FAQ
General
CoBuy is an online platform that makes it easier to buy a home with one or more other people – be it friends, family members, or both.
Once you’ve decided to co-buy a property with one or more friends or family members, you can sign up for an account on the site. Here you will be guided through co-buying a home at your own pace. You'll have access to resources and tools, and you are able to contact a CoBuy Pro for additional support at any point.
Anyone looking to buy property with one or more friends, family, or loved ones.
  • Friends buying together
  • Unmarried couples
  • Family helping a son/daughter buy a home
  • Multi-generational households
  • Folks buying a second/investment property together
There are different reasons to jointly purchase property, both financial and social. Pooling resources and taking advantage of economies of scale enables some people to purchase a home earlier or of a higher standard than they might otherwise be able to afford. Often times families look to co-buy property. While the motivations vary, the processes, pain points, and risk mitigation tools are similar.
CoBuy simplifies the process and helps co-buyers follow best practice to mitigate risks. This saves time (and money) and helps avert unwanted outcomes. There are some things you shouldn't do unprotected, and co-buying a home is one of them.
We currently serve Greater Seattle, Greater Portland, and Newport Beach, CA, and we have plans to roll out coverage across the states. Interested in co-buying but live outside of these metropolitan areas? Contact us.
For a limited time, we are waiving our fee of $100 per co-buyer in the group.
Nope. By pooling resources, co-buyers save on fixed costs, have increased buying power, and benefit from economies of scale.
The co-buying process
Co-buying involves two or more people jointly purchasing a property.
One or more co-buyers and the ability to finance the home. CoBuy helps you determine your eligibility, but ultimately discretion lies with the lender. Policies vary from one lender to another and the rules and regulations they are subject to are in constant flux. CoBuy's platform helps prepare you and can connect you with lenders experienced in jointly-financed purchases.
This depends on you and your group. Our process is designed to reduce the friction at each step along the way, from planning to closing. Once we have basic information on you and your needs, we will be able to provide guidance in context of the current market conditions.
A real-estate licensed CoBuy Pro will be on hand to assist you as needed, but this isn't your traditional real estate agent. We understand your time is valuable and we designed our platform with this in mind. CoBuy minimizes the need for superfluous face time, but your CoBuy Pro is there to support you.
Financing the home
CoBuy helps you prepare and can connect you with lenders experienced in jointly-financed purchases.
Nope. Multiple borrowers, family or otherwise, can jointly apply for mortgages. Requirements vary by institution and program, and discretion lies with the lending institution.
Due to differing policies between lenders and the multitude of moving parts, no calculator can accurately predict how much a co-buy group is eligible to borrow. As a rule of thumb, you’ll need at least 3.5-5% of the value of your target property as down payment.
Nope. Lenders are looking at assets, incomes, and credit scores of each co-buyer. Having a student loan doesn’t automatically prevent someone from co-buying. If you have decent credit and your group has sufficient funds for a down payment, the lender is likely to look at your debt-to-income ratio to ensure your required monthly repayments towards any student loans wouldn’t impair your ability to make monthly mortgage payments. In many cases, you may be able to reduce your monthly payment on a student loan or restructure your debt to reduce the impact on your debt-to-income ratio.
Nope. You and your co-buyer(s) are free to determine individual contributions.
Nope. You and your co-buyer(s) are free to determine individual ownership shares. You may decide to split these in proportion to individual contributions to your down payment, but you aren't obligated to do so.
Co-owning a property
No. Co-owners may be occupants or non-occupants, or a mixture.
We provide risk mitigation tools including a co-ownership agreement and (optional) insurance. Many co-buyers find that establishing a framework beforehand is the best way to deal with these scenarios.
When purchasing any asset, there are inherent risks to execution and ownership. CoBuy helps potential co-buyers identify risks, provides access to information on best practice, and identifies possible risk mitigation tools. CoBuy can also facilitate introductions to licensed professionals in controlled functions across lending and real estate who have experience dealing with joint-property purchases.
Privacy
We will ask you for basic personal and financial information. We will not ask for any sensitive information such as bank account details or social security number, though at the appropriate time you will need to provide this information to a lender.
We ask for basic financial information to help you determine your eligibility, and that of your co-buyer(s). This helps streamline the process, which ultimately saves you time and money.
We will never share your information without your consent. As part of our process, we have vetted and selected best-in-class professionals in lending and real estate who are highly experienced in assisting co-buyers jointly purchase property. With your permission, we pass along relevant information about you and your co-buyer(s) to these professionals in order to increase efficiency, effectively saving everyone involved both time and money. Of course, you are not obligated to use any particular lender and are encouraged to research the market.
No individual financial information will be shared amongst the group. Any co-buyer(s) in your group will only see the group's total available down payment and the group's total available monthly housing payment. If anyone in the group has a self-reported credit score of lower than 580, this will be indicated but the individual will not be named. That said, transparency is paramount to the success of the co-buy process and the co-ownership arrangement. Given the magnitude of the purchase and the shared financial responsibility, many co-buyers see value in full disclosure of financial and personal circumstances. In the end, the lending process will reveal each co-buyer’s financial situation.
About our company
CoBuy is run by founders with over 35 years combined experience in real estate and finance. The CoBuy team draws on this experience and that of its partners across lending, legal, and real estate services. Check out about us for more info on who we are and why we founded CoBuy.
CoBuy was founded at the end of 2015 and formally incorporated in 2016.
CoBuy is based in sunny Seattle, WA.