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It’s the new homebuying strategy that’s taking the real estate market by storm.
It’s the new homebuying strategy that’s taking the real estate market by storm.
A 25-year-old woman’s idea to buy a house with a friend has led her to eventually acquire six and even start a company of her own.
The Austin, Texas resident realised she could afford to buy property as long as she pooled her money with a group of friends.
Kristina Modares (@openhouseaustin) shared her story in a TikTok series, showing how she came to buy her first house at age 25 and eventually acquired six properties with friends under the same method.
She is part of a growing trend of young, single people considering homeownership as a viable financial option.
She’s now a self-made businesswoman running her own real estate company that is famous for its slogan, “Houses Before Spouses.”
Modares and her business partner coined the term in a TikTok video.
They aim to show young single people that home ownership is possible, even when you’re not partnered.
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Kristina Modares owns six homes at just 25.
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“People buy with their spouses all the time, why is this any different?” she said.
She explained that she’s only a partial owner in each of her properties, owning 13 per cent of one and 33 per cent of another.
Modares also said that the friend group has a joint bank account it doesn’t touch in case emergencies come up, or things are needed for their shared home. Banding with her friends has allowed her to become part of a new and large camp of single women homeowners.
These women own 2.7 million more houses than their male counterparts in 47 of the 50 US states, according to a LendingTree study.
That’s despite the fact that women’s median weekly earnings are 83 per cent of men’s.
In Australia, recent studies have found that women own more apartments than men – 35.7 per cent compared with 34.6 per cent.
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WHY BUYING WITH FRIENDS IS A TREND
Buying with friends means you “share the costs, the liability, and the celebrations,” said Modares in one of her TikToks.
But why exactly has this practice become so popular?
According to a JW Surety Bonds survey, nearly 25 per cent of those who have bought homes with non-romantic partners revealed they couldn’t have afforded a home on their own.
When it comes to owning property with another person, MoneyWise found a majority of respondents said they’d prefer living with a friend or sibling over a parent, extended family, co-worker, or grandparent.
The financial education website also found over half of the people who buy a property with their friends are millennials who’ve lived through two recessions that have largely affected the housing market.
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While the trend is mostly popular among this age group, it could also catch up to Boomers in the future.
The JW Surety Bonds survey recorded that buying with a friend is something 9 per cent of Boomers are doing.
And even older generations are cohabitating with friends for a more secure and safe living opportunity, according to MoneyWise.
For adults over 65, living with a roommate could help alleviate ageing anxiety and make the overall cost of living more bearable if caregiving costs are split.
This article first appeared in The US Sun, it is republished here with permission.
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The post ‘Friends with benefits’: new homebuying move takes off appeared first on realestate.com.au.
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