Wealth Builders

Some developers of color are working to whittle away at the racial homeownership gap. But change is needed in the way projects are awarded and incentivized.

I'm quoted in the National Association Of Realtors online magazine Realtor Magazine.

The article highlights the state of the industry for Developers of color and the importance of providing homeownership opportunities for people of color in underserved communities.

for example Shelley Halstead's Black Women Build-Baltimore initiative has facilitated eight Black women in becoming homeowners by renovating vacant homes in West Baltimore. This effort aims to address wealth disparities faced by Black women.

Other developers of color are also creating homeownership opportunities, focusing on community development and business opportunities for people of color.

Also, Concerns arise over government-subsidized rental housing perpetuating inequality. Some developers have shifted to private investors due to limited government funding. The success of such initiatives has generated interest in replication across the country. Developers like Neily Soto and I are actively working on affordable homeownership options in our respective markets.

Jaebadiah Gardner, a Seattle-based developer of Mexican and African American descent, has also been working to add affordable-home purchase options to his development portfolio. In Seattle’s pricey real estate market, he says, land trusts are the dominant vehicle for developing lower-priced-ownership housing. But land-trust developments, like many shared equity models, can have big drawbacks: Buyers purchase the home but not the land, so their equity is very restricted. “The land trust takes most of the equity, [but my development company] is about building wealth and creating homeownership opportunities in Black and Brown communities.”

The article goes on to list three way you can help expand D.E.I. priorities to include financial investment into homeownership and intergenerational wealth initiatives in multicultural communities.

It’s a good read.

Thank you to the writer of this article Farrah Wilder.

Farrah Wilder is a diversity and fair housing writer, speaker and strategist and is the former vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the California Association of REALTORS®.