Tag Archives: gen z

Tips for Parents That Want to Help Their Child Buy a Home

08 Monday Dec 2025

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Give the down payment as a gift. One of the most common ways parents help their children purchase a home is by contributing to their down payment. As a parent, you have two main options: loan the money or gift it outright. If you loan the money, it creates a formal debt that could trigger interest income taxes for you (as the lender) and potential repayment obligations for your child. Gifting is often simpler and more tax-efficient—under current IRS rules for 2026, you can gift up to $19,000 per parent (or $38,000 total if married and splitting the gift) to each recipient tax-free without dipping into your lifetime exemption. For example, both parents could gift $19,000 each to their child (and another $19,000 each to the child’s spouse if buying together), totaling $76,000 tax-free to help cover a 20% down payment on a $300,000 Jacksonville home. This avoids any gift tax reporting for amounts within limits and lets your child use the funds immediately without repayment pressure.

Be a co-owner with your kid… Some lenders allow parents to co-buy a home with their child and structure equity ownership as desired (e.g., you own 60%, your child owns 40%), which determines how proceeds are split upon sale. This works well if the long-term goal is for your child to eventually buy you out or inherit full ownership—perhaps through a quitclaim deed or refinancing once they qualify independently. In Florida, this can also help with mortgage qualification if your income/credit boosts approval, and it lets you retain partial control or equity growth while your child builds homeownership experience in a market like Jacksonville’s.

…or buy a house on your own and rent it to your child. If your child doesn’t yet qualify for a mortgage (e.g., due to credit history, debt-to-income ratio, or limited savings), you can purchase the home solely in your name and rent it to them at a fair market rate. This gives them time to improve credit, save for a future down payment, and build rental history—while you benefit from rental income (potentially offsetting mortgage costs) and property appreciation. In Jacksonville, where starter homes or townhomes average $280,000–$350,000, this approach provides stability and a path to eventual ownership, with the option for your child to buy it later via a family sale or refinance.

Need more parent tips? Give us a call! Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 www.HanleyHomeTeam.comde 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com Kevin Hanley, Loan Officer, Texana Bank NMLS #2639641 https://mortgage.texanabank.com/loan-officer/kevin-hanley/

Why do Millennials Think They Have to Win the Lottery in Order to Own a Home?

15 Monday May 2023

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Millennials may believe they are unable to afford a home due to a number of factors. Here are a few reasons:

  1. High housing prices: In many parts of the world, housing prices have risen significantly in recent years, making it difficult for many people, including Millennials, to afford a home. This can be especially true in urban areas where the cost of living is high.
  2. Student loan debt: Many Millennials have taken out large student loans to finance their education. This can make it more difficult to save up for a down payment on a home or to qualify for a mortgage.
  3. Stagnant wages: Despite the cost of living rising, wages have remained relatively stagnant. This can make it challenging to save enough money for a down payment on a home, as well as meet the other financial requirements of owning a home.
  4. Lack of job security: Many Millennials have faced job instability in the current job market. This can make it difficult to plan for the long-term financial commitment of owning a home.
  5. Increased financial responsibilities: Millennials may also be facing other financial responsibilities, such as caring for aging parents or raising children. These responsibilities can make it harder to save for a home.

A recent poll found that 52% of Gen Z and 57% of Millennials feel like they’d need to hit the jackpot in order to buy a home. Yet a third of both those generations owned a house before they even hit 25-years old! 

It’s not easy for most people to buy a house, let alone when you’re on the younger side. But it can be done, even when the market is highly competitive and conditions aren’t ideal. And even if you’re not able to buy a house before you’re 25, don’t think that you’ll never be able to. 

Winning the lottery would be great and certainly help, but the real secret to buying a home is having the desire to make it a reality: Focusing on what you need to do to get there, and putting in the time and effort it takes.

No matter your generation, we are here to help! Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORS, SRES, Luxury The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com

Buying a House Is “In the Bag” for Millennials and Gen Z

23 Monday Jan 2023

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Many members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations would love to buy a house of their own. But according to this CNBC article, they simply can’t afford to do so.

Not only can they not afford to buy a house, many are moving back in with their parents, as Forbes recently reported, due to inflation, low-paying jobs, college debt, high rents, and the general monthly costs of living on your own. Given the current economy, it’s a smart, sensible move to stash away some cash and pay off their debts, even if it isn’t where they’d like to be at this point in their lives.

None of that is all that surprising, since it’s been all over the news for quite a while now. 

But what might be surprising is how some of them are spending the money they’re saving by living with family, considering they’d like to buy a house.

Living a life of luxury…

A new report from Morgan Stanley revealed that 29 percent of Millennials and Gen Z are putting off buying a house in order to pay off their debts and achieve financial security. However, many of them are using the money they’re saving by living with family to purchase high-end watches, purses, jewelry, and other luxury items.

Considering they’re living at home at a time in life when past generations had already bought (or at least rented) their own place, you can’t blame them for wanting to splurge a bit. Who hasn’tdone a little retail therapy to make life seem better? 

But then you also can’t blame the cost of living, mortgage rates, and high house prices entirelyon why they aren’t able to buy a house…

In fact, many Millennials and Gen Z are buying houses! According to the National Association of REALTORS® 2021 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, Millennials and Gen Z combined are 39% of the homebuyers during that period!

Follow the lead of the 39%…

So, it isn’t by any means impossible for people in the younger generations to buy a house. But, it probably means that the ones who do purchase a home are making a concerted effort to pay down their debts, save money where they can for a down payment, and spend it on a home of their own, rather than high-end luxury items.

For years, it’s been a running joke that Millennials could afford a house if they’d just stop spending money on avocado toast, which they rightfully scoffed at as an over-simplified solution. Saving a few bucks a day is obviously a drop in the bucket it takes to fill with a down payment. (Then again, habits and little savings all add up!) 

But when you start talking about buying a trendy purse, watch, or any other luxury item, it starts getting hard to defend. You can’t do that and then claim that it’s the economy, mortgage rates, or high home prices that are getting in the way of buying a house—especially when so many others in the age bracket are managing to do so.

So, if you’re in the Millennial or Gen Z generation and want to buy a home—but currently have to live with family just to make ends meet—don’t feel like it’ll never happen for you. 

Just be thoughtful about the money you’re able to save by living with family. Every month, pay down your debts, put some aside for a down payment on a house, and forgo buying expensive handbags (or other such items), and buying a home will be in the bag for you!

The Takeaway:

Many members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations would love to buy a house, but simply can’t afford to do so. Many of them have actually moved back home with their families due to inflation, low-paying jobs, college debt, high rents, and the general monthly costs of living on your own.

However, those two generations comprised 39% of the home buyers in 2021, so it’s obviously not impossible for the younger generation to afford a home. 

What sets those who do buy a house, and those who feel that it is entirely out of reach, may boil down to how they spend their disposable income. A recent report from Morgan Stanley revealed that many of those generations are using the money they save by living back home to purchase luxury items, rather than save the money.

If you’re in the Millennial or Gen Z generation, know that it’s possible to afford a home, but that you need to be thoughtful about how you save money, and what you spend those savings on.

Need some guidance? Get in touch today! Kevin and Jennifer Hanley, REALTORs The Hanley Home Team of Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners Southside 904-515-2479 HanleyHomeTeam.com