The Hidden Costs That Make Buying a Home Feel Impossible
Timothy Alston | Broker
Aegis Luxury Real Estate · DRE# 01328224
Published
April 09, 2026
Foothill sophistication, downtown heart
When buying a home starts to feel financially impossible, some families in Los Gatos are finding a different path: purchasing a multi-generational home together with parents or grandparents. This approach pools multiple incomes to unlock buying power, while also reducing or eliminating childcare costs. For families squeezed from both sides, it may be the most practical solution available right now.
You know how you sit down to run the numbers on buying, and somewhere between the down payment and the monthly payment, the whole thing just stops making sense? And then you factor in what you are already paying for childcare, and it starts to feel like you have to pick one or the other? A lot of families in Los Gatos are dealing with exactly that right now.
But here is the part most people have not stopped to think about yet: what if the reason it feels impossible is not your income, but the way you are trying to do it?
What Does Your Housing Situation Actually Look Like Right Now?
Before anything else, it is worth asking yourself a simple question. Are you renting while watching home prices stay stubbornly high? Are you saving, but feeling like the finish line keeps moving? What would you say is the single biggest thing standing between you and buying a home right now?
For a lot of families, the honest answer involves two numbers that are fighting each other. The cost of a home. And the cost of childcare.
The Department of Health and Human Services says childcare should take up no more than 7% of a family’s monthly income. But the actual average for married couples is closer to 10%. That gap does not sound dramatic until you combine it with a mortgage payment in a market like this one. Then it becomes the wall that stops everything.
Have you ever stopped to think about what it would mean if you could solve both problems at the same time instead of trading one off against the other?
For decades, the standard path to homeownership assumed one or two earners, a single household, and a traditional mortgage. In markets like Los Gatos, that model worked when home prices were a fraction of what they are today. As values climbed through the 2010s and childcare costs rose alongside them, that single-household model quietly became unworkable for a growing segment of buyers. The math changed. The strategy did not keep up.
When a Home Feels Out of Reach, This Is What 1 in 7 Buyers Are Doing
According to the National Association of Realtors, nearly 1 in 7 homebuyers (14%) purchased a multi-generational home in 2025. That means parents, grandparents, or other relatives pooling resources to buy a single property together and live under the same roof.
And for the first time, childcare is showing up as a direct reason why. The National Association of Realtors noted that two new motivations entered the picture this year: grandchildren living in the home (12% of multi-generational buyers) and reducing the cost of childcare (6%). These are not side benefits. They are reasons families are making the decision to buy this way.
Does that make sense as a strategy when you think about it? If your parents or in-laws are already helping with the kids on weekends, what would it actually look like if that happened every day, without the commute?
As Silicon Valley’s tech economy expanded through the 2010s, home values in communities like Los Gatos climbed at a pace that consistently outpaced wage growth. Inventory stayed tight. Bidding wars became routine. First-time buyers found themselves priced out not because of poor financial planning, but because the structural gap between household income and home prices had widened significantly. Multi-generational buying began gaining ground quietly during this period as families looked for any way to close that gap.
Two Problems, One Purchase: How the Numbers Can Change
Here is the part worth sitting with for a moment. A multi-generational home purchase does not just make buying more affordable. It can restructure your entire monthly budget at the same time.
First, there is the buying side. When you pool two or more incomes together, your combined purchasing power often unlocks price ranges that were not accessible on your own. In a market like Los Gatos, where home values reflect decades of sustained demand and limited inventory, that additional buying power matters in real terms.
Second, there is the childcare side. When grandparents or relatives are already living in the home, the need for outside daycare shrinks or disappears entirely. The National Association of Realtors found that families who cited childcare as a motivation for multi-generational buying were not doing it for sentimental reasons. They were doing it because the financial relief was material.
If you could eliminate a $2,000 or $3,000 monthly childcare expense while also splitting a mortgage with someone you trust, what would that do to how a home feels financially? Can you see how the calculation shifts?
Families who entered the Los Gatos market between 2019 and 2022, even at elevated prices, have in many cases accumulated substantial home equity as values continued to rise through the post-pandemic period. Those who used multi-generational structures to clear the initial affordability hurdle are now sitting on property value gains that would have been inaccessible had they waited. Timing and structure both mattered. The families who got creative with how they bought often outperformed those who waited for ideal conditions that never arrived.
What Happens If Nothing Changes?
This is the question worth asking honestly. If you keep the same approach, waiting for rates to drop or prices to soften or childcare costs to ease, where does that leave you in three years? In five years? What does your equity position look like? What does your monthly budget look like?
Renting is not a neutral choice. Every month, someone else is building equity with your payment. That is not a judgment. It is just math. Have you stopped to think about what that adds up to over a decade?
For families exploring Los Gatos homes for sale, the multi-generational path is one that more buyers are taking seriously not because it is a compromise, but because it is a smarter structure for the way costs are stacked right now.
Based on what many families are working through, this approach might be closer to what you have been looking for than a traditional single-household purchase. It is worth understanding what is available, what the title and escrow considerations look like for shared ownership, and whether the numbers work for your specific situation.
The Next Step Is a Conversation, Not a Commitment
Do you get the sense that this could be what you have been looking for? If so, the next step is simple. A straightforward conversation with Timothy Alston, Broker at Aegis Luxury Real Estate, to look at what multi-generational properties exist in this market and whether the structure makes sense for your family.
Not a pitch. Not a sales presentation. Just a clear look at where you are, what is available in Los Gatos real estate, and what path might actually get you there. How would you like to proceed?
Call or text Timothy Alston directly at (408) 207-4593 to start that conversation.
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Serving districts: Los Gatos Union Elementary SD (K-8), Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High SD (9-12). School district boundaries can change; please verify current enrollment boundaries and program offerings directly with the school district.
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Broker · DRE# 01328224
Aegis Luxury Real Estate
Harvard Business School Online, Certified Master Negotiation
23+ Years Silicon Valley Real Estate Experience
Retired Military Veteran
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The data relating to real estate for sale on this display comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the MLSListings™ MLS system. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Aegis Luxury Real Estate are marked with the Internet Data Exchange icon and detailed information about them includes the names of the listing brokers and listing agents.
Based on information from the MLSListings MLS as of June 12, 2026. All data, including all measurements and calculations of area, is obtained from various sources and has not been, and will not be, verified by broker or MLS. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Properties may or may not be listed by the office/agent presenting the information.
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Aegis Luxury Real Estate · Timothy Alston, Broker, DRE# 01328224 · 10080 N. Wolfe Rd Ste SW3-200, Cupertino CA 95014 · (408) 207-4593
Last updated: July 04, 2026 | Data reflects July 2026 MLS statistics
