Multigenerational Homes in DFW: Living Together Without Living on Top of Each Other

Have you been thinking about sharing a home with a parent, an adult child or another family member?

Maybe it's about finances. Maybe someone needs a little help or would simply like someone nearby. Maybe an adult child is coming back home. Or maybe sharing a home just makes more sense than maintaining two separate households.

Whatever the reason, there's one thing I've learned from looking at these homes over the years:

The floor plan matters. A LOT!

Living together doesn't necessarily mean everyone wants to share every part of their daily lives.

What Does Multigenerational Living Actually Look Like?

There's no single floor plan that makes a home work for multigenerational living.

One well-known example is Lennar's Next Gen® – The Home Within a Home® concept. These homes typically have a separate bedroom and bathroom along with their own living space. Some include a kitchenette and even space for a stackable washer and dryer, which can sometimes be used as additional closet space instead.

Depending on the home and community, there may also be a separate exterior entrance in addition to an interior connection to the main house.

These types of floor plans can work really well when the arrangement fits the people living there.

They're also not particularly easy to find.

Fortunately, a home doesn't have to carry a multigenerational label to work well for more than one generation.

I've seen homes with two primary suites, sometimes with one upstairs and one downstairs. I've also seen floor plans where a couple of bedrooms, a bathroom and a flex space are grouped together in one part of the house. That can create a little living zone of its own while the kitchen and main living areas remain shared.

For the right household, that kind of layout can work beautifully.

Start With Why You're Sharing a Home

Before you even think about this kind of living arrangement, the bigger question is: Why are you doing it?

If an older parent is moving in because they need some help, having their space downstairs may be important.

If an adult child is returning home, stairs may not matter at all. A separate living area where they can work, watch television or have friends over may matter much more.

Another household may simply want to share expenses and have some companionship while still maintaining as much independence as possible.

The right house depends on the people who are going to live in it.

What to Look for in a Multigenerational Home

Square footage alone won't tell you whether a home will work for multigenerational living.

You can have plenty of space and still feel like everybody is living on top of each other. Sometimes a home with bedrooms on opposite sides, an additional living area or a well-placed flex space can give everyone more privacy than a larger home with the wrong layout.

Think about everyday life. Who gets up early? Who stays up late? Does somebody work from home? Does everyone want to eat together every night, or would a little kitchenette be useful? Does someone need a quiet place of their own? Would stairs be an issue for anyone living in the home?

Those questions can tell you much more than simply counting bedrooms and bathrooms.

Sharing a home can make a lot of sense. Sharing every inch of your life doesn't have to be part of the deal.

Have the Money Conversation Before You Buy

This doesn't need to become a spreadsheet extravaganza, but everybody should understand the financial arrangement before combining households.

Who's contributing toward the mortgage or housing expenses? How will utilities be handled? What about repairs and maintenance? If someone is contributing money toward the purchase itself, how will ownership be structured?

Those conversations may not be particularly fun, but they're much easier to have before moving in than after someone is frustrated because they thought the arrangement was going to work differently.

And when ownership or financing is being shared, that's the time to involve the appropriate lender, title professional, attorney or tax professional for questions that go beyond real estate.

Don't Get Hung Up on the Label

This may be one of the most important things to remember if you're actually shopping for one of these homes.

You may see these spaces described in different ways. Depending on the builder or listing, you might see terms such as multigenerational suite, in-law suite, guest suite, second primary suite, private living quarters, casita or dual-living space. Lennar uses the trademarked Next Gen® – The Home Within a Home® name for its specific concept.

And on the resale market, the terminology can be even less consistent. That's why I don't like relying on one search term. Sometimes the right home is hiding behind a completely different description.

I've had buyers choose a home because one section of the floor plan could eventually work beautifully for a parent. It wasn't designed or marketed specifically as a multigenerational home. It simply had the right combination of bedrooms, bathroom and flex space separated from the primary suite.

That's where looking beyond the listing description becomes important.

Instead of only searching for a particular label, think about what you need the house to do.

Is Multigenerational Living Right for You?

For some households, sharing a home can provide financial benefits, companionship and the comfort of having someone nearby.

But having enough independence matters too.

That's why I like to start with how everyone expects to live. Once we understand who needs privacy, whether accessibility matters, what spaces will be shared and what spaces shouldn't be, we can start looking for floor plans that might actually work.

Sometimes that's a purpose-built multigenerational home.

Sometimes it's two primary suites.

And sometimes it's simply a really smart floor plan that nobody thought to call multigenerational.

The name isn't nearly as important as how the home works for the people living in it.

Thinking about whether multigenerational living might work for you?

I'd be happy to talk through what you're looking for and help you think about the kind of floor plan that could make it work. These homes aren't always easy to find, but sometimes the right solution is a house you wouldn't necessarily recognize as “multigenerational” from the listing.

Give me a call or text at 214-842-6001.