- The face of homeownership is changing,
but the real estate industry
is built upon an outdated status quo.
- Historically, when we look at everything to do
with buying and owning a home,
it's predicated on there being a nuclear family
headed by a married couple.
So all of the systems,
all of the institutions,
and processes that we built around homeownership
make this assumption.
But we're seeing all kinds of demographic shifts.
- Millennials are marrying later, if at all,
and sometimes living with friends long-term.
Matt Holmes started CoBuy to force the real estate industry
to adapt to this new generation
of unconventional homebuyers
seeking the benefits of ownership.
- Everything about the real estate industry
is transactional.
But if you're buying a home,
to you, it's not just a transaction.
It's much bigger than that.
All different types of people
want to become homeowners.
And what we're doing
is presenting another option,
another route to accessing homeownership.
- This is a show about founders
challenging the status quo.
- Out of all the people in the world
that can work on this problem,
why are you the right person for it?
- When we started out,
I had just moved back from London to the U.S.,
and wanted to buy a place with my mom,
my stepdad, and my girlfriend at the time.
And we found that it was really challenging
despite our backgrounds in real estate and finance.
You know, we were looking at how,
as a group of four,
we were going to combine our resources,
how we were going to make decisions
on the type of home that we wanted to buy,
and then what that was going to look like legally.
There was kind of just no central resource.
And that was kind of like a eureka moment.
- Matt set out to build a company
that could help every type of buyer
navigate the unique challenges of co-buying,
including differing down payments,
ownership percentages,
decision-making around repairs,
and an exit plan in case one person wants to sell,
but the other owners don't.
- We work with friends, family members,
and then we work with combinations
of these different groups.
- We've been friends for almost nine years, I think?
- I never thought I'd own a home.
I thought it was always unattainable.
- We're taking something like homeownership
that a lot of people are locked out of,
and making it more accessible, making it simpler,
making it safer,
ultimately making it more affordable.
- To accomplish this mission,
Matt chose a co-founder close to home,
but their partnership would force them to navigate
difficult double standards in the startup world.
- What we need to do for the app
is a simple user journey-flow.
- OK, that's a great place to start.
- Do you agree? - Yep.
- So what I'm thinking is, like, simple...
Nobody looks at you funny
if you start a company with your father.
And I remember one time we were in a meeting
and this investor said,
“You know, you should never call her mom.”
But I think that's ridiculous.
Pam is my mom.
So if the worst thing they can say about us
is that we're a mother and son team—
hell yes, you know, we're doing something right.
- As I've gotten older,
I've become immune to sentiments
where people are judging you because of something
that just is.
One of the benefits of working with family
is that you can be yourself.
That can also be a detriment
because we're all pretty big personalities,
and we sometimes don't hold back.
- Matt and Pam weathered double-takes, snide remarks,
and disrespect from investors
who questioned their partnership.
- When you're doing something new,
there's always going to be people who dismiss you.
We're proud of the fact
that we're a mother and son team.
We have very different experiences,
and that's really powerful
when you're looking at solving new problems
for a broad array of people.
- Hello.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, guys, good to see you.
- Good to see you.
- Today, it's estimated that one in four
home purchasers are co-purchasing.
If it becomes more widespread,
co-buying could transform
the way architects design homes;
how we use the too few homes we currently have,
and who can access the benefits
of wealth creation through homeownership.
- I think there's a lot more of
people like us who are millennials
who doesn't necessarily want to follow
that typical life trajectory.
- To me, homeownership represents opportunity
in a world with so many variables
that we can't control.
The idea that you can have somewhere to call your own—
this is really important to a lot of people;
it's certainly important to me.
And so now the goal is to bring this solution,
this opportunity,
to more people nationwide
and eventually, even internationally.