Two and a half years ago, best friends Jordan Heiden, 30, and Cass Lang, 29, traded New York City apartment living for communal homeownership. They pooled their savings to put a down payment on a $250,000 home in Barre City, Vermont.

They each own 50%. “We see it as a partnership,” Heiden said. “It works for us.”

Since then, they’ve invested in rooftop solar panels, built garden beds in the yard and become involved in local government by attending city council meetings.

“We’ve been able to really, like, settle and grow roots and build community,” Lang said.

Heiden, who works as a community organizer, and Lang, a graphic designer, said the mortgage payment of approximately $1,900 is less than their monthly rent in New York City. 

But now that they are homeowners, they have upkeep costs and their lifestyle has changed, so they said it’s hard to compare their monthly bills to their previous homes.

“We’re probably spending more money now, but we also make more money, and we’re doing a lot more,” Heiden said. “We also have two cats who tend to cost us a little bit of money as well,” Lang added. 

Heiden and Lang don’t see themselves moving anytime soon. “We are seeing the value in community building,” Heiden said. In the short term, they hope to invest more in their current home by installing a heat pump, painting interiors and maybe building a deck. 

In the longer term, the friends said they’re considering buying more land and expanding their pool of property ownership to include more people.

“I know that sounds so much like a sort of hippie-commune-type thing, but I think there’s some real value and utility in that, from a resource-sharing standpoint,” Heiden said. 

For now, they’re happy with their situation and the partnership they’ve built as friends.

“If things change, we’ll figure it out,” Lang said. “I’m hoping, relying on the foundation of our friendship, and how honest and transparent and, you know, equally invested we are.”

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