Buying a Home with a Friend or Roommate in Washington

With affordability tight across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, I’m seeing more buyers team up with someone other than a spouse or partner — roommates who decide renting no longer pencils out, adult siblings splitting an investment property, or longtime friends going in together on a home. If that’s you, Washington’s vesting rules are the same ones that apply to any unmarried co-buyers, but the practical questions around exit strategy and unequal contributions tend to matter even more when there isn’t a relationship holding things together.

I’m not an attorney, and how you vest title is ultimately a legal decision — but I spent 14 years in title and escrow before becoming a mortgage advisor, so I want to walk through the options in plain language so you know what to bring to one.

The default: tenants in common

When two or more unmarried people buy a home together in Washington, you’re automatically vested as tenants in common unless the deed says otherwise — whether that’s two of you or four. Each owner holds a separate, distinct share, and those shares don’t have to be equal. If one person covers 60% of the down payment and another covers 40%, the deed can reflect that split directly instead of defaulting to equal ownership.

The tradeoff: there’s no automatic right of survivorship. If one owner passes away, their share doesn’t transfer to the co-owners — it passes through their will, or through probate if they don’t have one. That could mean you end up co-owning the home with the deceased owner’s family, who may have no interest in the property or the arrangement you had.

Joint tenants with right of survivorship (JTWROS)

If you’d rather a deceased owner’s share automatically pass to the remaining owner(s) without probate, you can vest as joint tenants with right of survivorship. This has to be spelled out explicitly on the deed, and Washington law (RCW 64.28) requires that declaration in writing — it’s not the default.

The catch: JTWROS requires equal shares among everyone on title. For roommates or friends who didn’t contribute equally, this vesting won’t reflect that — and it’s worth thinking about whether you actually want a co-owner’s share to pass to you automatically, versus to their own family.

Community property isn’t an option here

Worth stating plainly: community property vesting is reserved for legally married couples in Washington. It has no application to roommates, friends, or siblings buying together, regardless of how you split expenses or how long you’ve lived together.

Why a co-ownership agreement matters more here

This is the piece I’d push hardest on for non-romantic co-buyers. Vesting only decides what happens to the title — it says nothing about what happens if one owner wants to sell and the others don’t, if someone’s job changes and they can no longer cover their share of the mortgage, or what a fair buyout looks like if one person wants out in year three. Without an underlying relationship commitment to fall back on, these are exactly the situations that turn into disputes.

A written co-ownership agreement, drafted with an attorney, typically addresses things like: how a buyout is priced if one owner wants to exit, what happens if someone stops paying their share, whether an owner needs the others’ consent before selling their interest, and how ongoing costs — property tax, insurance, repairs — get split if contributions aren’t equal. It’s a different document from the vesting on your deed, and you’ll want both.

Your title or escrow company will ask everyone on the purchase how you want to vest when the transaction is opened, so it’s worth having these conversations, and that agreement, in place before you’re deep into your purchase. For the full picture of how title and escrow work together, see this companion post:

👉 Read: What Is Title Insurance? Owners vs. Lenders Policy Explained

If you and your co-buyers are considering a purchase anywhere in Washington state, I’m happy to help you sort through the financing side.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Can roommates or friends who aren’t a couple buy a home together in Washington? Yes. Washington’s vesting rules for unmarried co-buyers apply the same way regardless of the relationship between owners — the law only distinguishes based on whether owners are legally married.

How is ownership divided if we didn’t contribute equally to the down payment? A tenancy in common — the default vesting for unmarried co-buyers — can reflect unequal ownership percentages that match each person’s actual contribution. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship, by contrast, requires equal shares regardless of contribution.

What happens if one roommate wants to sell and the others don’t? This is governed by whatever co-ownership agreement you’ve put in writing, not by the vesting itself. Without an agreement, resolving a disagreement over selling can require a legal partition action, which is exactly why an upfront written agreement is worth the cost.

If one of us dies, does our share automatically go to the other owners? Only if you’re vested as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Under the default tenancy in common, a deceased owner’s share passes through their will or through probate — not automatically to the co-owners.

Do we need a written agreement beyond the deed? Yes, strongly recommended. The deed determines vesting; a separate co-ownership agreement drafted with an attorney addresses buyouts, what happens if someone stops paying their share, and how a future sale is handled — questions the deed alone doesn’t answer.