A new co-housing company based in Seattle is offering homeownership at a price that even a barista could afford—for those who are willing to share a kitchen with their neighbors.
ReSpace, founded by Katrina Romatowski, thus far has two properties—a ranch in the neighborhood of Ballard, and a historical mansion in Leschi—with private suites for sale. They start at the low price point of $124,500 and cap out at $299,950.
By comparison, the lowest-priced active condo listing in the Ballard neighborhood is $289,900 for a 20-year-old studio. Most condos in the area are priced above $350,000 in high-density neighborhoods.
Romatowski says her suites—newly built inside existing single-family dwellings—are located in “million-dollar neighborhoods.”
“The idea is to make better use of what is already there,” Romatowski tells Realtor.com®. The innovative model has already drawn interest from hundreds of applicants amid a housing affordability crisis.
A buyer gets a private suite with a bedroom, living area, bathroom, walk-in closet, and washer-dryer hookup, then shares common spaces such as a kitchen, living room, powder room, and outdoor space.
The Ballard neighborhood house—called The Grove—is currently a ranch home at 9215 6th Ave. NW, but permits are locked in and construction will start soon on a large-scale renovation that will remove the roof, increase the wall height to nine feet, and add another story with vaulted ceilings.
There will be eight private suites, starting at $179,000, ranging from 263 to 431 square feet. The suites will open for sale within the next month or two, and Romatowski says she already has hundreds of would-be buyers.
“Rents for studios or one-bedrooms go up at a much higher rate,” she says. “This is a way to have a fixed cost plus future appreciation.”
And importantly, the down payment is only $10,000.
While cash purchases are allowed, there’s in-house financing for those who need it, as conventional loans won’t cover this type of housing. Rates offered by reSpace will be about 2 percentage points over the conventional mortgage rates, which currently average around 6.3%.
“If you’re a gig worker who has paid rent for three years, you still may not be able to get a conventional mortgage,” she says. “This kind of financing is for you.”
Much like co-operative dwellings, buyers purchase shares in an LLC, but retain full ownership with the ability to resell.
The passion for homeownership
After a nomadic childhood in which her family lived in 20 rentals by the time she reached high school, Romatowski grew up to be zealous about homeownership.
“The only thing my mom wanted was to live in a home and own the dirt under her feet,” she says.
While that never happened for her mother, Romatowski bought her first house at age 26—in addition to getting her real estate license.
“I realized [homeownership] wasn’t magic or a miracle,” she says. “I’d come home and tell my husband, ‘Hey, we bought another house today.'”
Since then, she’s bought and sold at least 30 homes over almost three decades. She and her husband, Rick, currently own six properties—one for her family and the rest for long-term rentals as well as a transitional housing nonprofit.
Her mission became to help people like her mother reach their homeownership goals. But with a Seattle median price of $825,000, that goal remains out of reach for many.
“I had two focus groups, and what shocked me was that so many people said homeownership wouldn’t happen in their lifetimes,” she says. “They were just accepting it. I thought, ‘This is a huge problem.'”
While reSpace’s notion of co-owning isn’t particularly new, most fractional ownership models focus on co-ownership, not co-living.
For example, Pacaso, which services the luxury secondary-home market, offers one-eighth ownership of a property. But the model works similarly to timeshares in that owners are expected to schedule chunks of separate usage.
ReSpace, on the other hand, sells primary homes for full-time owner-occupants—investors and vacationers need not apply.
“This isn’t about rich people getting a second home,” says Romatowski. “It’s about the average Joe having a roof over their head.”
Who will buy?
Romatowski says she’s been approached by all kinds of potential buyers: from female retirees seeking a “Golden Girls” situation, to young tech workers who don’t want to waste money on rent where the monthly median is $2,600, to multigenerational families.
“Where the model makes most sense is in these markets where to buy a house is very expensive,” she says.
With five large metros reaching a median home price of over $1 million, and an equal amount over $800,000, reSpace shouldn’t have a problem finding those markets.
While even a spare room in Seattle (often without an en suite bathroom) costs a monthly average of $1,092, a 5.5% increase year over year, according to roommate site SpareRoom, a reSpace mortgage can start at $1,262.87.
There is also an approximately $300 monthly fee that will cover maintenance, a handyman, and professional management. To avoid “fights about who scrubs the toilet in the powder room,” there’s an included cleaning service.
But what about that co-owner who just isn’t fitting in? Romatowski says that if someone needs to get the boot, the process would work much as it would for a co-op—likely warnings followed by legal action.
Co-ownership expert and lawyer Andy Sirkin, who represents the company, had told Romatowski: “You can eliminate 97% of what could rise to the level of a real problem by having clear understandings and agreements going in.”
To that end, the first group of co-owners in each property will decide their bylaws, covering issues such as guests, decor, pets, and noise.
The lessening of personal friction is so vital to reSpace’s mission that groups with predetermined buyers will get first dibs.
“They already have the existing relationships, and it’s very intentional, so they will get priority,” Romatowski says.
“People have lived this way for centuries, in boarding houses, shared rentals, and homes,” says Kim Mulligan, a Seattle agent who has trained as a reSpace partner. “ReSpace is making it possible for these people to live in a home, with the difference of being able to take their equity with them when it’s time for them to move on.”
In fact, if you’re unable or unwilling to resell your ownership—reSpace will buy it from you, with what it calls its “easy out” guarantee.
And if you own a large house you’d like to stay in—but the kids have moved on and now you need only about 20% of it? ReSpace would like to chat.
“We can work with existing property owners,” says Romatowski. “Whether they want to age in place or build a house in the backyard, we can accommodate them.”
Thus far, reSpace has 30 properties in the pipeline in Seattle, Oregon, and California—and more are on the horizon, including on the East Coast.
The multiple listing service has denied Romatowski’s bid to list her properties, but with a wait list of hundreds, she has options.
“The suites will go quickly,” she says. “People want community now.”
