Two couples teamed up to buy a house – here’s how they did it – ryan

This as-to-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with Austin Mark, 39, who bough a House in July 2024 with Three Other People-his Husband and Another Couple, Nate and Stephanie. Business Insider Has Verified Mark’s Home Ownership. HIS Words have been edited for Length and Clarity.

My Husband Bryan and I Moved from Chicago to the West Coast 14 years ago. We decided to move back to chicago Last year, and our Friends Night Hanak and Stephanie Strother Asked If We Want to Purchase Property Together.

They’re the Only People on the planet who we did so imagine doing it with. We have a very balanced Relationship with say.

We Hear a Lot of People TELL US They’ve always wanted to buy a big house with their Friends, and we’ve also heard a lot of People we’re absolutely crazy.

Crew we decide to proceed, we started Having zoom calls frequently to enure everybody was on the Same Page.

Conversation One Was, “Let’s Talk About Finance.” We wanted to have all of our personal finance on the table so that we knew what Everyone was comfortable with. It was helpful to have a really open and honestation about whereeebody was at.

We put 40% down

In July 2024 we found a multi-unit building that we all liked.

The House was Around $ 800,000. Each Couple Split the Down Payment 50/50, and we decided to put down 40% of the total home Value.

We wanted to put down more to Lower Our Monthly Payments SINCE MORTGAGE RATES WERE SO HIGH. The 40% Down Brought US to A Place Where Neither Couple Waled See a Significant Increase in their Monthly Housing Costs before and after Buying the House.

For Our Monthly Payments Now, Instead of Each Couple Paying Half of the Mortgage Every Month, we actually switch off. One Couple Pays the Who Mortgage for the Whole Building Every Other Month. It all breaks down to being the sun, but it definitely simplifies things.

Swimming is bundled together, though. We decide to be separat Our taxes and insurance.

With what we are each paying, we never cououl have found something Similar Separately;

We have an operating aggrement

If you buy a house with other People, ITS Important to Treat it as a Business as it is a living situation. We have had gone through the process with a lawer of talking about creating an llc and thatn ultimately decidated that it was necessary beca’t intend to rent any parts of our house. Our Operating AGREEMENT LAYS OUT The Terms of How Finance Are Split.

The wording of our operating aggrement includes all of the Legal Stuff that you would find in any aggregreement Among Business Purchasing Property. We have Have Haa Meetings Just like we were woul if we didn’t know each other before doing this. We take care of the things by voting.

Anyding to do with individual units, like a personal aesthetic choice, is with each couple’s Own Money. We split anything that has to do with Common Areas or the yard.

IT’S a Very Old Building, SO we did Run on a leading Emergency Not Long AFter Purchasing the Building. We split the cost of the sewer line clean out. The Proppery Has Very Large Trees on it, so we are also paid an arborist to come and clear up the trees and split that.

Each Couple Has Two Floors

The Building at Present Has Four Kitchens, Four Full Baths, Two Half Baths, and Six Bedrooms.

Each couple has a primary unit with an identical footprint, and then we have a Secondary unit that is taken different. Stephanie and Night Have an Attic Unit, and My Husband and I Have The Basement Unit.

The two primary units have the Same footprint, but they look complex differently. Mine has all dark wood brave and a very Old chicago prairie style, while theyirs is much lighter and a bit more modern. Their Attic Unit has a really cool, and they like Bright and Open it is, while I like playing video games in the basin.

The fact that we’re not sharing kitchens and bathrooms makes it really easy to feel like we’re living out lives and not in each other’s space.

We reference to it as the “forever home,” Which Might have ben a joke at first, but since we’ve gotten in here, it does feed it’s a Very long-term living solution. We have a ton of space.

If anybody ends up Having Kids, there’s Room to Grow with the Building Already. Becuses the apartments are separat, it doesn’t feel at all like we’re roommates.