You Could Use Some of Your Equity To Give Your Children the Gift of Home

If you’ve owned your home for several years, there’s a good chance you’ve built up a significant amount of equity—just by living in your home and allowing the market to do its thing. And that equity? It’s more than just a number. It can become a meaningful part of your legacy.

With home prices still high and affordability continuing to challenge younger buyers, many first-time homebuyers—even those with good jobs and solid plans—are struggling to make the leap into homeownership. That’s where your equity might come into play.

Parents Are Stepping In—and It’s Making a Real Difference

According to Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), the average U.S. homeowner with a mortgage has $311,000 in equity. That’s a powerful financial tool.

Increasingly, parents are using a portion of that equity to help their children with a down payment or closing costs. Bank of America reports that nearly half (49%) of homebuyers between the ages of 18 and 26 received money from their parents to make homeownership possible:

Even though the data doesn’t detail exactly how many parents tapped into their equity, it’s likely that for many, that’s where the money came from—especially given how much wealth is tied to homeownership today.

This Is About More Than Money

Helping your child buy a home isn’t just a financial decision—it’s an emotional one. It’s about giving them a head start you might not have had. It’s about seeing them say, “We got the house!”—and knowing you played a role in making that dream come true.

According to Compare the Market:

“Of those who did receive monetary aid from parents and grandparents to buy a house, 45% of Americans said they would not have been able to purchase a house without financial support.”

Bottom Line

Your home equity might be the key that unlocks homeownership for the next generation. If you’re in a position to help—and want to explore what that could look like—it might be more feasible than you think.

Let’s talk about your options and how you can turn the equity you’ve built into a legacy that lasts.