Benefits, Risks to Crowdsourced Homebuying

Crowdfunding platforms for homebuying are becoming more popular as more Millennials try to transition from renting to owning.

"The No. 1 challenge that we hear from millennials in terms of their ability to buy a home is the down payment," says Jonathan Lawless, vice president of customer solutions for Fannie Mae, adding, "We think there is a great future for it." Christopher George, CEO of mortgage banking firm CMG Financial, says he was inspired to create crowdfunding platform HomeFundMe by the financial difficulties he saw in his children's generation, Realtor.com reports. "We're talking to millennials saying their social network is their net worth," George says. "Why not allow your sphere of influence [to] help as well?"

In recent years, crowdfunding has become a popular way to pay for a remarkably wide range of ventures. Want to back a sliced-ketchup product, a self-serve cocktail machine, or maybe a charity race? Just pull out your smartphone. But more recently the technology has been moving a bit closer to home, right up, in fact, to your doorstep. Crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly popular way for aspiring home buyers to tap into their networks to come up with down payments.

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