For many parents, it is a proud moment when their children have decided to move on with their lives and buy themselves their new home. However, not all our children who want to become home owners are financially capable of buying their own homes.

The question is, as loving parents who only wanted the best for our children, should we help our child buy their first home financially?

According to some financial advisers, before we give our children money or assist them to get a loan for their down payment, parents must make a serious reflection and assess how much would the financial assistance cost them, especially in the long run.

Also, parents must ask their child if he or she is making the right choice, particularly if it is the right time for the child to buy a home.

Many single, young individuals are having difficulty saving enough money for down payment for their first home. The recovering economy and the ballooning student debt have made it more difficult for many fresh-from-college individuals to have extra cash to buy their own homes. Not to mention the limited career opportunity offered by the job market, as well as unstable job security.

Statistically, first-time buyers accounted for just 29 percent of existing home sales in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. The figure reflected a sharp drop from 35 percent first-time home buyers registered before the 2008 financial crisis. Translated, not too many young buyers are out there and they comprise a small percentage of home buyers.

Here are a few tips on how to approach your child’s request for financial assistance when buying their first home.

Do not commit what you cannot afford

Actually, this is a sound financial advice for almost everything. It‘s very easy to understand. You should not part away with more than you can afford. Sure you want to help your child but it does not have to come to the point when you can no longer afford your own current needs. Keep in mind that you also have to keep something for yourself as your retirement fund so you can still live comfortably.

When you give your child a loan, you must prepare for the worst-case scenario that you won’t be paid so that even if the loan went bad, you will still have some money left for your current needs and retirement.

Is it a gift or a loan?

Giving your child money as gift for down payment means your child will not add to his or her current debt. But it also means you will never see your money again. However, it will be a great help for your child as it would ease off some burden. This is especially true if a child is already heavily in debt from student loans.

For those who are looking for their first home, they can take advantage of technology developed by Fort Lauderdale, Florida company RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB: RBIZ).  RealBiz offers a variety of home listings through its Nestbuilder.com.

Nestbuilder.com is a video-centric consumer site for real estate agents and brokers that serves home to 1.6 million listings. It features a video marketing platform called Nestbuilder Agent where agents can create virtual tours of their property listings, an online video profile, and informative how-tos, or home improvement or home buying videos that they can use to build their authority in the industry.  

Over 350,000 agents have signed up for an account on Nestbuilder.com since it went live this year.