Gone are the days when first time buyers were all newlyweds, or owning a second home was the domain of the rich and famous - thanks to new website Co-BuyWithMe.com the property market is now accessible to a lot more people wanting to get on the property ladder.
Co-BuyWithMe.com is pioneering the new era in the house buying process by providing an online platform for people to literally search for their perfect mortgage-buddy online. Completely free to use, budding co-buyers simply register and search the database for a co-buyer who matches their requirements. Once a potential co-buyer has been found, contact can be made via the website's anonymous email facility to discuss the possibility of co-buying together.
The idea was the brainchild of Theo Michaels. Having struggled to get on the property ladder himself for a number of years, Theo eventually bought his first flat in London with two other co-buyers and later co-bought a property in Bulgaria with six other co-buyers (only two of whom he knew!) Theo became increasingly aware that many others were struggling to find people to co-buy with. Theo says: "I soon discovered that a quite a few friends wanted to co-buy to get on the property ladder or wanted to invest in overseas property but were struggling to find likeminded co-buyers - it was at this point Co-BuyWithMe.com was born, with increasing property prices co-buying for some is only option available."
First-Time Buyers
In the current climate, there has never been a bigger need for first-time-buyers to co-buy their property; the average asking price is at a whopping £211,442 (RightMove House Index June 2006) and the number of first-time-buyers is at an all time low, just 30% of house buyers were first-time-buyers in 2005, historically that figure has been around 45-50% (CML Housing Finance Report 2006).
Second Home
Buying a property abroad is more popular than ever, with the number of people buying a place in the sun has soared by nearly 50% since 2000 to an all time record of nearly 260,000 people (Office of National Statistics). And there's a big reason why the rest of us are going to want a piece of the action - in the last five years alone, the value of those properties has doubled! (Office of National Statistics).
Emerging Market
The effect of co-buying is being felt throughout the industry; more and more companies are starting to capitalise on the shift in consumer buying, or rather, co-buying. As the need grows for people to Co-Buy as does the need for those consumers to be supported; through an increase in mortgage lenders being more flexible to multiple owners, solicitors are promoting their ability to work with several deed holders in drawing new contracts and leading the way in this emerging market is Co-BuyWithMe.com giving everyone the opportunity to find their perfect co-buyer.
