- Housing affordability has never been further out of reach.
- To pay their mortgages, more Americans are living with roommates.
Housing affordability has never been further out of reach as soaring costs weigh on buyers.
While this has forced some Americans to put their home owning dreams on pause, it's led others to rethink traditional housing norms.
Kreszentia Petroff is just one of many homebuyers pursuing homeownership on their own terms — a decision that has helped her save a lot of money.
For the past 21 months, the 26 year-old social media coordinator has lived in a suburb of Allen, Texas with her brand manager husband Allen, a dog, and a roommate. Together they share a three-bedroom and two-bath home that was purchased in 2021.
Although her roommate is not officially on the mortgage, the trio split a monthly payment of $1,750. Instead of Petroff and her husband being on the hook for $875 a month each, they divy up the cost three ways. It brings their monthly bill below $600, making it both an afforable and easy way into homeownership.
It's an agreement that has given Petroff the financial freedom that she says so many of her peers lack.
"If we can save money and live with someone that we get along with, why wouldn't we?" she told Insider. "It affords us things like travel, hobbies and luxuries that most people our age wouldn't get if they owned a home or even paid rent. We're able to do it because we have that extra source of income."
For Petroff's roommate Cameron Dugan, a 27 year-old salesman, living with roommates has been more than financially rewarding — it has also brought him a sense of security, even though he is not one of the owners of the house.
"We all save money is the obvious, but honestly we help each other out a lot too," he said. "My roommates watch my dog when I am at work and I do the same for their animals. They are my best friends so it's been great."
Surging inflation has increased the cost of almost everything, especially housing. That's because the Federal Reserve's anti-inflation efforts have resulted in several interest rate hikes that have helped to push mortgage rates up. Prospective homebuyers are now facing rates that have nearly doubled in the past year. This coupled with high — although moderating — home prices, means a lot of Americans are struggling to afford homeownership. It's unsurprising that more are considering living with their friends.
"I don't think that we would have been able to purchase a home if we did not have a roommate," Petroff said. "It's just insanely expensive to live now."
"We all come from working class backgrounds and in a way having a roommate has helped us all break that cycle and create a different version of our lives where struggling for money isn't always on the forefront of our brains," she said.
How to make a roommate work
The Petroffs aren't alone in looking for non-traditional paths to owning a home, and some specialized real estate firms are helping prospective homebuyers navigate alternatives.
Holly Ratcliff and Stephanie Douglass, are the founders of real estate brokerage Open House Austin. The pair help homebuyers across the city "break through the barriers of traditional homeownership" by teaching them to form real estate partnerships.
For many of their clients, that means purchasing a home with a roommate — a trend that they say is spreading.
"We work with people who might not have as much money or might not have as many resources available to them," Ratcliff told Insider, adding that the current interest rate environment is encouraging more of their clientele to purchase homes with their friends.
"Roommates are like an entry point in the housing market," she said. "The market is so tough right now and that makes it really good for partnerships. We have shifted our business based on the fact that real estate is changing every single day."
As the market shifts, the duo says the trend is growing. "We're definitely seeing it way more now," Douglass said. "We are also trying to make people more aware that you don't have to be a renter forever. If you live with someone else right now, it's actually pretty possible for y'all to buy a house together."
Living with a roommate isn't new, of course, but it's traditionally been more common for young people, single people, and renters. However rising costs are encouraging more married couples to share their homes with roommates, according to the results of a survey conducted by real estate marketplace Trulia.
Petroff has always lived with roommates, even as a renter. She says there are a few drawbacks to doing so as a married couple — but ultimately the good outweighs the bad.
"I guess complete solitude could be lacking but privacy is never anything I struggle with," she said, adding that the couple is "lucky to have a roommate that understands boundaries."
For those considering cohabitation — married or single — Ratcliff and Douglass advise that buyers be informed and selective in their pairing. "There are so many different ways to do it but the first step is to make sure you're doing this with the right person," Douglas said.
It's a suggestion that Petroff takes to heart.
"I would say make sure that the person you choose to live with is somebody that you trust and you know is responsible," she said. "I've had bad roommates in the past who were not necessarily bad people, we just did not mesh well together in a living situation. I would also not recommend necessarily living with a stranger, I think that can just put really unnecessary stress on you."
Once a roommate is selected, Douglass says deciding who pays what is very important.
"If your roommate is not included on the mortgage you have to divvy up ownership and figure out who is doing what."
She suggests that it could look like one person being on the mortgage while the other contributes to the down payment. However buyers choose to do it, she says "you just have to make sure it all feels fair."
Dugan says fairness is an important factor in their household.
"No one's perfect so we all don't always see eye to eye on everything," he said. "But we also have an understanding and respect for each other."
Without this shared sentiment, Petroff says living with roommates would be difficult.
"I don't believe someone would be able to have a long term roommate without that shared respect for boundaries, money and space." she said. "That being said, you don't know you'll have that dynamic until you give it a try."