$\"How$ \n

For a lot of parents or grandparents, watching a family member struggle to buy their first home right now is hard. That\u2019s because you saw firsthand how homeownership gave your life more stability and helped grow your net worth \u2013 and you want your loved ones to have those same opportunities.<\/p>\n

But with all the affordability challenges in recent years, that can feel like an uphill battle \u2013 even though it\u2019s slowly improving<\/a> lately. Here\u2019s what you may not realize. You may be in a unique position to help (thanks to the equity in your current house).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Equity Advantage You May Not Be Thinking About<\/strong><\/h4>\n
You\u2019ve likely owned your home for years, maybe even decades. And during that time, two things happened:<\/p>\n
\n
Home values rose<\/li>\n
Your mortgage balance shrank (or you paid it off entirely)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
That combination has created substantial <\/strong>equity<\/strong><\/a> for many homeowners like you.<\/strong><\/p>\n
And while you may think of that equity as something you want to have in your pocket for retirement, it can also serve another purpose: helping the next generation clear the biggest hurdle in their way.<\/p>\n
The #1 Thing Holding Young Buyers Back<\/strong><\/h4>\nWhen John Burns Research & Consulting<\/em> (JBREC) asked<\/a> renters what\u2019s keeping them from buying, the top answer wasn\u2019t mortgage rates or home prices. It was the upfront cost, particularly saving enough for their down payment<\/strong> (see graph below<\/em>):<\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/a>That\u2019s where you may be able to make more of a difference than you realize. You can\u2019t control rates or prices. But you may be able to use your equity to help with this upfront expense. And giving money to your loved one so they buy a home doesn\u2019t mean putting your own future at risk.<\/p>\n
Even a small portion of your equity can put them in a position to finally get the keys to their first place \u2013 and, if you\u2019re strategic about it, you\u2019d still have a lot leftover for when you retire.<\/p>\n
With an estimated $68 and $84 trillion<\/a> of wealth expected to transfer from older generations to younger ones over the next two decades, many families are already thinking differently about when and how that wealth will be passed down. Maybe it makes sense for your family to think about too.<\/p>\n
Help from Loved Ones Is Making a Move Possible for Many First-Time Buyers<\/strong><\/h4>\nA growing share of young buyers are using gifts and loans from their loved ones to springboard into homeownership. According<\/a> to the National Association of Realtors<\/em> (NAR), nearly 1 in 5 first-time buyers use a cash gift from their family or loved ones for their down payment.<\/strong><\/p>\n
And other young buyers are using their inheritance or a loan from someone they know to finally break into the market (see charts below<\/em>):<\/p>\n
This Is About Opportunity, Not Obligation<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Every family\u2019s situation is different, and your decision should be made carefully. It\u2019s just that, if you\u2019ve built up a lot of equity, you may have more room to help than you think.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just a financial gift. It\u2019s giving stability, security, and a foundation that could change their lives for the better \u2013 especially at a time when they may not be able to do it on their own.<\/p>\n
Bottom Line<\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re curious what your home equity could make possible, for you or for your loved ones, start with a simple conversation with a local real estate agent. Because sometimes the most meaningful investment you can make is for the next generation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For a lot of parents or grandparents, watching a family member struggle to buy their first home right now is hard. That\u2019s because you saw firsthand how homeownership gave your life more stability and helped grow your net worth \u2013 and you want your loved ones to have those same opportunities. But with all the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6275,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[29,27,20,18,28],"class_list":["post-6274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-insight","tag-idaho-real-estate","tag-north-idaho-homes","tag-rain-silverhawk","tag-real-estate","tag-sandpoint-idaho"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260223-Blog-Header-Image-original.png?fit=750%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdz2Zu-1Dc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

The Equity Advantage You May Not Be Thinking About<\/strong><\/h4>\nYou\u2019ve likely owned your home for years, maybe even decades. And during that time, two things happened:<\/p>\n\nHome values rose<\/li>\n