Our job
Lowering the risk by asking the right questions up front and learning your long-term goals, so your group lands on a structure and a building you feel secure in.
Services
Two- and three-families are the housing stock around Boston, and buying one with other households is the most achievable way to own right now, as long as you genuinely want to choose your neighbors.
Your job
Logistics aren't a substitution for communication and collaboration. You should consider whether you genuinely want to share a building with one or two other households, not just whether you can afford it.
What our technical assistance covers
This is the work we do for your group, from the first conversation through your first year in the building, and your group only ever works through one phase at a time.
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Intake and eligibility
We meet with each household on its own to talk through budget, timing and what it wants in a home, and we check whether it qualifies for Boston's Co-Purchasing assistance.
More info
For a Boston purchase, we confirm each household's first-time buyer status, income at or below 135% of area median income, liquid assets under $100,000, the 1.5% minimum contribution from its own funds, and its progress on the CHAPA homebuyer courses the program requires. Outside Boston, we screen each household against the market it's looking in.
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Group formation
Patti Lautner leads three facilitated sessions where the group works out its budget, the kind of building it wants, how it will make decisions, and how a household can leave.
More info
After each session, the group decides together whether to keep going, so nobody commits to more than one session at a time. By the end of the third, the group has an agreed budget, shared property criteria, household guidelines, a decision-making process and exit terms, which together are most of what an attorney needs to draft the co-ownership agreement.
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Market and property analysis
We screen two- and three-family listings for fit with your group and with the City's program, and we model each household's share of the price and its monthly cost before anyone tours.
More info
We check every candidate building for unit count, location and vacancy, since Boston's program requires at least as many vacant units as households buying, and we compare each one against what each household would pay for a condo or in rent. The analysis runs alongside formation, so the group sets its criteria against real listings, and your buyer's agent gets the shortlist to tour, make offers and negotiate.
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Financing alignment
We line up each household's pre-approval toward one joint mortgage with one of the City's approved lenders.
More info
Every household is listed as a joint owner on the mortgage, so the lender has to read two or three households as one application, and we organize the documents so that nothing about how the group is set up becomes the reason it stalls.
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Co-ownership agreement
Each household answers our questionnaire, and we turn the answers into a term sheet that your group's attorney uses to finalize the agreement.
More info
The questionnaire covers how costs are split, who pays for repairs, how decisions get made and what happens when someone wants to sell, and we cross-reference the answers to find where households disagree so those disagreements get settled before they cost attorney time. Your attorney drafts and finalizes the agreement, and the City receives the signed copy before closing.
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City application and closing
We manage each household's application for the City's assistance and coordinate every step through closing and move-in.
More info
That covers each household's separate application, the Eligible if Qualified letters, the fund reservation, how the assistance appears on the Closing Disclosure, the visual paint inspection, vacancy verification and the 60-day move-in.
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After closing
We set the group up to run the building together, with a shared budget, a checklist for the first year, and support through its first annual owners' meeting.
Who else works with your group
We're not a real estate agent, a lender or a law firm. We can recommend people who are familiar with co-buying, or you can use your own:
- A buyer's agent
- A real estate attorney
- A lender approved by the City of Boston
- CHAPA homebuyer courses (HB101 and HO201)
We take no payment from any lender, attorney or agent for an introduction.
Introducing the January 2027 Co-Buying Cohort
For those who are motivated to not sign another lease next year, we're launching our Group Formation process for a handful of groups that want to be in a position to purchase by the next lease cycle, starting in January.
Maximum 5 groups. Reservations open now.
You already have a group.
Friends, family or neighbors you'd buy with. Book a call with us, and we'll talk through whether the January cohort fits where your group is right now.
You're interested but don't have a group yet.
Come to a session, learn how co-buying works, and meet other households thinking about the same thing. We'll keep you posted as the cohort fills.
You rent in a two- or three-family now.
If your landlord might sell, the households already living in the building can buy it together and skip the property search entirely.
Boston helps each household with the down payment
Through its Co-Purchasing pilot, the City of Boston lends each eligible household money toward its down payment and reasonable closing costs, capped at $50,000 for households at or below 100% of area median income and $35,000 for households at or below 135%. The loan carries 0% interest and isn't repaid until the household sells, transfers or refinances, and for a two-person household, 100% of area median income is currently $137,200 and 135% is $185,200.
- Each household is a first-time buyer and completes the CHAPA HB101 and HO201 courses
- Each household puts in at least 1.5% of its share from its own funds, which comes to $6,000 on a $400,000 share
- Each household has under $100,000 in liquid assets and lives in the home as its primary residence
- The building is a two- or three-family in the City of Boston with at least as many vacant units as households buying
- Every household signs a co-ownership agreement
Program details from the City of Boston, current as of October 2026 and subject to change.
Pricing
Could we afford this?
The five-minute check on our homepage shows what a share would cost your household and, if you're not there yet, how long it would take.
Free
Would we actually work together?
Group Formation with Patti, three sessions where your group finds out whether this is right for you personally, deciding together after each one whether to keep going.
$250
per adult, per session
We're really homeowners now?
Everything from the property analysis through financing, the agreement and the City's paperwork, paid only when your group gets to closing.
$10,000
per household at closing, or $7,500 if your group already has its building, with what you paid for sessions counted toward it
A two-adult household pays $1,500 across the three sessions, all of it counted toward the fee, and the remaining $8,500 at closing. If your group stops before closing, you owe nothing beyond the sessions you attended.
FAQs
Has this been done before?
Investors repetitively pool money to buy Boston's two- and three-family buildings. While many homeowners have bought property together in the past, each group has had to learn everything from scratch. HomeMates is the first comprehensive service built to support residents through the co-purchasing process.
What if our group stops partway through?
After each formation session, the group decides together whether to continue. If you stop, you owe nothing beyond the sessions you attended.
Does joining a cohort mean we work alongside other groups?
No. A cohort is a scheduling limit: we take a maximum of 5 groups per start date so we can give each one enough time. Every group meets with us separately and goes through its own one-on-one process.
Come to the November 14 session
Learn how co-buying works at Co-op Social Club, 98A Green St in Jamaica Plain on Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm, and meet other households thinking about the same thing.
Free. Limited to 30 spots.
