FamilyBacked

A mortgage company for buyers with family help

Your family can invest in your next home.

Your family invests through a fund in their own name. You qualify for your mortgage on your own and own the home outright. We help you see what that makes possible.

See what you could afford

Two minutes. No credit check. No commitment.

Why this matters

26%

of first-time buyers got family help with their down payment last year.

$70T

in wealth is set to pass to the next generation over the coming decades.

There's a reason family help became normal. Most of the wealth is a generation up, which is part of why the typical first-time buyer is now closer to 40 than 30. It's how a new generation is becoming homeowners.

The idea

Your family can invest in your next home, instead of giving the money away.

Family money usually arrives one way: a check, a gift letter, a signature, and it's gone for good. That works, and for plenty of families it's the right call. But it isn't the only way to help, and it asks a family to give up the money permanently to do it.

How a family investment works, start to finishThree steps, left to right. First, your family invests through a Tufa fund held in their own name and receives fund shares. Then you buy your home and the fund's money goes in beside your mortgage and down payment. Later, when you sell, the fund is repaid its agreed portion. No monthly payment and no interest, and if the home is worth less, the fund is repaid less.Your family investsand receives fund shares,in their own name, at TufaYou buy your homethe fund's moneygoes in beside yoursYou sell laterthe fund is repaidits agreed portionNo monthly payment. No interest. If the home is worth less, the fund is repaid less.
  • You qualify for your mortgage on your own
  • You own the home outright
  • Nothing to deposit or pay back to family

No one had built the mortgage company that helps families think this through. So we did.

FamilyBacked does not offer investments. Housing accounts and fund details are at tufafunds.com. Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation of any security.

How it works

Three steps, in the order they happen.

01

See what you could afford

Answer a few questions and get an early picture of your range across different family scenarios. No credit check, no account needed yet.

02

Explore your options

Open your planning chat to model scenarios at your own pace, and get help thinking through the conversation with your family. No pressure, no calls.

03

Move forward when you're ready

When you want real numbers, a loan officer takes it from here, already familiar with everything you've explored.

See what you could afford

Two minutes. No credit check. No commitment.

Questions families ask

The four questions that come up first.

Do my parents own part of my home?

No. You own your home outright, and your parents are never on the title. What they hold is shares in a fund, in their own name, through their account at Tufa. The fund holds a second lien on the home, so your parents own an investment, not a piece of your house. You live there, and you decide if and when to sell or refinance.

Do I make payments on the second?

No. The second lien has no monthly payment and no interest. Nothing is due until you sell, refinance, or decide to pay it off. At that point it is repaid as a fixed share of your home's value. Because it is tied to value rather than a balance that grows, if your home is worth less then, the repayment is less too.

What is Tufa?

Tufa is the investment platform where your family's housing account and the fund live. FamilyBacked is your mortgage company: we handle your loan. Family Backed Mortgage, Inc. is the licensed mortgage subsidiary of Tufa, Inc. Your family opens their account with Tufa directly, and the account details, including anything about how the investment works, are at tufafunds.com.

What happens when I sell?

You sell like any homeowner. The second lien is repaid out of the proceeds as the fixed share of your home's value you agreed to at closing, the same way your first mortgage is paid off. What's left is yours. Your family isn't paid by you and doesn't take a cut of your sale. Their return reaches them through the fund, at Tufa.

See all questions →

See what your range looks like.

A short intake. An early picture. Then a conversation, if you want one.

See what you could afford

Two minutes. No credit check. No commitment.