Friends with benefits: These 2 couples pooled their money to buy their ‘forever home’ together — what's behind this ‘transformative shift’ in how younger people approach homeownership

Together, the friends put down 40% on a US$800,000 multi-unit home.

“With what we are each paying, we never could have found something similar separately, even if each couple had something half the size of this house,” Mark told Business Insider.

The couples split the cost of the down payment 50/50 and now have equal-sized shares of the home — with a primary and secondary unit each, along with their own kitchens and bathrooms.

“We hear a lot of people tell us they’ve always wanted to buy a big house with their friends,” Mark. “And we’ve also heard a lot of people say we’re absolutely crazy.”

A ‘shift’ in how people are buying homes

Crazy or not, these four friends are part of a shift in attaining the homeownership goal many young people are eager to reach.

They reflect a growing trend in “non-romantic co-ownership,” or buying a home with non-romantic partners.

According to the Royal LePage 2023 Canadian Co-Owners Survey, 6% of Canadians co-own a property with another party, not including a spouse or significant other. Of that number, 89% co-own with family members and 7% co-own with a friend. Another 8% co-own with someone who is not a family member or friend.

The survey also that 76% of Canadian co-owners cite a lack of housing affordability as a major motivator for choosing to co-purchase a property.

In a Time article on non-romantic co-ownership, Simmone Shah noted that inflation, increased cost of living and stagnant wages are reducing would-be buyers’ down-payment power.

While economics are a strong driver of the co-buying trend, changing attitudes also play a part.

“Many millennials and members of Gen Z no longer view the traditional markers of stability — marriage, children and a white picket fence — as an inevitable or even desirable goal” Shah wrote.

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How to choose co-purchasers

While co-buying comes with certain advantages, it’s not without challenges. One important early decision is choosing who to partner with; you want to make sure it is someone you can trust.

For example, Mark said Nate and Stephanie were “the only people on the planet who we could imagine doing it with. We have a very balanced relationship with them.”

The process involved open and honest conversations about finances and what everybody wanted out of the arrangement.

Once you’ve chosen the right partner, there are still several issues to sort out.

CoBuy, which surveyed co-buyers and co-owners, found six core challenges, including:

• The co-ownership agreement
• Finances, expenses and payments
• Documentation and record-keeping
• Roles, rights and responsibilities
• Exit strategies
• Risk protection

“If you buy a house with other people, it’s important to treat it as a business as much as it is a living situation,” Mark said.

He and his co-owners engaged a lawyer to draft an operating agreement similar to what business partners purchasing property would have.

The couples also hold formal homeowner meetings and make decisions by voting. Each couple is responsible for upkeep and esthetics for their own unit as well as their own taxes and insurance.