{"id":560738,"date":"2023-03-07T20:01:04","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-realtor-created-a-tinder-for-property-co-ownership\/"},"modified":"2023-03-07T20:01:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:01:04","slug":"this-realtor-created-a-tinder-for-property-co-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-realtor-created-a-tinder-for-property-co-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"#This realtor created a Tinder for property co-ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326c4b3e800\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326c4b3e800\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-realtor-created-a-tinder-for-property-co-ownership\/#%E2%80%9CThis_realtor_created_a_Tinder_for_property_co-ownership%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;This realtor created a Tinder for property co-ownership&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_realtor_created_a_Tinder_for_property_co-ownership%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;This realtor created a Tinder for property co-ownership&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1243983\" style=\"width: 2905px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1243983 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/LesliGaynorFridmanTeam2020-10-03@taranoellephoto-8883copy-e1678138972181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2895\" height=\"2069\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Husmates co-founder Lesli Gaynor (photo courtesy Gaynor)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since becoming a real estate agent in 2015, Lesli Gaynor has specialized in co-ownership. She sees it as a model of housing that addresses the problems of affordability, lack of density and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> isolation. Co-purchasers are often family members or friends, but that doesn\u2019t have to be the case. She and her business partner, Parimal Gosai, started talking about how they could help and, in 2021, they launched Husmates: a real estate platform that works like a dating <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> by matching buyers looking to purchase property together. Sharing a mortgage with a stranger may sound like a risky proposition, but Gaynor says it\u2019s all about doing the right work in advance. Here, she talks\u00a0about why it\u2019s a good idea to keep kitchens and bathrooms separate and what happens if your co-owner lands their dream job in Timbuktu.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>RELATED: My mortgage is about to go up by at least $1,000 a month<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Husmates sounds like Tinder for real estate. Where did the idea come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Co-ownership is the reason I got into real estate. I purchased a property with two friends back in the \u201990s and I saw a lot of potential in the model, both as a way for people to break into the market and as a force for positive social change. That\u2019s been my focus since I became a real estate agent in 2015. I\u2019ve been helping prospective owners co-purchase properties since then. In 2019, I met my business partner, Parimal. He was the listing agent on a deal I was doing and we got to talking and realized we were both passionate about co-ownership. During the pandemic, we kept getting calls from potential clients who wanted to co-purchase and had their finances in order, but didn\u2019t have someone to buy with.\u00a0Parimal and I started talking about how we could help these clients, and that\u2019s when this idea of a real estate dating app came up. Tinder for real estate is our elevator pitch, but you shouldn\u2019t meet someone online and jump into a purchase any more than you would go on one Tinder date and agree to get married.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How exactly do people match on Husmates? And what happens then?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You create a profile and fill in details about everything from your finances to your location preferences to your social life and diet. (If you\u2019re vegan, you probably don\u2019t want to be with someone who barbecues every weekend.) Currently we have about 450 users on the app, which is focused on properties in Toronto and the GTHA. A match is when you \u201clike\u201d someone\u2019s profile for any reason: maybe you\u2019re both based in the area where you\u2019re looking to purchase, or maybe you might both love dogs. It\u2019s not always two people: we sometimes have groups of three or more who connect on the app. If parties are interested in meeting, they can do that with our help or arrange it on their own. After that initial match, the hard work starts to make sure everyone is on the same page and, if it gets to that point, to create the terms of an agreement: What happens if I want to exit? How will we value the property? Who will we use for mediation if we hit a snag? These are the conversations that anyone buying real estate together should be having\u2014whether it\u2019s with a spouse, a friend, a family member\u2014but they often don\u2019t. We have a lawyer to help draft those agreements.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ:\u00a0The Move: From Toronto\u2019s rental grind to a quaint corner store in Quebec<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Do you discuss common pressure points like playing loud music, parties, pets, smoking weed indoors?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what we refer to as the culture of the house, and those questions definitely come up. At the same time, these issues aren\u2019t unique to co-ownership. If you live in a condo or rent in a multi-unit property, you\u2019re going to have to follow some rules. Co-ownership also doesn\u2019t necessarily mean cohabitation. For the most part, we advocate for hybrid spaces where you have separate living spaces with maybe a shared backyard or living room. We had two families co-purchase a detached three-storey home with two separate units in the west end of Toronto, and they left a finished basement as a shared social space. I matched two women in a single home outside the city, and now they\u2019re renovating to create two separate units. I recently started working with a group of four women in their 60s who met on Husmates. They all own their own homes, but they\u2019re starting to have conversations about aging in place and how they might be able to do that together in one property.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So you don\u2019t get a lot of people wanting to co-own a single home?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve had some people looking into that, but our advice is \u201cDon\u2019t do it.\u201d Shared spaces are hard. Sharing kitchens and bathrooms are especially hard, even with people you love. You end up having conflicts because one person thinks the kitchen should be spotless and the other piles dishes in the sink.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE:\u00a0The Move: Why two pilots willing to put down roots anywhere in Canada landed in Calgary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ontario\u2019s Bill 23, a provincial act that loosens existing rules to allow for more residential development, will make it easier to get approval for laneway homes, auxiliary apartments and multi-unit properties. What will that do for co-ownership?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We worked with a client who bought a larger lot with a single home so he could build a laneway home and live in it, while the original owners lived in the main house. We\u2019re seeing more interest in that kind of set-up. I have other issues with Bill 23 because it favours developers\u2014if it costs $350 a square foot to develop a laneway home, that\u2019s not going to be affordable for most people. We need to get creative about how these things can be financed. One idea is that we have separate mortgages on the same property or we mortgage pre-construction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about people who are interested in co-purchasing an investment property?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We aren\u2019t in the business of turning clients away, but investment properties aren\u2019t our focus. Co-ownership is a way for people to buy property in an increasingly unaffordable housing market, but it\u2019s also a socially progressive approach to real estate. Before I became a real estate agent, I was a social worker focused on health policy. I know how important it is to have secure housing. I\u2019m not saying co-ownership is going to solve our housing crisis\u2014you have to have money to co-own. But I do think it\u2019s a way to address a number of social concerns: isolation has been a big issue since the pandemic, and we can build neighbourhoods the way they were meant to be built, so both elderly and young people are part of a community. White picket fences were ideal at one point, but they have a way of keeping people apart.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It seems no one can afford to buy property anymore, at least in Toronto. Is there a specific demographic you\u2019re dealing with?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With the Husmates app, it\u2019s mostly millennials\u2014people in their 30s who are starting to realize that this may be their only way into the market. So maybe there will be two or three people buying property together or just two co-owners along with a silent investor, a.k.a Mom or Dad. I\u2019ve had scenarios with three buyers who are going to live in the property, and then you have a fourth silent investor\u2014someone\u2019s parents\u2014putting down a big chunk of the down payment. In that case, we set up an equalization agreement, so that the silent party is eventually paid out. It\u2019s not complicated, but if you don\u2019t have those terms in place, it can be a nightmare.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are some other common pitfalls you can avoid via the right paperwork?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve had cases where two people co-purchase a home and then one of them gets into a relationship and their partner moves in. If you live in separate units, that\u2019s not a problem, except when you\u2019re dealing with a matrimonial property situation where the new partner can claim ownership. Maybe both buyers are single when I meet them, but thinking about the future is my job. What if one person gets their dream job in Timbuktu that starts tomorrow? When both parties sign a document stipulating what happens in different circumstances before buying property together, it\u2019s less hassle for everyone involved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happens if your co-owner moves to Timbuktu?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You would decide in advance who pays the penalties if the mortgage is broken. Sharing a mortgage is probably the biggest pressure point in co-ownership: you\u2019re going into debt with another person, and both of you are equally responsible. You may have paid your share, but if the full mortgage payment isn\u2019t in on the due date, the bank doesn\u2019t care who owes it. I always advise people to have employment insurance and also a slush fund that covers three months of payments. We call it the anti-tsunami clause.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you ever met with prospective co-owners and told them they were not a good match?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Definitely. It\u2019s happened a few times. It\u2019s what you would think: one person is saying how much they appreciate the quiet, and the other person wants to make sure there\u2019s enough room to host parties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So there\u2019s no \u201copposites attract\u201d in co-ownership?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think there can be, but that\u2019s when you really want to make sure people have their own space.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/economy\/realestateeconomy\/realtor-husmates-tinder-property-home-co-ownership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This realtor created a Tinder for property co-ownership&#8221; Husmates co-founder Lesli Gaynor (photo courtesy Gaynor) Since becoming a real estate agent in 2015, Lesli Gaynor has specialized in co-ownership. She sees it as a model of housing that addresses the problems of affordability, lack of density and social isolation. Co-purchasers are often family members or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":560739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/LesliGaynorFridmanTeam2020-10-03@taranoellephoto-8883copy-e1678138972181-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[141024,12156,71226,4965],"class_list":["post-560738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-co-ownership","tag-housing","tag-real-estate","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}