JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A first-of-its-kind program in Northeast Florida is helping longtime renters realize the dream of homeownership.
JWB Real Estate’s HomeStep program is turning tenants into proud homeowners by offering financial incentives and support services to help them make the leap.
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“It is one of the most fulfilling things about my job,” said Melissa Gillispie, director of leasing and property management at JWB. “To me, it’s a human business, and we are helping people.”
Marquita Green and her family are among the first to benefit from the initiative.
“When we saw it, I knew that this was the one,” Green said, as she unpacked boxes in her new home.
For Green, move-in day marked more than a transition, it was a major milestone.
“I wanted a covered porch. I wanted water. I wanted two stories. I wanted four rooms,” she said.
The Greens are one of three families who closed on a new home this spring through the HomeStep program.
Asked how she felt about her new space, Green said, “I love it. It’s spacious; it’s open. I don’t feel like we’re on top of each other. It’s kind of weird to be able to say it’s ours and like we’re not renting.”
The HomeStep program launched six months ago and allows JWB renters to earn $100 a month in equity — up to $3,600 — that can be used toward the purchase of a home, whether it’s owned by JWB or not.
“We’ve been in Jacksonville six years, and we’ve been renting that entire time,” Green said.
Initially, Green wasn’t sure if she’d qualify.
“I thought, ‘Well, wait a minute. I signed my lease years ago. So is this going to work?’” Green said.
Gillispie said the program was designed to benefit current and past tenants. The program is retroactive for previous renters as well.
“That is something I’m most proud of. We said, ‘OK, if we launch it in November, we manage 5,600 units. What about all of the people who already have trusted us with their rentals?’ And so we decided to make it retroactive for all those individuals,” Gillispie said.
Green said the down payment assistance made a significant difference.
“We ended up getting $3,600 in down payment assistance. So it may not sound like a lot of money, but with all the moving expenses and closing costs and all the things, over $3,000 was very helpful,” she said. “(That was) $3,000 that we didn’t have to come to the table with. We didn’t have to figure out how we were going to do it. We didn’t have to finance it. And so it’s like free money.”
In addition to financial support, the HomeStep program offers free homebuying classes, credit repair resources and one-on-one counseling.
“One of the requirements of the program was to either buy a JWB home, one of their houses that they sell, or to use a JWB realtor,” Green said. “And so we went with the latter. We chose a realtor, and she was amazing. She helped us find a better program and helped talk to us about, you know, how can we maximize the home that we were looking for and the value of the house, comparing prices for various houses and the perks.
“Kind of surreal,” Green said of her new reality. “It’s like, ‘Oh, wow, I woke up at my own home.’”
More than 2,300 JWB residents are currently enrolled in the HomeStep program. Forty-three of them are actively searching for homes right now.
“The people like us, renters that took a chance on them, giving us an incentive and benefit back to do something more, because they could have kept us stuck as renters,” Green said. “But they said, ‘No, there’s some freedom in being a homeowner.’ And so we want to show community members that they, too, can have something.”
Gillispie said it’s about investing in the community long term.
“This is our city, right? And our ownership is from Jacksonville. We built this business here in Jacksonville. We’re invested in Jacksonville, all of the things happening downtown and throughout the city,” she said. “Our passion lies in helping Northeast Florida become this thriving metropolis, right? And so I think for me, allowing a resident to go from being a renter to a homeowner just makes that decision so much more permanent, and it makes the feeling of home so much more real.
“I want people to feel so much pride in calling Jacksonville their home,” she continued. “So it’s kind of taking a step beyond — supporting the rental market, which, of course, we do that — but saying, ‘Hey, make this your permanent home. Plug your family in here. Build your family, build your wealth here in Jacksonville,’ to help the community continue to thrive and be successful.”
To learn more about the HomeStep program and how to qualify, click here.
