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Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions a person will make in their lifetime—and increasingly, millennials aren’t making that decision on their own. Sure, it’s pretty common for couples to go in on a real-estate purchase, but platonic roommates are now starting to chip in on a mortgage together.
According to data from the National Association of Realtors, 4 percent of first-time home buyers made their purchase with the help of housemates between July 2018 and June 2019—double the percentage from the previous year. It might not be a countrywide trend quite yet, but it is a growing one, dubbed co-buying, that shows millennials are willing to get crafty to make their home-ownership dreams come true. It has already led to the launch of companies, like Seattle-based CoBuy, which aim to help roommates figure out the logistics and legality of jointly investing in property.
Cohabitation has its challenges even if you’re just sharing a lease, so a little extra planning effort can go a long way if you’re willing to go the extra mile to split a mortgage. Our recommendations: Figure out how you want to split living costs (by room size? by income?) and put things in writing to avoid future arguments. If the dishes in the sink keep piling up, a chore chart might be a good idea And above all, be respectful—after all, that’s the quality that 99 percent of people say they look for in a roommate.
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