Buying a house with somebody else — a sibling, a friend, a partner you're not married to, a parent helping an adult child — solves a real problem. Two incomes qualify for more, two down payments get you there faster, and two people split a repair bill that would sink one. It's also the arrangement we most often see end up in a forced sale, because the paperwork gets skipped while everyone is still getting along.
How you hold title matters more than people think
Two or more owners generally hold Texas property as tenants in common by default, meaning each owner has a separate, transferable share that passes under their will — not automatically to the co-owner. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship, where a deceased owner's share goes to the survivor, generally requires a specific written agreement in Texas. If you assume survivorship without documenting it, you may end up co-owning a house with your co-buyer's heirs. Ask a real estate attorney to draft it the way you actually intend.
The agreement to write before closing
Put this in writing while everyone is happy and reasonable. It's cheap now and expensive later.
- Who owns what percentage, and how you got there. Unequal down payments almost always mean unequal shares — decide the formula rather than arguing about it in year three.
- Who pays what, monthly. Mortgage, property tax, insurance, HOA, utilities, routine maintenance. Texas property tax and insurance are substantial line items; don't leave them implicit.
- How repairs get decided. Set a dollar threshold below which either owner can just handle it, and a process above it. "We'll discuss it" is not a process.
- What happens if someone can't pay. Does the other cover it as a loan at interest? Does their ownership share shift? Write the mechanism.
- How someone exits. This is the clause that matters most. Give the remaining owner a right of first refusal, and specify how the buyout price gets set — an appraisal, an average of two, a formula. Without it, the only exit is a lawsuit to force a sale.
- What happens on death, marriage or divorce. Especially if the co-buyers are not married to each other.
- Whether anyone can rent out their space, and who approves the tenant.
What co-buyers underestimate
You are jointly liable on the loan. If your co-buyer stops paying, the lender comes to you for the whole payment, not half. Their missed payment is on your credit report too.
The mortgage is hard to unwind. Removing a name from a loan generally means refinancing, and refinancing requires the remaining owner to qualify alone at whatever rates exist that year. Plan for the possibility that they can't.
Homestead and exemptions get complicated when owners occupy different portions or one doesn't live there at all. Ask the appraisal district and your tax preparer rather than guessing.
Houston-specific things to check before you buy anything together
- Flood history and flood zone, which drives whether you need flood insurance and what it costs. This is not optional diligence in this market.
- Foundation. Gulf Coast clay moves. Get it looked at properly.
- Deed restrictions, which in much of Houston do the work zoning does elsewhere — and can limit exactly the rental or multi-household use co-buyers are planning.
- The full tax bill, including every overlapping district, not just the county line item.
If you already co-own and want out
The clean paths are: one owner buys the other out, or you sell and split proceeds per your agreement. The expensive path is a partition action in court, which is slow and eats equity in legal fees. If the property needs work neither of you wants to fund, or you simply need it resolved, a cash sale ends it in weeks rather than months — every owner on title has to sign, so start that conversation early.
Get a no-obligation number to put on the table, or call 713-588-5152. This isn't legal or tax advice — talk to a Texas attorney before you sign a co-ownership agreement.