Ways to Share
Financially, you are probably better off owning a home than renting, even if you can't own a house entirely by yourself yet. Sharing a house today can get your foot in the door to homeownership. Stretch your thinking and this might work for you. Following are some additional points to consider.
Why not buy half a house? That shared-housing style is solid and well conceived, and it is not just for twenty-five-year-olds. Many strapped renters can enter into a shared buying arrangement at any age and can enjoy the privacy, freedom, investment potential, and tax advantages of ownership.
You and another buyer could purchase a two-family house, each inhabiting one apartment. Or, you could buy a single-family house, sharing it equally or spending money to convert it into two complete dwelling units. Yes, you will essentially be living in an apartment, but remember that this is a starter home, not the house of your dreams. You may not be able to afford a $225,000 house in the neighborhood you like, but half that house, at $112,500, could be within your means.
In the early and mid-1980s, there was a home style built by a few developers known as “mingles” housing. These were homes built specifically for sharing, often constructed in high-priced areas, particularly resorts, where the cost of a single-family home would be prohibitive for many buyers. There was a common living/dining area, a kitchen, and then separate bedrooms and baths at each end of the dwelling. For whatever reason, mingles housing did not exactly grow at a furious pace. But if you find some of these homes in your area, it might pay to investigate them. Call your local or state builders' association and ask where there might be some developments like these.
“Put it in writing” is the cardinal rule for sharing ownership of a house. Have a lawyer draw up an agreement for the two (or three or four) of you, covering every aspect of buying, maintaining, and selling that home.
If you cannot find any mingle-type housing, look for a home design that lends itself nicely to sharing. These homes will have a kitchen, a large living/dining area, a master bedroom/bath at one side of that area, and another bedroom and bath or two at the opposite end. That design works better for unrelated sharers than having all of the bedrooms clustered at one end of the house.
