The hottest perk helping employees buy a house is gaining ground

Coaching helped one couple buy

Hilary Petee and her husband had set aside their hopes of owning a home amid fierce competition in San Francisco’s costly housing market. After their rent rose 8.8% in August, they reconsidered buying if they could afford it.

Petee, a brand manager, learned her employer offered Nestment’s homeownership coaching. The couple later closed on a $1.4 million home. Petee said the coach was essential to making the purchase possible.

Employers add homebuying support

Nestment began in 2021 as a startup helping first-time buyers, with personal coaching and AI tools for planning a purchase. Founder Niles Lichtenstein said customers asked for the service at their companies, prompting its launch as an employee benefit in early 2026.

Larry Salazar and his wife, Cheri, launched NestSteps in 2025. The employer-sponsored program aims to ease the financial strain employees face when buying a home.

Benefits may spread among firms

Twitch partnered with Denver-based Multiply Mortgage to provide employees with mortgage rate discounts. Workplace benefits such as healthcare and retirement plans have long helped employers recruit and retain workers.

Brooks Holtom, a management professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said homebuying benefits could gain traction, particularly in difficult housing markets such as San Francisco. He pointed to Mercy Hospital in Miami, which in 2008 offered nurses $10,000 toward a down payment if they stayed for five years.

Holtom said companies may copy competitors when a benefit helps attract or retain staff. He added that competition for scarce talent can lead to more generous perks in industries where workers have greater value.