<prompt> Human: I think I will end up talking to an actual accountant about this eventually, but the plan is currently in its early stages and I thought rpf might have some good advicecritiques. Im considering purchasing a house together with my parents, and Im wondering what the potential pitfalls might be, and how to best arrange the transaction. Background details: My parents are both recently retired and both have generous, reliable federal government pensions. They own their house outright, and their pensions alone are enough for them to live comfortably on. They also have a good amount of individual retirement savings, as well as a recent inheritance in the mid-six figures. They have high credit scores and are generally responsible with money. I am 27, and I rent an apartment about an hour away from them in the nearest big city. I have a professional degree and a relatively high and stable income for my age. I paid off all my student loans and have around 100k saved in taxable accounts, plus a bit in 401k. My credit score is excellent. For what its worth, I recognize that I am incredibly lucky to be in this position - both individually and with my family. I do not take my good fortune for granted.I am saving up to buy a house on my own, but real estate in my area is very expensive, and I will realistically not be able to afford a house alone for many years. Thats fine with me. I wasam prepared to wait several years if necessary, but I do very much look forward to owning a home.The plan: My parents just received an inheritance, and they will have no need for that money in the foreseeable future. They are a bit shy to make any more large stock market investments at this stage in their lives. They decided that real estate might be the most comfortable place to park the inheritance money for the time being. The initial plan was for them to purchase and rent out a house in an up-and-coming area that is likely to go up in value. But then they realized they do not really want the hassle of being landlords, and theyre not necessarily savvy enough to speculate on real estate prices. So, theyve offered to purchase a house with me. By that I mean, they have offered to put down a substantial down payment 30-50 on a house that we would co-own, and I would live in. I would pay the mortgagetaxesup-keep and all other ongoing costs. We would split equity proportionally based on the ratio of their initial investment to the initial valuation of the house. I would either plan to buy them out eventually, or split the profitloss with them proportionally when we eventually sell the house.As a personal matter, my parents and I get along fairly well. We are all reasonable and responsible. My parents view this both as a prudent conservative financial investment, and a as nice way to help their daughter. I cant imagine that there would be any major conflicts between us as co-owners. The worst possibility I can think of is them wanting to visit too much, or my dad trying to play handy-man with things that are beyond his expertise. Those are both problems I can live with.I could afford the mortgage and carrying costs of the house very comfortably. The areas I am looking to buy in are very popular. The houses are expensive - not the kind of property with a huge investment upside, but also unlikely to go down too much. My parents are able to tolerate some losses on the investment, though I think that is unlikely to happen.My question for rpf is, is this a bad idea? Are there things that could go wrong in this arrangement that I havent thought of? What would be the most tax efficient way to set this up?  <response>: A friend of mine did something similar when she bought her house. She is a young, single woman who purchased a house using family money. The way she did it, legally, was very interesting. Her family set up a corporation that would own the house with the house as its only asset. Her parents initially owned 100 of the corporation. Every month, rather than making mortgage payments or paying rent to her parents, she purchases a small percentage stake in the corporation from her parents. I am not sure if there is a mortgage on the house, but if there is one, it would be owned by the corporation. Eventually, she will own 100 of the corporation and its asset the house.I believe that having a corporation own the house offers some legal protections. If something bad were to happen between her, her parents, or her roommates, the structure of the corporation protects her and her family from some kinds of personal liabilities. 