
The Case for Buying a House with Friends - Townley
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/how-buy-house-friends-without-going-crazy/603538/
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Spivak
I think the main financial barrier is that you can't really own half a house.
You can have everyone on the mortgage but then you're all 100% responsible for
the all the payments which would scare the bejeezus out of me because in this
scheme you're almost always buying a house that no single person/family in the
group can afford.

I realize that I'm a little financially paranoid but I made sure that when we
bought our house that we could afford our mortgage on a single salary and
trying to scale this up sounds like a nightmare.

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hirsin
It helps to be in the same place as the other person(s) and time bomb the
agreement. For us, it's:

Roughly similar salaries at Microsoft/Amazon

Same age

Significantly overlapping friend groups (which increases house utilization and
happiness)

Ability to buy the house outright with reserves

Significant levels of trust

ARM mortgage guarantees that we're going to sell in 5-7 years, so if either of
us want out we can generally wait it out in the worst case.

It's not an ideal scenario for everyone - I'm very lucky to be where I'm at.
But it's very satisfying,and we're fortunate enough to not have to worry about
the same financial concerns as others.

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vkaku
I've already told my friends about this. If you're co-renting, might as well
co-buy it and co-sell or transfer it.

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zaphirplane
What’s the plan if someone falls behind in payments, one Gets married/wants to
move in with their SO Or there is a falling out

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fyfy18
You just need a contract detailing the conditions of what happens in case of
dispute up front.

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brudgers
A contract won't pay the mortgage. It won't clear the title. Basically, in
business contracts only come into play when relationships are bad. In a good
relationship, discussions of the contract are "Why didn't you do that?" "Doing
it is not part of the contract." "Oh, OK."

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killerpopiller
one buys the house and separates the levels into flats selling those to the
friendly parties. It’s common.

~~~
stevenicr
that wouldn't work with most properties in residential zoning in the city I've
been in... codes won't allow adding a second kitchen where I'm at even.

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earlINmeyerkeg
I'll never understand zoning laws. 9/10 it's just NIMBY complaining that your
house is better or worse than theirs.

