It can work. I know of a case where four long-time friends- a musician/story teller, a highschool teacher, a chef and a university professor/writer- were able to afford home ownership by pooling resources.

My next door neighbors (all single men at the time) went together more than 15 years ago and bought an old house. Each one took a flat. Skylights and decks and entrances and more windows have been added in the years since. Each flat has separate meters and appliances. Each year they undertake one large project (one year having blown-in insulation added, another year they replaced an underground oil tank, etc)funded by pooled money.

Eventually each man married and continued living there. About a year ago one of the couples moved out when they bought an entire house with acreage, backed up to a forest. They sold their share of the original house to the other three owners, who are currently renting out that flat until they decide what to do with it.