Should parents help kids buy a home?

The full article can be read on MoneySense’s website.

“Four years ago, at the age of 24, Jonas Knight decided to buy his first house. Prices had been shooting up in his home town of Maple Ridge, a suburb of Vancouver, and he felt that if he didn’t get in the market soon, he never would. Problem was, like many young Canadians, he couldn’t afford even a basic starter home.

To help ease the burden, his brother Derek, 21, agreed to go halfers (we’ve changed their names to protect their privacy). Derek would own half the house and pay half the mortgage, and Jonas would live in it and rent part of it out to friends. But even then, they didn’t have enough to make the down payment on the $420,000 wood-frame house they were eyeing. So they turned to mom and dad. The brothers made separate pleas to their parents, who are divorced. Their dad, Russell, said yes, agreeing to give them $15,000 each for the down payment. Their mom, Emma, said no.

Which parent did the right thing?”