Yes. The Family Opportunity Mortgage is still available in 2026, because nobody ever discontinued it — it’s an occupancy rule in Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide (B2-1.1-01, Occupancy Types) that lets you buy a home for a parent or a disabled adult child and finance it as a primary residence. I close these loans every year, and the rule is the same one I’ve been using since I started doing them.
Why people think it was discontinued
Years ago Fannie Mae marketed a branded product under the “Family Opportunity Mortgage” name, and at some point they stopped promoting it as a standalone program. Search “family opportunity mortgage discontinued” and you’ll find articles saying it’s gone. What actually happened is the marketing name went away and the underlying guideline stayed exactly where it was, in the definition of a principal residence. Most lenders today don’t call it anything at all — it’s just a conventional purchase where the occupancy exception applies.
So if you call a lender and they say “we don’t offer that,” they usually mean they’ve never heard the name, not that the rule doesn’t exist. Ask instead: “Do you follow Fannie Mae’s principal-residence exception for a parent buying for a disabled adult child, or a child buying for a parent?” A lender who does conventional lending can do this loan.
Who qualifies
Two situations, and only two. A parent or legal guardian buying a home for an adult child who is disabled and either can’t work or doesn’t earn enough to qualify on their own. Or an adult child buying a home for an elderly parent who can’t work or doesn’t have the income to qualify. In both, the family member moves in and lives there as their primary residence, and you, the buyer, don’t have to live there at all. There’s no distance requirement — the home can be next door or four hundred miles away.
Everything else is standard conventional underwriting. There is no fixed minimum credit score under current Fannie Mae automated underwriting — your full credit profile is evaluated, and pricing improves meaningfully above 700. Lender guidelines may apply. Minimum down payment is 5%. Your debt-to-income ratio can go up to 50% through Desktop Underwriter with strong compensating factors; 45% is where most files land comfortably. You document your income and assets like any purchase, and you have to qualify carrying both your own housing payment and the new one. Your parent or child is not on the loan and their income isn’t used — that’s the point.
If none of that fits — you want to buy for a sibling, a grandparent, or a parent who could qualify on their own — this exception doesn’t apply, and we’d look at second-home or investment financing instead. If it’s a parent you’re buying for, our guide to buying a house for an elderly parent walks through the file step by step.
A California-specific caution: Proposition 19
If your parent already owns a home in California, talk to a CPA or the county assessor before you decide what happens to it. Prop 19 changed two things that come up constantly on these files.
The parent-to-child transfer exclusion got narrower. Under the old rules a parent could pass a home to a child and the child kept the parent’s low property-tax basis. Since February 2021, that exclusion only applies if the home was the parent’s principal residence and becomes the child’s principal residence, with a cap of $1 million of assessed value over the current basis. If your parent deeds you their old house and you don’t move into it, expect the county to reassess it at market value.
The 55-and-over basis transfer probably doesn’t apply. Prop 19 lets homeowners 55 and older sell and carry their property-tax basis to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. That sounds ideal — sell the parent’s house, move them into the new one, keep the low taxes. The catch is the base-year transfer only works if the parent is the owner of the replacement home. In a Family Opportunity purchase you are the owner, not your parent, so the basis transfer generally does not apply. If keeping the parent’s tax basis matters more than the financing terms, that changes the whole plan, and it’s a CPA conversation before it’s a mortgage conversation.
What does work cleanly: if the parent sells their home, your parent can gift you the proceeds for the down payment. A conventional principal-residence loan allows gifts from a relative — and that's exactly how we classify this loan.
How the financing compares
| Family Opportunity (primary) | Second home | Investment / DSCR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum down | 5% | 10% | 15–25% |
| Interest rate | Primary-residence pricing (lowest) | Higher — Fannie Mae added second-home price adjustments in 2022 | Highest; DSCR loans are non-QM and price above agency |
| Who has to live there | Your parent or child, as their primary residence | You, part of the year; typically a reasonable distance from your primary | Nobody; can be rented |
| Rental income allowed | No — not a rental | No | Yes; DSCR qualifies on rent, not your income |
| Your income used | Yes | Yes | Yes (conventional) / No (DSCR) |
| Mortgage insurance | Under 20% down, cancellable | Under 20% down | Usually 20%+ down, none |
On the same purchase price, the difference between primary and investment pricing is usually a full rate tier plus a bigger down payment. Over a 30-year loan that’s tens of thousands of dollars — I can run the exact number on your scenario in a few minutes.
Get pre-qualified
Answer a few quick questions and I’ll follow up right away, or just call (916) 271-4405.
Frequently asked questions
Did Fannie Mae discontinue the Family Opportunity Mortgage?
No. Fannie Mae stopped promoting the branded name; the occupancy guideline that makes it work is still in the Selling Guide.
Can I charge my parent rent?
No. The home has to be their primary residence and you can’t treat it as a rental. They can help with expenses, but we don’t underwrite it as an investment property, and you shouldn’t run it as one.
What if my parent’s health changes and they move to a care facility later?
You still own the home. Occupancy is evaluated at closing, and you don’t have to re-qualify later — but you remain responsible for the loan. You can sell, keep it, or refinance; if you rent it out at that point, talk to us about what that means for your next loan.
Does my parent or child have to be on the loan?
No. In most files the buyer is the sole borrower. If a parent has some income and wants to be on it, there are ways to structure that too.
Does it work for a condo or a duplex?
Yes. Single and multi-unit properties qualify; timeshares and anything run as an investment do not.
Talk to someone who actually closes these
I’m Paul Bozek, NMLS #189572, with Unified Home Loans in Roseville, California. Call or text (916) 271-4405, or Email Paul, and I’ll tell you in one conversation whether your situation fits. You can also read the full program overview at unifiedhomeloans.com/family-opportunity-mortgage.