![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/toronto-coownership.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\nLesli Gaynor is a Toronto real estate agent with a focus on co-ownership (and a background in social work and policy work). After listening to many people\u2019s frustrations with the current conditions in the Canadian housing market, she wanted to do something about it. \u201cHousing it such a basic tenet of people\u2019s well-being and such a determinant of health. As the real estate market grew more and more unaffordable, it started to become really problematic for people.\u201d She wanted to challenge the notion that we have to own homes by ourselves and that we have to shoulder the burden alone. Gaynor was even involved in the creation of weOwn<\/a>, a web-based app that makes it easier to connect and match with other people who are interested in sharing a mortgage.<\/p>\n\n In a city like Toronto, both renting and buying present real challenges for anyone from Millennials to senior citizens. The average price of a Toronto home in May was $879,300. Even couples earning the median household income ($76,400, according to Statistics Canada), are getting priced out of the soaring condo market. While not for everyone, co-ownership is one solution to this ubiquitous issue.<\/p>\n Media darlings Louise Bardswich, Beverly Brown, Martha Casson and Sandy McCully (aged 65-71) have been dubbed the real-life Golden Girls of Port Perry for their unorthodox living situation. They live together in a heritage-home in downtown Port Perry and each pooled $250,000 to buy it outright. It took Bardswich moving her mother into a retirement home to decide it wasn\u2019t for her. \u201cIn Port Perry at that point, it was around $3,300 to $3,500 a month to live in a retirement home,\u201d she says. She did the math \u2014 accounting for a 3 percent increase each year \u2014 and it just wasn\u2019t financially feasible. Plus, it was too institutional for her.<\/p>\n When Bardswich got the idea, she met a builder who was interested in getting involved. \u201cHe had a property and he put in an application for a building permit that would be suitable for up to six people. And it was turned down,\u201d she says. The Township of Scugog Council withheld the permit, likely assuming it would be used as a boarding house or small retirement home. \u201cI think it was just fear on their part. They just didn’t know what to do with it,\u201d says Bardswich.<\/p>\n Martha Casson had the bright idea to reach out to the Ontario Human Rights Commission for advice on the matter. They wrote back with a letter that would form the basis of Bill 69 or \u201cThe Golden Girls Act,\u201d which clarified that any senior citizen is allowed to co-live in Ontario without hassle.<\/p>\n Bardswich met one of her housemates through the curling club, another at work. \u201cI only really met Sandy shortly before she made the decision to move in. We\u2019re not four old friends getting together, or sisters. It shows you can do this with relative strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we’re seeing is that it’s becoming more of a norm for young people,\u201d says Bardswich. \u201cEither renting or buying together \u2014 it just makes all kinds of sense. It\u2019s a good way to get into the market and there are surprising benefits to it. Not cooking every day, somebody else takes the garbage out on occasion, when something goes wrong with the house, it’s not all on my shoulders.\u201d She acknowledges there is a cringe factor to living with other people but says you can combat it if you carve out your own private space. \u201cWe all have nice big bedrooms with our own TVs and stuff. I can go here if I want to be alone and that’s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Bardswich also notes that companionship can become an issue for seniors. But arguably, Millennials are also feeling alienated. More Canadians are living alone than ever before. According to new data, one-person households represent nearly a third of all living situations, resulting in a loneliness epidemic. \u201cIt\u2019s not a new concept \u2014 people have been living together in community in different ways forever and ever,\u201d says Gaynor. \u201cI think we’ve gotten a little bit further and further away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaynor has worked with countless groups to help them navigate the co-ownership journey. The strongest groups, she says, have mastered the art of compromise. \u201cIf you’re not someone who is able to compromise, you’re not really suited for co-ownership.\u201d This doesn\u2019t mean giving up everything you want, but being able to work within the group limitations. \u201cIf you\u2019re dead set on ground floor, two-bathrooms, 22 windows and you will not budge and you\u2019re slowing the process down, your group will fall apart. Frustration will set in. They\u2019ll think, \u2018Oh, forget it. This is ridiculous. I’m wasting every weekend looking at houses and you won’t you budge on any of your things.\u2019 So compromise is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked what she was looking for in a fellow co-owner, Bardswich was quick to say: flexibility and communication. \u201cYou have to be open and willing to communicate. We talked a fair bit about that. You don’t get to hold a grudge, you don’t get to pout,\u201d says Bardswich who goes on to say: \u201cMartha has an interesting way of putting it: If you’re the kind of person who would never let a friend come and stay in your house while you’re away, then you probably shouldn’t be co-owning with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Other than compromise, flexibility and communication, Bardswich stresses you don\u2019t have to have much else in common. \u201cWe live our own lives, we go our own ways. We have different interests. You know, a couple of churchgoers, a couple are atheists. None of that matters \u2014 it\u2019s the openness to communication and flexibility that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaynor sets her clients up for success by helping them go in with eyes wide open and plan for the what-ifs.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are so excited and think it\u2019s a great idea. But then: \u2018You want to know my credit rating? You want to know how much money I make?\u2019 You’re naked,\u201d she says. This can lead many to get cold feet. \u201cYou have to go in saying, \u2018I\u2019m in.\u2019 Once you do that, you have to ask hard questions of the group. And that’s what I do a lot of with my groups.\u201d<\/p>\n This means having a plan if someone wants to leave, if they fall off a ladder and can\u2019t work for six months and having a mediation process in place if two parties can\u2019t agree on something.<\/p>\n The Golden Girls met with a lawyer and drafted up a comprehensive contract. But they also covered the smaller things \u2014 like agreeing to pay for professional cleaners each week and hiring gardeners to manage the lawn. Each month, they contribute $1,100 each into a joint chequing account to cover all expenses and each week, they each put $100 in a pot for shared groceries. \u201cThat covers all of our food, our wine, all the rest of it. The rule is you never get to say, \u2018That’s my yogurt in the fridge.\u2019 It’s fair game. It all works out pretty evenly,\u201d says Bardswich.<\/p>\n<\/a>Golden Girls of Port Perry. Photo: Provided by Louise Bardswich\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nCo-ownership boosts affordability \u2014 and has surprising benefits.<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo: James Bombales\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nAre you right for co-ownership?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Thomas Drouault<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nPrepare for some tough conversations.<\/h2>\n