Every group is different, and there are many ways to approach your Group Agreement. Your group may feel it is beneficial to write down and formalize your ideas (our recommendation!), or you may just prefer an in-depth discussion.
Some groups create a mission statement to guide them in the process. It can often be easier to start with an overarching philosophy or ideal to guide your discussion and to better conceptualize how your group will live together. The goal is to develop a shared understanding and build mutual trust before committing fully to living together. Some examples are below:
Our home is dedicated to supporting each other as we age-in-place. We respect each other’s independence as well as each other’s need for assistance from time to time. Above all, we take care of our home for each other and ourselves.
Our home is created so that we, as siblings, are able to enter the real estate market and begin building our equity. We will create a home based on trust, family and community so that we may have access to future opportunities.
Our home is created so that 3 generations can live together, and so that our children may better know their grandparents. We will create a home together so that we can support and learn from each other and meet the needs of all who live here.
Our home is created so that two families can live together in the most sustainable ways we can. We will reduce our waste and carbon footprint as much as possible and support each other to live in harmony with each other and the planet.
Our home is an extension of our communities; it is a place for us to grow with chosen family and to create alternative ways of being in relation to one-another. We value our neighbourhood, schools, and city, and are a part of making these spaces where we and our neighbours can thrive.
What might a mission statement for your home be?
Refer back to the exercises you completed in Step 1 where you explored some questions that described what kind of home you would like to have and where you combined your needs, wants, and dreams into a group vision. With this information as a foundation, discuss what principles and understandings might guide your purchasing group in living together.
How do you share? How do you respect privacy?
How do you care for the well-being of each other?
What’s important to everyone in the house?
What adjectives express a successful home (Harmonious? Lively? Quiet?)
Can you synthesize your group’s vision for your home into one or two sentences?
Now that you have identified your shared goals with your group, it’s time to look at decision making.
How Do You Create Your Group Agreement?
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What are all the Steps to Becoming a Co-owner?
Click on the links below for all the blog articles related to each step.
“It is better to have more documented, rather than less. Agreeing on House Rules and writing them down together can create an expectation that what is agreed will actually happen.”
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