Looking into buying a house and sharing the space. Advice?
So like much of richmond, I'm a renter right now. I've been here only a couple of years but I love the city and have considered staying here long term. Problem is, I'm broke af.
Out of curiosity though, I started looking at homes, and while a mortgage and additional taxes aren't cheap, it also isn't much more expensive than rent. I currently rent a place with my 3 roommates for about 2500 a month, but a cheaper end house can have a morgage of about half that. While I cannot pay a 1600 to 2000 dollar morgage by myself for long, I could probably get away with splitting it.
Secondary problem is that I'm single and have no intention of being not single.
Which leads me to my idea. Would it be reasonable to buy a home, take out a mortgage, and basically rent tooms to my friends almost at cost? Has anyone done anything like this before or have any advice or thoughts?
My main hesitation is that it is very reliant on my friends wanting to rent from me. If someone decides to move out, myself and/or the others in the house would have to foot the bill til we get someone else in there. And if I didn't have anyone "renting" the rooms, then I'd be solely responsible for the mortgage, something I could only do for a very limited amount of time. I could rent out to strangers if I had to, but the idea doesn't thrill me.
Mostly I think it'd be nice to have my own place, even if I have to pay it off for a number of years, and I genuinely think it would be cheaper than renting if I can make it work.
If you or someone you know has done something like this, tell me about it! I'd love any input, thanks!