When East Bay resident Dana Gersten found out she was pregnant with her first child, she knew she didn’t want to raise the child alone. She wasn’t single — she has a loving, devoted partner — but she envisioned her baby growing up surrounded by a supportive community, ideally in a communal housing environment where people share resources and help one another day to day.
Co-living situations weren’t new to Gersten. She’d opted for them during college and would go on to reside in different versions of them during and after medical school. She loved the spirit of these places, sharing responsibilities like cooking and home maintenance and always having someone around for a chat. But this time, as she searched for the right community, she couldn’t find a fit. Unable to see a path to homeownership in the Bay Area without co-living, she decided to create her own version — with her friends.
Gersten is part of a new generation of Californians opting to purchase real estate with more people than the typical family unit, as soaring home prices shut out many potential buyers. For some, it’s the only way they can afford property, and for others, their budget wouldn’t get them the home they desire. Backed by changes to mortgage lending and new California regulations, the interest in creating a compound-like living situation is growing.
From friend to co-owner
Once Gersten and her partner made the decision to buy property with friends, she didn’t expect the process to take as long as it did. They looked with three separate groups, and “none of it panned out,” she said. One ended up being worried they’d ruin their friendship over it, while the others couldn’t align on a property after dozens of showings. But on their fourth friend attempt, they found a match, and they now live together in a duplex in Berkeley that’s owned as two separate condos. Eventually, the group wants to build at least one accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on the property, to add more people to their community.
It wasn’t easy, but Gersten said it was worth it. Their friend in the other unit is “like an uncle” to their now two kids. And their situation solves the biggest problems people who live in major cities face: the high cost of housing and the loneliness of living far from family and friends…