Another Pathway to Homeownership at Sunnyside — Newsletter, February 1 2026
We’ve been noticing a lot of “co” showing up in the world — cohousing, coparenting, coworking — and it’s no accident. These ideas are rooted in sharing, cooperation, and connection.
They point toward a simple truth many of us are rediscovering: life works better when we don’t do it alone.
In this edition of This Month at Sunnyside, you’ll find a few short pieces that explore shared living and co-buying — what they are, how they differ, and why they fit so naturally with cohousing. If you’re curious and want to learn more, send us an email or give us a call.
-Norm & Jennie
Making Sunnyside More Accessible: Shared Living & Co-buying Options
Over the past few months, many of you have told us how much you love the vision behind Sunnyside Village Cohousing. You’ve also shared that the cost of a brand-new home can feel like a stretch. And we’ve been listening.
In response, we’ve been exploring thoughtful, practical ways to make Sunnyside accessible to a wider range of people.
One promising option is shared living. If you’ve ever thought “I’d love to own a home, but I can’t quite do it on my own,” this may be worth exploring.
Shared living can take many forms:
Co-buying a cottage with a friend, family member, or someone you meet through the cohousing process
Partnering with a financial supporter or cosigner — a silent partner — while sharing the home with a roommate
Renting part of a cottage within the Sunnyside community
People choose shared living for both financial and lifestyle reasons. It can mean lower upfront and monthly costs, shared expenses, and greater flexibility over time. Just as important, it often brings more day-to-day connection, sharing of responsibilities, and a lighter environmental footprint.
At Sunnyside Village, housemates also enjoy the full benefits of cohousing: weekly community meals, social gatherings, the common house kitchen and dining room, community gardens, shared amenities, and the ease of borrowing tools and resources from neighbors.
To support those who are curious about these options, we’re excited to introduce Sunnyside Village’s HouseMates Forum.
This new, invitation-only gathering launches Monday, February 9, from 5:30–6:30 pm Pacific Time and will meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Karen Gimnig, a professional facilitator and relationship coach, will lead the forum. Afterwards, there will be a practical session focused on co-buying options. You can drop in just once to learn more or join regularly to build connections and deepen your understanding.
The HouseMates Forum is designed to:
Help you meet others interested in Sunnyside
Explore whether co-buying is a good fit for you
Build communication skills that support healthy shared-living relationships
Clarify next steps in co-buying — without obligation
We’ll also share helpful resources, including sample co-buying agreements and referrals to attorneys and home-loan advisors familiar with both cohousing and co-buying.
If this sparks your curiosity, please reach out — we’d love to connect.
Jennie Lindberg
jennielindberg1@icloud.com | (206) 818-7650Norm Frampton
normframpton@hotmail.com | (425) 252-3563
Shared Living vs. Co-Buying: What’s the Difference?
First, we want to say this: co-buying isn’t new. If you’ve ever bought property or a home with someone you weren’t married to, you’ve participated in co-buying. And it’s on the rise. In a recent survey, 30% of young adults said they would consider co-buying. As they say, there’s nothing new under the sun.
Shared living is about how people live together. It focuses on day-to-day life: sharing a home, kitchen, utilities, chores, and often meals or social time. Shared living can include roommates, housemates, or renting a room in someone else’s home.
Co-buying, on the other hand, is about how a home is owned. It means two or more people jointly purchase a property and sharing legal ownership, financial responsibility, and decision-making. The HouseMates Forum will provide skills and resources to support both approaches.
Co-buying can make homeownership more attainable and resilient.
Shared living helps reduce isolation and build connection. Together, co-buying and shared living offer flexible ways to buy a home and join a community that may once have seemed out of reach.
Why Cohousing and Co-buying Fit So Well Together
One of the things we love most about cohousing is that it challenges the idea that we have to do everything on our own. At its heart, cohousing is about maintaining independence while sharing — meals, spaces, resources, decision-making, and everyday life — in ways that are intentional and supportive. Co-buying comes from that same place.
When people co-buy a home, they’re choosing collaboration over isolation. They’re finding ways to make homeownership more attainable by sharing costs, responsibilities, and care for the place they live. That mindset fits naturally within a cohousing community, where communication and mutual respect are already part of the culture.
For our member Norm, this idea isn’t abstract. It’s personal.
Norm and John, co-buyer members at Sunnyside
Norm and John are co-buying their cottage at Sunnyside Village. When Norm asked John why co-buying felt like the right choice for them, John didn’t miss a beat. He laughed and said “We’re two old men watching out for each other.”
One of our favorite visions of co-buying was recently shared with us: two single moms choosing to raise their kids together.
There’s something powerful about a supportive family of choice, wrapped inside a second layer of cohousing — where we already know it takes a village. Sounds perfect to us.
Co-buying isn’t just about affordability; it’s about companionship, mutual support, and choosing not to go it alone. It’s about creating a home that feels financially doable and emotionally grounded.
“Thoughtful choices rooted in values many of us share”
At Sunnyside Village, cohousing and co-buying aren’t workarounds or second-best options. They’re thoughtful choices rooted in values many of us share: connection, cooperation, fairness, and living a little lighter on the planet
Closing Thoughts
At Sunnyside, what excites us most is choice. Cohousing and co-buying remind us that there’s no single “right” way to create home. Some paths are traditional, others more creative, but all can lead to connection, belonging, and a life that feels supported.
Feeling curious? Want to learn more? Reach out — we’re excited about the possibilities.
Warmly,
Norm and Jennie and all of us at Sunnyside Village Cohousing
P.S. One more thing we’re excited to share: Sunnyside member Jo Wright has been working with the Sno-Isle Sierra Club on a truly inspiring Zoom event: The Salmon Are Back!
Even the planners didn’t expect salmon to return to the Klamath River just weeks after dam removal. After more than 20 years of Tribal-led advocacy, four dams came down in 2024 —the largest river restoration project in U.S. history.
Join the conversation Tuesday, February 17 at 7:00 PM (Pacific Time) for short films, a talk with Yurok Tribal member Charles Adkins, and a joyful finale featuring young Indigenous kayakers on the newly free-flowing river.
Register HERE—it will be worth it!
Come as a guest, leave as a neighbor
Register for our Thursday Zoom session
and see if Sunnyside feels like home.