“I think this is probably unique here to Hawaii,” Marks told Mortgage Professional America. “One of the main ways that we’re able to help get folks kind of across the starting line in terms of home ownership is by looking at multigenerational purchases. People buying a home, as a husband and wife trying to buy their first home together, almost always doesn’t work.
“A lot of times we’re now needing to do husband and wife and wife’s mom, or husband and wife and mom and dad. And both of them are on fixed income. So that they’ve got, maybe a couple thousand coming in each and all of a sudden, that tips them over from not being able to buy a home.”
Not an unusual situation
Marks said one of the reasons this type of lending works in Hawaii is that, culturally, multi-family living arrangements are more common.
“Now they can buy a home, and it works because a lot of multigenerational living situations already exist here,” Marks said. “It’s very common for folks to have their elderly parents living in their home with them. So, helping folks who have that situation be able to see that you can actually have three or four folks on that mortgage. A lot of times, that’s not something people are already thinking of.”
It was not a solution that Marks had seen during his time living in South Los Angeles, California. However, it works in Hawaii, and he believes it would work in other places where multigenerational living is more prevalent. It’s also critical in a state with affordability challenges. Marks said the average home price is $1.1 million.