Home is where the heart is. Nowadays, it might also be where your friends, cousins, and granny are. 🏡 All across the country, people are looking for non-traditional ways to buy a house. In this economy, can ya blame ‘em? 😵💫💸
Shacking up with your friends and fam when there’s a mortgage involved has some unique moving parts. Take a look at these tidbits before you make any decisions. 👀
Here’s Five Fast Facts on buying a home with family or friends:
- 🏘️ Are You Down? - We know, we say it all the time: homebuying is expensive AF. According to a down payment survey, over half of wannabe homeowners said they don’t make enough money to afford a down payment or closing costs. Home prices are on the rise, too. In March, single-family homes were up 4.7% from last year.
- 👨👩👦👦 All In the Family - Not married? You can still buy a home. Co-buying, or buying a home with a friend, partner, or family member, is on the rise. Zillow just reported that 14% of recent homebuyers bought a home with a friend, and 12% did so with a relative.
- 🎉 Party Time, Excellent - When it comes to co-buying, people are mixing things up to buy a home of their own. According to a recent co-buying survey, 42% of co-ownership arrangements had more than one relationship type. The more the merrier! That is, if your house has more than one bathroom.
- 📑 Four’s a Crowd - If you’re thinking about co-buying, there are some restrictions when it comes to the mortgage process. While there’s technically no official limit on how many people can be on a mortgage, lenders typically like to see no more than four borrowers. Once you go over that number, underwriters have to do things manually, which is a huge pain in the rump.
- 🤔 The Yays and Nays - Before you go all in on a house with your buddies, weigh the pros and cons. The positives are that you’ll be able to afford a bigger down payment and split ongoing homeownership costs. The downside? If your co-buyer defaults on mortgage payments, it could impact your credit, too. Sharing such a big financial responsibility could also put a strain on your relationship.
🔥Bottom line: Co-buying is a great path to homeownership. Just make sure you get along with those siblings you’re shacking up with. Without mom there to ground your older bro, you could wind up with a major wedgie if you use up all his toothpaste. Are you a first-time homebuyer? We hate to be a Debbie D, but home prices are out of this world (in a bad way).
Do you own a home with a friend or family member?
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