You’ve been saving.
You’ve been budgeting.
You’ve cut back on brunch, skipped the vacation and maybe even moved back in with your parents for a year. But every time you check Zillow, the houses you can afford are farther away, smaller or in neighborhoods you don’t want to live in. And the ones you actually want? They’re expensive.
So homebuyers are pooling money with friends, siblings and people they trust to buy property together.
Welcome to the era of co-buying, where homeownership is less about waiting for “the one” and more about refusing to wait at all.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University released the 2025 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report, which examines a range of issues influencing housing affordability and the residential options available to residents.
It shows that families with a median income can only afford homes close to $195,000, while the median property price in Harris County has increased to almost $325,000. For many families, homeownership is becoming increasingly unaffordable due to this affordability gap.
Co-buying is the practice of purchasing property with friends, siblings or other non-romantic partners. According to a recent study by JW Surety Bonds, nearly 15% of Americans have co-purchased a home with someone other than a romantic partner, and another 48% would consider it.
Society historically viewed homeownership as a post-marriage goal. Co-buying breaks that norm, making it acceptable to enter the market with a “platonic” or “romantic-but-unmarried” partner.
Buyers typically choose between joint tenancy, where owners hold equal shares and have rights of survivorship, or tenancy in common, which allows unequal ownership shares and lets each party sell or pass on their share independently.
“Younger people are absolutely being shut out of home buying due to unaffordability and inaccessibility,” says Ayesha Shelton, co-founder of Park Street Homes in Houston. “The ability to co-purchase property is one way that millennials have the ability to access homeownership and investing.”
Gen Z and Millennials are leading a surge in co-buying, with roughly 32% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials considering purchasing homes with friends, family or partners to combat high interest rates and limited affordability.
The benefits and risks
Shared down payments, split monthly costs and earlier market entry are just a few of the benefits. Houston’s abundance of duplexes makes the city particularly well suited for co-buying.
“I think it’s an amazing idea for two people to come together and buy a duplex together. The piece that’s most easily overlooked is we are in agreement at this time,” Shelton says. “It’s important to evaluate what your steps will be if there ever comes a time when you all are not in agreement.”
Kristina Modares, a co-buying strategist at Joynt who has co-purchased property 10 times, sees it as a natural evolution.
“This is just like another thing that’s being introduced to them that’s maybe not so crazy as it may have been to their parents,” she says.
Legal agreements are essential. Modares recounts helping a woman who bought with her boyfriend, only to have him unexpectedly end the relationship and demand that they sell.
“She was like, I wish I had known my options,” Modares says.
Operating agreements should spell out ownership percentages, exit strategies and what happens if someone wants out early. Shelton recommends involving an attorney from the start because “If you don’t, then it can get pretty messy.”
While some see co-buying as a temporary workaround for high interest rates, Modares believes it’s a long-term solution.
“As things get more expensive, this is still going to be a really popular idea,” she says. “It all depends on how the market moves.”
Modares offers straightforward advice to prospective co-buyers: vet partners carefully, have difficult money conversations early and put everything in writing.
This story originally appeared here.