Founder Story
Built by an owner who learned the hard way – and built a solution for everyone else.
CoHaven was born from years of real Florida vacation property ownership — the sunsets, the family memories, and the financial realities no one talks about at closing.
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13 Years of personal Emerald Coast experience
5 Years as a Florida vacation property owner
2 Gulf-front units owned at Blue Surf, Miramar Beach
A loss that changed everything.
In February of 2013, we lost Holly's dad. That spring, our family made a decision — we would stop putting off the experiences that matter and start being intentional about making memories together.
We drove to Miramar Beach, Florida. It was our first trip to the Emerald Coast, and it changed us.
The Gulf views, the morning walks along Scenic Gulf Drive, the shell hunts, the kids playing in the courtyard at Blue Surf — it became our family's anchor.
Every year after, we returned. And every year, it felt less like a vacation and more like going home. Our three kids could describe the layout of that beach town as well as our neighborhood in Indiana. Destin was theirs. It was ours.
In 2020, we stopped renting and bought — securing a two-unit property at Blue Surf in Miramar Beach: a 1-bedroom and a 2-bedroom, both steps from the Gulf. It was one of the best decisions we've ever made.
Then came the reckoning.
"Our vision is to provide a place for others to find the same experiences — the simplicity, the relaxation, the memories that only the beach can give you."
— Zach Bertram, Founder, CoHaven
The costs no one warns you about at closing.
When we purchased at Blue Surf, we understood the basic math of vacation property ownership. What we didn't fully anticipate was a perfect storm of external forces that transformed the financial picture — and ultimately led me to rethink everything about how vacation properties should be owned.
Florida's Insurance Crisis
Florida property insurance costs surged dramatically — with many owners seeing premiums double or triple in just a few years. Carrier exits from the state made finding coverage a challenge in its own right.
Post-Surfside Building Standards
Following the 2021 Champlain Towers collapse, Florida enacted sweeping legislation requiring structural inspections and reserve funding for condos. Owners across the state faced unexpected six-figure assessments.
Rising Management Costs
Property management fees, cleaning costs, and platform commissions have risen steadily. What once felt like a streamlined model increasingly requires active owner attention just to protect your margins.
"These experiences didn't make me pessimistic about vacation property ownership. They made me realize that solo ownership of a single vacation property is simply the wrong structure for most people — and that there's a fundamentally better way to own."
What these experiences built.
CoHaven wasn't designed in a conference room. It was designed from inside the problems — with the HOA notices, the insurance renewals, the assessment letters. That shapes every choice that went into how CoHaven is built.
01. Ownership from the inside out
I own two units at Blue Surf in Miramar Beach right now. When the post-Surfside assessment notices went out across the Emerald Coast, I received one. When insurance carriers started exiting Florida, I felt it on my own renewals. CoHaven was designed from inside those experiences, not around them.
02. Structure that doesn't cut corners
Each CoHaven group is organized as a Florida member-managed LLC — a commonly used property ownership vehicle for its strong legal and tax structure for co-ownership. Ownership rights, scheduling, maintenance responsibilities, and exit provisions are all defined before a single dollar changes hands.
03. All-cash, no mortgage
CoHaven groups acquire properties all-cash — no mortgage, no rate exposure, and no debt service burdens. Group size is structured around your goals: most groups have up to eight co-owners, but smaller groups with larger individual shares are an option.
04. One person, end to end
Every Owner Planning Session and every co-owner matching process runs through one person, in consultation with our professional team. There is no junior team behind the curtain.
The professionals behind each transaction.
Every CoHaven transaction involves a Destin-based Florida real estate attorney, a network of local real estate agents with deep market knowledge, and the professional infrastructure to move the group from LLC formation through closing.
The path from interested to owner.
CoHaven moves prospective co-owners through a structured five-stage process — from the Owner Planning Session through co-owner matching, LLC formation, property search, and all-cash close.
> See the full process
Let's talk about your ownership goals.
A Discovery Session is a free 15-minute call with no agenda on our side. You bring your questions. We answer them honestly. No pitch. No pressure.
