With no-down loans long gone, many buyers turn to family for help with the upfront cash.

Real estate agent Brandon Green had a buyer lined up for a one-bedroom co-op he recently listed in a trendy Adams Morgan building. But two days before closing, the lender requested that the buyer come up with $9,000 more in cash.
Green got worried. His seller panicked.

But the buyer found a solution: She called her grandfather, who wired the additional money just before settlement.