A couple bought a house with a finished basement for their daughter and her husband to live in. It's helped the newlyweds save $20,000 for their own home.

By Samantha Grindell Pettyjohn

New Follow authors and never miss a story!

Caroline, 24, and Gabriel, 25, have been together since 2019. The couple is based in Maryland, although they're both originally from Brazil. Caroline is a photographer, and Gabriel is a nurse.

They knew early in their relationship that they would get married someday. Gabriel popped the question in 2022, but the couple had already started thinking about their long-term future in 2021.

"I think two years in, we already started talking about how we really wanted to get married," Caroline told Business Insider. "We knew we wanted to make this happen, but we needed to think about wedding money and our living situation."

They planned to live separately until they were married.

In 2021, Caroline's parents decided they wanted a bigger space for themselves and Caroline's younger brother (who, funnily enough, is also named Gabriel). They wondered whether their new home could solve their daughter's housing problem, too.

"My parents were like, 'We're thinking of moving to a bigger house anyway, and what if we bought a house with the intention of transforming the basement of the property into an apartment?'" Caroline said.

They said Gabriel and Caroline could make their apartment their home for the early years of their marriage, but there was also no pressure because they could rent the space on Airbnb if it were vacant.

"Her parents were understanding," Gabriel said. "Even if they had a perfect space, they weren't expecting us to accept the offer to live here."

"I think culturally speaking, this is very predominant in South American Latino culture," Caroline added. "For us, it's actually very normal in our culture to want to stay close to parents."

Caroline's parents bought the larger home they were looking for in 2021, so the Navarretes knew they had a built-in housing option for their newlywed life.

Caroline moved into a room upstairs at her parents' new house, while Gabriel lived in a college dorm until they got married in May 2024.

Caroline and Gabriel wanted to save money to buy a home, and living with her parents allowed them to do so. They still paid rent, just at a much lower rate than market value, even though her parents hadn't made it a requirement of the move.

"When we sat down to talk about all this, I was like, 'I don't think it would be wise for us as adults to not pay rent because I feel like the moment we move out, it's going to be such a huge financial shock to go from $0 to $2,000 or $3,000 a month,'" Caroline said.

The Navarretes paid Caroline's parents $1,000 each month when they moved in, and they lowered that to $500 after Caroline left her full-time job to pursue her photography career in the fall of 2025. They don't pay any additional utility fees.

"That gave us a lot of flexibility to save up for our house," Caroline said of the rent.

Although the basement apartment was a no-brainer financially for the Navarretes, they wanted to ensure it made sense for them personally before making the jump. In particular, Caroline wanted to ensure Gabriel felt good about the decision since he would be living in the same house as his in-laws, but it wasn't a problem.

"I honestly feel like I'm part of the family, like I'm one of their sons, and we're always checking on each other," Gabriel said.

The couple told Business Insider that Caroline's parents included them in their 2021 home search and encouraged them to speak up about what they wanted in an apartment.

"We were only dating at the time. We weren't even engaged," Caroline said. "They brought him along, and they were like, 'What do you think? Do you think this is good? Do you like it?' They kept us very involved from start to finish."

Since Caroline and Gabriel weren't getting married until 2024, her parents had over two years to get the basement in apartment condition before they moved.

They customized the space to fit the couple's needs. For instance, Caroline's dad took the washer-dryer from upstairs, made space for it in the basement, and upgraded to newer models for himself and his wife upstairs.

When you enter the basement from the stairs to the main house, you're greeted by a small countertop with a sink, which was originally designed as a bar space.

That wasn't going to work for the Navarretes, so Caroline's dad made some upgrades.

First, he tweaked the existing bar. "He took some of the cabinets out from that area," Caroline said. "He put a dishwasher there."

Then, he built them a full kitchen.

The space to the right of the stairs is slightly raised, while the area to the left is a step down to create some separation. The existing basement had carpeted floors, which wasn't ideal for a kitchen.

"It was all carpet and then a closet," Caroline said of the room. "He took all the carpet out from that higher level."

Caroline's dad replaced the carpet with new vinyl flooring in that part of the basement, and he set about creating a true kitchen area with Ikea cabinets that came in a set.

The kitchen also features a refrigerator and ample counter space, but it lacks a stove or oven.

"If you're going to install a stove or an oven or anything in the basement, that's considered a separate living area in Maryland," Caroline said, which requires certain permits and working with an electrician to make sure everything is up to code. "It was going to be very expensive."

Instead, Caroline's dad got the Navarretes an air fryer and an induction cooktop. Caroline said the setup "has worked perfectly" for her and Gabriel.

The living room serves as the entry to the basement, with a sliding glass door that opens to the exterior of the house. It's a spacious area, featuring a large sectional, bookshelves, and a TV.

Since Caroline was just living upstairs, she and Gabriel were able to slowly move into the apartment, which the couple said was an additional bonus of the living situation.

"We started buying things little by little and leaving them in the basement, which was really helpful," Caroline said. "We bought our sofa a year before we got married, and it gave us time to space out those really big expenses for furniture and wedding planning."

In the basement, the dining area is situated between the living room and the stairs leading to the main house.

The Navarretes have enough space to accommodate a dining table that seats six, as well as a desk where Caroline can work from home.

The space is large enough for some of their friends to come over, but they use the upper level for larger gatherings as well.

Caroline's parents also let them know they were welcome to paint or make changes as long as they ran them by them before moving forward.

"They give us a lot of freedom to do what we want here," Caroline said. "I chose not to paint the walls or do anything, but my dad did say, 'If you see something that improves the space that you want to do, I'm totally fine with you doing that.'"

The bedroom is situated on the same raised level as the kitchen, providing an extra sense of privacy from the rest of the apartment.

Caroline said she likes that their bedroom "fits everything" they need.

"Even our closet space is pretty decent compared to other places we've been to," she said. "It's sort of like a mini walk-in closet, so it's really nicely sized."

Gabriel, Caroline, and her parents make multigenerational living work by respecting the autonomy of each other's homes.

First and foremost, Caroline's parents installed a door between their spaces to create separation.

"In the stairs that separate the basement and the first floor, we didn't have a door there," Gabriel said. "Because of privacy, they installed a door that we both have keys to."

"It's easy for them to have access here or us upstairs, but nobody is going to cross paths unless given permission in a way," he added.

Caroline's parents also ask permission before visiting their dog, Sunday, in the basement, and the families don't eat meals together daily. Instead, they typically gather on weekends for lunch after attending church as a family, which makes it feel like they live in different homes.

However, Caroline has a photo studio in her parents' home, so she has been seeing them more often lately.

"Even if I don't see them, I call my mom every day because we're just really close," Caroline added.

Caroline and Gabriel love to travel, and living in the basement has enabled them to do more of it, both because their income is more flexible and because they have built-in house and dog sitters.

Likewise, when Caroline broke her foot in January 2025 and had to get surgery, her parents stepped in to support them. Her mom came to the apartment daily to help her as she recovered.

Thanks to their arrangement with her parents, Caroline and Gabriel have saved money on rent and avoided unexpected out-of-pocket costs they would've had to pay had they not been living with family.

"One of the pipes in the basement burst earlier in the year, and they needed to get that fixed. We didn't have to pay for that," Caroline said. "That was something that my dad took care of."

Caroline and Gabriel hope to buy their own home by May 2026, their two-year mark in the basement. That plan might change with Caroline's recent job shift and the difficulties of the housing market, but they're making good progress toward their goal.

"In the first year that we were here, we were able to save $20,000 for our down payment," Caroline said.

Caroline's parents aren't in a rush for the Navarretes to move out, but they know they will be able to make good use of the basement after they leave.

They may use it as an apartment for Caroline's brother, or rent it on Airbnb.

Caroline and Gabriel told Business Insider that they think the basement apartment is helping to jump-start their financial future.

"I'm really glad that we decided to stay down here because it's helped us in so many ways," Caroline said. "And I know that it's paving a way for a more successful and stable future for both of us."

"We could have easily gone and gotten an apartment or already started trying to rent a house for appearances so people could look at us and be like, 'They got married, and they're independent now, and they're living on their own,'" Caroline continued. "But financially, that would have been a horrible decision."

The couple recommends multigenerational living to other young adults as a way to save money. Still, Gabriel said it's essential to have "a good relationship with whoever is living upstairs" because it will make or break the experience.

Caroline also thinks she and Gabriel do well living in the same house as her parents because they make sure they are always a team.

"We have each other's back," she said. "Yeah, they're my parents, but if anyone crosses a line that affects Gabriel or me, we both tackle that as a team."

Caroline told Business Insider that her parents' generosity with her living situation has allowed her to start adulthood with built-in support. She and Gabriel hope they can do the same for their own kids someday because their philosophy is "that's what family is for."

"It's to really support each other," Caroline added. "Not just to be there in the good moments, but also to be there when people need help."