Buying With Friends - Your experience?

rosspwilliams

I rented with one of my best mates, and it was a bad idea. We ended up falling out and not speaking for the best part of 6 months (though we are good mates again now).

At the start you think it's great, go down the pub every night and have a good laugh. Once you settle in a bit, and start doing your own thing the fun soon stops and if there is ever any problem with bills then you really are stuck. You also have to consider the problem if either of you were to meet someone, want to move out etc.

Renting together was bad enough, so I would never get, or recommend having a mortgage with a friend. Too many potential issues involved.

nzseries1

Similar to Rosspwilliams, I moved into a rented place with a friend who I'd known for the best part of 6 years - we'd never had any arguments before until after we'd been living together 3 months or so! I rented the two bedroom place myself and had my friend as a lodger.

After a while we were arguing all the time. She ended up moving out and luckily we became good friends again after 6 months or so but I said after that I'd never move in with friends again.

That was back in 1999 when I was 19 and she was 17, admittedly our ages might have had something to do with it. Later on when I was 24 a different friend and I rented two different rooms in the same flatshare, and it worked out great. However I think the difference there was neither of us had any real financial interest in the property.

DebsDD

I bought a house with a friend of mine just under 4 years ago, she already owned a flat which she was renting out while living with relatives as she didn't want to live alone. We generally got along fine, although as well as the exit plan i would also suggest drawing up a rota of who does what as far as cleaning tidying etc is concerned as that was what wound me up more than anything. Having said that she was very good as I then met someone who moved in with us, it was a 3 bed house, and then his kids came to stay at weekends. At the end of last year my partner and I wanted to buy together but in the meantime her flat had been repossessed and we were worried she would not be able to get a mortgage on her own and that the house could be in negative equity. As it happened her Dad had equity released from his house and paid off half her mortgage but it was a stressful time feeling guilty about what she would do together with wanting to move on.

It was the right answer for me as it got me on the housing ladder which i couldn't afford to do on my own but I would recommend having formal cotracts drawn up and deciding what would happen in various scenarios and who is responsible for what.

Good luck.

CLAPTON

there is NO way you can specify that the mortgage can be 'split' and each assume responsibilty for half

you will each be jointly and severally responsible for the whole mortgage
if one loses their job then the other MUST pay

if one wants to move out and the other can't get a mortgage for the full amount then what will you do?

dizziblonde

What happens when women come onto the scene? That usually seems to be the kicker in these arrangements - either he ends up seeing someone you hate, making masses of noise bonking at all hours, or one of you gets loved up and wants to move into a house with your significant other leaving the other with a rather large mortgage.

Maybe it's just me - but my idea of hell is housesharing - I'd rather have a shoebox on my own, than a palace with a housemate! I've also seen a very dear friend of mine house share with other guys he's really good friends with for years - and it's been the end of the friendship with him wanting to brutally murder them with a dishcloth when he realized his mate was actually Britain's Most Untidy Man.

Either go small and affordable or slightly bigger with a lodger - at least then the balance of power is in your hands.

neverdespairgirl

I like house sharing. It can indeed work, and it doesn't all have to end in tears.

OH and I shared a flat with a girl we were at uni with, for 5 years, and then a bloke OH was at school with, for 2 years. We didn't argue over bills / mess / anything, and it was great.

Pick the person carefully, though. You need to have similar tastes in home life - I don't mean eating / drinking / etc, but attitudes to people round, and time on your own, etc.

sp_123

if you want him still to be your mate then leave well alone

While all might be good now, things change, especially if one of you get a partner, i suppose it works for some people, id never do it again