Local News
Vancouverites turn to home co-ownership amid high prices

When Elizabeth Wilcox’s family started growing, her small Mount Pleasant condo started feeling even smaller.
She knew they needed more space, but who can afford a detached home in Vancouver?
“We were looking in the suburbs, we were looking in Squamish, we were looking at having to leave the city,” she said.
Elizabeth and her husband went an unconventional route: they pooled their resources with another couple — strangers to them — and bought a house together.
As the goal of home ownership continues to become more and more difficult to achieve in Vancouver, some people are considering co-ownership with friends, family, or even strangers.
This may involve sharing the upper and lower units of a Vancouver Special, or a main unit and a laneway house, but share common spaces, such as the backyard.
They often also work together to look after each other’s kids and pets and share communal responsibilities like mowing the lawn and maintaining the property.
The Leader Spirit spoke with Wilcox not long after her family had moved in. She says that in the time since, the arrangement has worked perfectly for her family. She and her partner and their co-owners laid out rules and signed a contract beforehand that helps dictate how they respond to certain situations, like making a big repair.
“We took out the old water heater and put in a new one, and for that, we had a discussion about it,” she said.
“We decided that given our needs in the house, it was a good priority for us, and then we split the cost 50/50, which is the same as the ownership of the house.”
Vancouverite Noam Dolgin co-founded CoHo, the service that helped match Liz’s family with their co-owners. He says getting that match right is critical.
“Much like dating, it’s not just about, ‘We’re gonna do it and jump right in,’” Dolgin said.
“Fortunately we do so much due diligence that very rarely do we hear about challenges in these co-ownership arrangements, because the amount of advanced conversations around deal-breakers, around values, around how you use the home, you really kind of set yourself up for success.”
With demand slowing as it is, the Greater Vancouver Realtors Association says the number of unsold properties is at a 10-year-high, so now could be the right time for some people to dip their toes into the market — together.
“Overall, we don’t have enough supply. So when this does turn around, and we do have all these buyers rush back, it’ll be absorbed and we’ll be in full-blown multiple offers again, in my opinion,” said Realtor Dave Robles
But for some, like Elizabeth Wilcox, it’s not just about saving money. It’s also about gaining a community.
“When we moved in, my husband had to spend a week in hospital unexpectedly, and at that time, they made dinner for me and the two kids every night because I was on my own and things like that, and I’m not sure we would have had that had we been elsewhere.”
As the housing market continues to find its footing, this family is just happy to be enjoying the ups and downs of home co-ownership.