>>18I've rented all my life since I can't afford anything else. Sometimes, what happens is one person will get a mortgage, then rent out the rooms to other people. In doing so, you effectively have 4ish people helping one person buy a house, in exchange for being allowed to live there.
A more equal arrangement would be all roommates paying to own the house, instead of the first person to put money down being the person who owns it. The fact of the matter is that my generation can't buy homes on their own, and this trend isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Gotta get used to shared living. I already have, not out of preference, but out of necessity.