Redfin

JUNE 10, 2025

Clear communication, careful planning, and written legal agreements are crucial to avoid financial issues and relationship strain. Friends don’t have automatic legal protections like spouses, so it’s important to create clear, written agreements to help define everyone’s rights and responsibilities and prevent future disputes.

Purchase and sale agreement

Redfin

JULY 17, 2025

Discuss your finances 3. Discuss your finances It’s essential to be transparent about your finances, especially as an unmarried couple buying a home. Who will be on the mortgage application Once you’ve reviewed your finances as a couple, you’ll need to decide who will apply for the mortgage. Understand the legalities 5.

Purchase and sale agreement

HomeLight

APRIL 29, 2022

And if everyone involved isn’t aligned from the start, you can end up disagreeing on important details when it comes time to sell — potentially wrecking the sale and wasting all of the owners’ valuable time. Fortunately, there are ways to set up a smooth sale on a co-owned property.

Tenancy in common

Realtor.com

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

You and your partner may also be able to qualify for one of the more than 2,500 down payment assistance programs offered by state and local housing finance agencies, according to a recent estimate by DownPaymentResource.com and Freddie Mac. The most common is joint tenancy, where each person holds equal interest in the property.

Debt-to-income ratio