Black Women's Empowerment Social promotes homeownership

(FOX 9) - Emerald Sawyer started her Value Home Inspections company last year, after her own first time home buying experience was less than ideal.

"Especially with the inspection, I wasn’t educated on my home and in my opinion it was below the standards of practice," Sawyer told FOX 9.

Now Sawyer is part of a group including a local realtor, mortgage lender, and title closer who are sharing their expertise in all aspects of the home buying process and hosting the first of its kind Black Women’s Empowerment Social Thursday night.

Realtor Kyesha Williams points out the goals are to inspire other black families to purchase homes, face challenges including credit, and see the benefits of what can be an intimidating process, all while working to close Minnesota’s wealth gap. 

"With FHA loan you are able to get up to a 4-plex with the same down payment of 3.5 % of the purchase price," Williams explains, "And people are unaware of that. It’s like a house hack that everyone should know in order to build that wealth. Let your tenants pay your mortgage while you still work your job."

Both Williams and Sawyer have seen firsthand the pride that comes with homeownership, both personally and within the community. 

"Renters versus buyers – people who own their homes take care of their homes. People who rent don’t necessarily take care of it all the time," said Williams. "I hope the biggest take away is to see homeownership in a different light. It’s not a burden, it’s not something that as scary as people make it out to be. It helps the community become better."

And if a team of black women can help support other black women in reaching their home sweet home goals – the benefits can be life-changing. 

"We just want to get that message out to black women that you can own, you can afford, you can build that generational wealth," said Sawyer.

If you missed Thursday’s event, the group hopes to have more events every few months.