If it's a great house or location or deal, people will stay notwithstanding conflict.

When housemates go from single to partnered, it's an unsolvable conflict because housemates are not the priority and the partner is mostly unwanted in the house.

If you as a single person join a house with committed partners, you'll forever have to accept what they want.

When people disagree, the stakes of one's living space is typically higher than the problem, which the aggressive are happy to hostage to get what they want.

Housemates learn a lot about you that you don't really want to be public, but they're not committed to keeping your secrets and might even use them against you.

Housemates can start depending on you emotionally.

Having friendly housemates can reduce the pressure to find a partner, precisely when othees are partnering. Your choices only get more narrow from delaying.

Long-term living together requires commitment, mutual respect, and effective governance that can't be abused. All that is quite the opposite from the usual drivers: convenience, shared cost, and lightweight human contact.

Worse, shared housing is always better and cheaper than buying, so after decades of living well you'll still be a renter (unable to control your destiny) rather than an owner.

You might think you'll share for temporary situations, but not make it a lifestyle. But the more you get used to it, the less tolerance you'll have for the sacrifices necessary for a committed partner and home equity.

What would your future self want you to do?

Just want to point out that having a cheaper living situation doesn’t preclude homeownership later—it makes it more feasible.

I’ve lived in SF (communally) for about 10 years now. The first 5 years I lived here help me build up my savings, and then a housemate, my wife, and I bought a building in the city that now houses 8 adults. I definitely could not have afforded this paying for a one bedroom in the city, and living with roommates meant I had lots of time to find people who would be willing to go in on a house with me!

But even if this weren’t the case, over 5 years we probably saved ~200k in rent. Putting that into the stock market would typically yield much better returns than owning a home (which is typically a wash after mortgage interest is factored in).

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