You need to get a mortgage first, which you won't do straight from college. You need to get some money behind you etc etc
But once you are in the house, then it can be a good idea to have people in to make it cheaper. But remember that there are a lot of downsides to sharing
PROS
- helps you pay the mortgage
- makes bills cheaper
- means you have company in the house
CONS
- sharing with friends doesn't always work depending on the friend - what if they decide to stop paying rent or bills because they think they can because the landlord is a mate and won't mind ??
- how will you feel when its YOUR house and YOUR furniture that you paid for and after a drunken night out 2 of your live in friends decide to start to trash the place - that may be funny when you are students in a rented place - but not so funny now
- how will you feel about them inviting girls / other mates over at all hours and so on when you are trying to sleep
IF you do decide to share - pick your friends carefully and make it VERY clear to everyone what the rules are. If they don't like the rules, tough, its your house, your rules, then they don't move in - their choice
Good luck
If you purchase a house, you don't pay rent. If you have to take out a loan, you pay a mortgage.
If you decide to rent to your friends, pay an attorney a few hundred dollars to draw up rental agreements for them. I recommend having them all on separate lease contracts so if one acts up or fails to pay rent, you can evict him and him alone.
You also need to be upfront about the professional aspect of this and not be a pushover. Renting to friends is a Pain In The A because friendship gets in the way.
You also need to make upfront rules that there are NO PETS. Work out a cleaning responsibility list. Work out house rules.
*YOU* also need an excellent agent who can help you purchase a home that will work for this and won't lose value.
Living with your friends if you are the owner of the property is a lot less fun that you think it sounds. When your friend decides to smoke pot every waking hour in his bedroom, you are thinking about drug raids, how much it's going to cost to clean the room, him burning down the house, etc. When you have to get up to go to work and the lodgers are partying until 3am, it's a lot less fun. When Johnny isn't pulling his weight on cleaning responsibility, it's no fun. Pride of ownership tends to take a ton of fun out of the arrangement, unless you are independently wealthy and don't care if the house falls down around you.
When you buy, you don't pay rent, you pay a mortgage. Right out of college, you won't qualify for one.
Buy a house, or Rent a house?? You use both words in differenct sentences. Buying & renting are 2 different things. You can do it, the question is can you afford it?
I'm in my last year of college and plan to buy a house and live in it with my best friends. I know its tough to manage money, but wouldn't it be easier to have friends move in with me to split the rent? I've been wanting to live with my friends for a while because it sounds awesome. What do you guys think?
