Friends buy a duplex together to live in apartments beside each other

A group of friends bought a duplex together so they could afford to get their "dream" house - and love living in two apartments beside each other.

Jendayi Brooks-Flemister and their partner, Julia Pacheco-Cole, both 28, decided to take the next step to buy a home together.

But with their $400k budget they struggled to find the perfect house that met their requirements.

After finding out their friends, Arty Barnabi, 31, and Avery Henderson, 28, were also in the same position the pals decided to buy something as a group of four.

They were able to split up the responsibilities when looking and bought a 1925 duplex in December 2023 for $735k.

Avery, a software engineer, and Arty, who works in IT, put more of their savings into the deposit so Jendayi and Julia could use their money for the renovation work.

They each have a 25 per cent share of the ownership of the property in Portland, Oregon, US, and say it's a "dream".

Julia, a hall director at a college and owner of an embroidery business, said: "We really fell in love with Portland and wanted to live in a neighbourhood.

"We didn't want to be pushed into the suburbs. It was looking a little bleak.

"Avery and Arty wanted to move out to Portland and they were talking about buying.

"We joked about buying a duplex together.

"It was always a dream to live with your best friends."

Jendayi, who works in HR, added: "I said 'actually, what if we tried that?'

"It came together really neatly.

"We combined our forces.

"Half of the duplex is less than our budget."

Jendayi and Julia have been together for over six years and started looking to buy in 2023.

Julia said: "Jendayi and I had been talking about buying a house.

"We wanted to find a more permanent home. We started to get into it and met with a realtor.

"We realised what numbers we were looking at."

Jendayi added: "The interest rates were going up.

"The same amount of money five years ago could have got us a great spot."

The pair decided to club together with couple Arty and Avery and they started viewing houses together in August 2023.

Julie said: "We split up the responsibilities.

"We were able to look at houses out of our budget."

After a few fell through they were able to find the perfect duplex in December 2023.

The 1925 duplex has a living room, dining room, two bedrooms, one small box room and a bathroom on each side.

Each couple's half cost $367k - less than Julie and Jendayi's original budget.

Julie said: "It's mirrored on each side. It's identical on each side.

"Both have a basement and a space in the attic.

"It's equitably split."

Avery and Arty used their deposit so Julie and Jendayi could save theirs for repairs and furniture - as their previous flat was fully furnished.

Jendayi said: "Three of us are on the mortgage and four of us are on the title.

"It came down to credit scores.

"We all still contribute 25 per cent to the mortgage."