Over the next ten years, would you rather live alone in a house you own yourself, or live with others in a house you all own?
It seems simple and fairly obvious on the face of it, and most of us will have an instinctive response. But we move on, I’d suggest there’s more layers to this than just property.
Here’s some things to potentially consider:
What kind of house are you imagining in both cases? If you’ve spent ten years living with people, you’ve probably figured out a few things, and the house probably isn’t quite the ‘normal’ kind of building. What could it look like?
What long-term financial assumptions are you making? In terms of your income, the cost of living, the cost of finance. And remember capital gains aren’t guaranteed, especially when continuous growth isn’t necessarily a good goal.
If you’ve been able to co-own property for 10 years, you’ve probably been able to do more than just share ownership. You’ve probably had more time and/or money to spend on things you want to do. You’ve probably had to experience significant personal growth in order to live the more than one other person for an extended period of time. You’ve probably shared a whole heap of life moments and memories with a small group of close friends. You’re probably more like (a functional) family than a bunch of mates (although the argument could be made that the most functional family is a bunch of mates).
What is the benefit of stability? Because you’ve probably lived in the same place for ten years. How many people on your street do you know? How big is your vegetable garden now?
Would you rather…