photo by steed media service

Their growing numbers indicate that people of color across the nation are discovering the power of owning a home, reveals Chase vice president of multicultural marketing Veronica Seale.

A Buffalo native and proud mother, Seale works to educate African Americans about the importance of homeownership through programs like the Chase Legacy of Homeownership tour. “In the United States, a home is probably the largest investment most people make,” she says. “You don’t have to have the biggest home on the block. [You can] have the smallest home on the nicest block because what that will allow you to do is either expand the home where you live, or through the appreciation, sell it and move up.”

The home lending division of Chase provides services to borrowers nationwide, via 2,000 local loan officers in 270 mortgage offices. Seale adds that although African Americans are approaching the 50 percent mark in national homeownership rates, the community as a whole pales in comparison to whites, whose homeownership rate is nearly 73 percent.

In New York, where rental rates are through the roof, Seale says that investing in a home will prove more prosperous in the long run. “There is more than just the legacy of owning that home and having that deed; it is a seed that allows you to grow in many different ways,” she says. “You could be owning a home and taking that money and changing your mind-set and now applying it to invest in yourself instead of investing in someone else.” For video coverage of the recent Chase Legacy of Homeownership tour, visit www.rollingout.com. - gavin philip godfrey

For video coverage of the recent Chase Legacy of Homeownership tour, visit www.rollingout.com.

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