned since naturally everyone will want total control over what he or she has genuinely sweated for. Another reason why people may prefer this kind of private ownership is the fear of being shortchanged. They may feel that sharing equal rights to particular property would be a raw deal. Many also harbor the fear that their property may eventually be swindled from them and sold out leaving them miserable and at a loss that may in the long run be a tall order to recover.