Feature Stories
To Live & Buy in Vancouver
By Vanessa Richmond published Sep 1, 2008
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Alone Together
“It was half a business decision and half a social decision,” says Amy Robinson (right), a 37-year-old sustainability consultant, of her living arrangement. Along with two other families, she and her husband bought a row of three houses on two lots. Her sunlit kitchen offers a view of the backyard, where only the overgrown old fenceposts offer evidence of a previously divided world. When they purchased the houses, four years ago, each cost about 60 percent of what the same size house on its own lot would have cost. The three families own all three houses jointly. VanCity created the “mixer mortgage” for them, and each family has its own mortgage product. They went through an extensive legal process (ensuring, for example, that there was a way to value each third fairly if anyone wanted out). Now, it’s easier for others to enter into customized ownership arrangements. Robinson no longer wants a house on its own lot. There’s “an amazing sense of community,” she says, but also privacy. Even the basement-suite tenants chip in, which means there are nine adults and five kids helping with things like garden work. And she enjoys the “greenness” of living in a single-family home without the associated footprint.
