To become a co-owner with Key, the initial minimum home equity investment starts from 2.5% of the value of your home depending on the building, which will be around $15k for many.
Traditional homeownership requires 5-20% down depending on the value of your home.
With Key, you are never required to take on a mortgage. You can choose to do so after the third year but there is no obligation, you can choose to continuing co-owning and building home equity at your own pace.
With traditional homeownership you are required to qualify for and take on a mortgage. A mortgage also means taking on the risk of rising interest rates.
Giving you the option of continuing to co-own or take on a mortgage after three years is one way Key provides flexibility.
With traditional homeownership you are typically locked into a 20-year mortgage that can be difficult to exit should you need to move or if your circumstances change.
When you're ready to move out, just give 75-days notice (after the first year), and you'll get back your home equity investments plus your portion of the appreciation. And you'll save most of the typical selling costs.
Depending on your mortgage you could be looking at expensive mortgage breakage fees, and with a down payment that can easily tie up most of your money you may risk becoming house poor.