What’s the Best Way to Help Adult Children Buy a Home?

Many parents and grandparents of adult children are watching their children work hard, progress in their careers, do the “right” things, and yet buying a first home still seems out of reach. If you are like some of our clients with children in this situation, you may be wondering what strategies may be able to help them.

Why Are Families Stepping In More Often Than Before?

• The data suggests that the home affordability challenge is real. According to the National Association of Realtors, the typical first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now 40 years old, a record high and a sharp increase from 33 years old just five years ago.¹
  
  
• Furthermore, the salary needed to buy a home has doubled from 2017 to 2025, as the median U.S. home price has reached $416,900.²
  
  
• Due to this economic reality, family support has become increasingly common, with nearly 80 percent of Gen Z homeowners receiving financial assistance, primarily from their parents.³
  
  

What Should You Think About Before Offering Help?

If you are like many families, the decision is less about whether to help and more about how to do so. Questions tend to surface, such as: 

• What are the ways to structure down-payment help? 
  
  
• What form should support take? 
  
  
• How much can you provide without affecting your long-term financial security? 
  
  
• Are protections important to you in the event of a relationship change or if the home is sold? 
  
  

What Approaches Do Families Commonly Consider?

There is no single structure that fits everyone. Families often consider several general approaches, including an outright cash gift, an intra-family loan, co-owning the property or taking an equity share, holding the home through a legal entity, or gifting an existing property. Each option comes with different pros and cons that need to be considered. It’s way more involved than just handing over a check.

How Does Helping Buy a Home Connect to the Bigger Picture?

Any form of assistance may work best when it aligns with your broader financial and estate strategies. Keeping clear records of gifts, coordinating with tax, legal and accounting professionals, and revisiting documents as circumstances change can help manage misunderstandings later. State-level rules and future changes to exemptions may also influence the timing and structure of any financial arrangement.

Helping a child or grandchild buy their first home is rarely just about the transaction. For many families, it becomes an opportunity to share perspectives, discuss trade-offs openly, and think intentionally about how resources are transferred across generations. If you would like to discuss how these considerations apply to your situation, we are here to help guide the conversation and coordinate with other professionals as needed.

^{1. Realtor.com, November 4, 2025.}

^{2. Visual Capitalist, July 30, 2025.}

^{3. Bank of America, December 2025.}