So this is not for me, but for my SO to be clear, but I feel like Mustachians might be the *only* people who might have advice.
So my SO and his ex have two investment houses that they've owned for about two years. Technically their LLC which they both own 50/50 owns the properties. Both are about ~$400K in value (practically identical after some backyard improvements), and had a 20% down payment on both.
House 1 is a front house rented out by long-term tenants & backyard ADU rented out (quite profitably) as an airbnb
House 2 is a duplex with one unit rented out by SO's ex and roommate (she pays fair market rent to the LLC) and the other unit rented out as an airbnb (similarly profitable)
Currently, my SO does all the property management for both properties - for both the Airbnbs and the long-term tenants (even though the ex lives in one of the houses.) They share 50/50 in the profits of the LLC, even though he doesn't get paid for his property management time. The LLC does pretty well, definitely makes much more than the mortgage and other expenses of the properties, but both SO & Ex have incredible high income jobs otherwise, so the property LLC is not their sole income, just a long-term investment.
The SO & ex went through a tough breakup about a year ago, and recently the ex has been letting her feelings creep into the business side of things - asking for unreasonable things, not communicating when decisions need to be made about tenants, etc. Honestly, it would be best if they could decouple business-wise as well.
We've come up with the idea of them "buying one another out" of the mortgages and dissolving the LLC came up- the ex would own the house she lives in, and get the profits from her airbnb - and my SO would own the other property and get the profits from that airbnb & rental. My question: is this even a thing they can do without having to refinance again? Is there a different trick a skilled mortgage broker or lawyer can do? Both their names are on both the mortgages.
Obviously there may be a slight ~$20-30K difference in the property values when they get assessed (they are in different quickly changing neighborhoods), but both have the cash on hand to easily make one another whole.
Anyone have a hint of an idea? Figured I'd ask here first. If SO can get the ex to go for it, this seems like a win-win for both of them: they make the exact same amount of money as they are now, but don't have to negotiate with one another and drain each other emotionally to do business things.