A 31-year-old used a HELOC to compete with all-cash offers on a house. 3 lenders to do the same

During the summer of 2023, Rachel Curry and her husband set out to buy their first home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a strong application: a 20% down payment and stable careers. 

The couple toured about 30 houses and made five bids in three months. They lost all five, most of them to buyers who proposed all-cash offers, Curry was told by her realtor. The 31-year-old and her husband didn't have the liquidity to make the same type of offer.

Curry's sixth and final bid was successful because she used a crafty strategy: She and her husband asked a relative to take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC), which the couple would then repay. The $200,000 HELOC, combined with the $45,000 they had saved for a down payment, allowed them to make an all-cash offer on a house that eventually became their home. Shortly after their purchase, they took out a $250,000 30-year fixed-rate Discover home equity loan (which is no longer available) on their property and repaid their relative's HELOC in full. All in all, the process took between four and five months; they started looking in June and closed on their new home in October.

"We're in a privileged position to have family members that can do this," said Curry, a journalist who freelances for CNBC. "It would open up the doors for more people to be able to get the house they want," Curry added, when discussing the HELOC strategy she used.

Curry and her husband, who are both millennials, aren't alone in needing help to purchase a home: 27% of millennial buyers and 38% of Gen Z buyers reported that their parents either co-owned or co-bought their properties with them, or co-signed their mortgages, according to a Credit Karma survey from 2024, the latest year for which data is available. Eighteen percent of respondents who haven't bought a home said they plan to get financial assistance from their parents when they make that purchase.

Prospective homebuyers, especially those in their 20s and 30s, are struggling to become homeowners: In 2025, the average age of a first-time homebuyer was 40, the highest it's ever been, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Meanwhile, existing homeowners sitting on more equity than ever are using it to make all-cash offers on their next purchase — last year, 30% of repeat homeowners paid in all cash, down just a point from a record high of 31% the year prior, per NAR. 

If you or a family member is considering tapping the equity in one home to get cash to buy another, some lenders offer more ideal products than others. 

First, you want to look for a lender with a high enough maximum to cover the home price. 

TD Bank, for example, has a maximum withdrawal limit of $6 million, much higher than other lenders. We also like that you can get a 0.25% interest rate discount by setting up autopay from a TD Bank account.

However, TD is only available in select states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C. 

To minimize costs, you may also want to choose a lender that doesn't charge application or origination fees, like Bank of America. It also has a high minimum withdrawal limit of $1 million. 

BofA has excellent customer satisfaction ratings from JD Power and over 3,800 retail locations nationwide, making it a convenient choice for people who prefer in-person experiences.

For those who want to get their cash quickly, choose a lender that offers a speedy closing. CNBC Select likes CMG Financial, which allows you to access funds in as little as five days, compared to the average of three to six weeks. 

CMG doesn't post its rates online, so it may be hard to compare its affordability with other lenders without calling a representative or agent. 

If you do decide to get financial help for a down payment from a family member, be sure to let your lender know that a portion of the money is coming from someone else, as this could affect your approval chances, rate and term.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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