We built this blog—and this company—to help you get from “wouldn’t it be cool if…” in the group chat to actually living near your friends. If you’ve ever dreamed of raising your kids next door to your besties, building a backyard ADU for your parents, or
Grab your party hat, bring on the noisemakers, and pop the champagne (if that’s your thing). Seattle is making it easier, and more affordable, to live near family and friends. Over the past several years, both the City of Seattle and Washington State have passed a wave of changes
(Also see: LNF primer on Seattle's new housing laws) You know how much we love accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for living near friends. It’s by far the easiest way to share a yard and be close to each other. We’ve published a general guide in the
Want to know if someone lives near their besties? Don’t look at their address. Look at their feet. If they’re rocking something like this: …then they probably had to drive, bike, or cross a ravine just to borrow an egg. But if you see this? That’s a
(You can probably guess our take on this) Slate just dropped a firestorm of an article this week about parents using baby monitors to watch their sleeping children while they sneak away to hotel restaurants. The piece describes how an influencer couple faced intense backlash for using FaceTime to check
Live Near Friends (and living near friends) has been in the news a lot recently. Sharing some of the highlights I did a Q&A with the wonderful Anne Helen Petersen in her newsletter, Culture Study. It's one Substack newsletter that I very gladly pay for every
So many people dream of living next door to their friends and family—but not that many actually do. What stops them? One common blocker we see is what we call the “Bestie Barrier.” People latch onto one specific person—their best friend—as the only person they’d consider
Exciting news: Live Near Friends just launched in SEATTLE!
Whether you’ve dreamed of having your besties next door, downstairs in a duplex, or right across the backyard, we’ve got you covered. Live Near Friends specializes in all the financial, legal, and zoning considerations that go into purchasing homes next door – so you can turn those dreams into
Xander and Colby purchased their future Berkeley friend compound in January 2025. They found the property through Live Near Friends and purchased it with Max Nelson, a Live Near Friends realtor. It’s a lovely 3-home property (one duplex + an ADU) near Ashby BART. They plan to live in one
When you want to live near friends, the right realtor can make a big difference. While any realtor can help you view properties, coordinating these types of purchases requires a guide who understands the unique intersection of multi-party dynamics, creative financing, and unconventional property arrangements. In a given city, there
It’s now much easier to build a friend compound in California. I used to tell people that their “all my friends on a plot of land” dream was impossible in California. Getting permits would be too much of a nightmare. This is no longer true. Here’s a breakdown