This year, Yarhtib Vazquez founded Utah Casa Group, a bilingual realtor group focused on Latino home ownership.
While his group started during a difficult real estate market, with high interest rates discouraging many buyers, his business hasn’t slowed down, he says.
This is because of a trend Vazquez has noticed.
Many of the families still transacting in the industry are immigrant families and first-time home owners, he says, seeing homeownership as an exciting opportunity.
“You know, it’s a big deal for immigrant families to arrive here in the first place. And everything that takes place after that is a huge celebration,” says Vazquez. “From learning English, to graduating high school … then graduating college and then ultimately being able to own a home.”
In the country, this is especially true for the Latino population. According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, there are 9.2 million Hispanic homeowner households in the United States, and these statistics are growing despite a less-than-ideal market.
Latinos are predicted to account for 70% of homeownership growth over the next 20 years, the only racial or ethnic group that will see an increased homeownership rate, according to the association.
This can be seen in Utah: “Last year, 50% of homeownership was bought by Latinos,” says Vazquez.
So why are Latinos and immigrant families still buying homes when other groups might decide to wait? According to Vazquez, it is largely due to the excitement of being able to achieve something they thought was impossible.
“(Many) Latinos come here for a better life and for opportunities, and so they see life differently,” he says. “Latinos in general just try and look at, ‘What’s the positive outtake from what we’re currently going through?’ That’s always been the thing, because we’ve had to immigrate here, we’ve had to learn a new language, we’ve had to find jobs without status. We live in a country without status. We have so many limitations. We’re living in the shadows.”
Despite marginalization, there’s always hope for a better situation, says Vazquez. “I would say more than 50% are saving up or they have cash at home, ready to go to buy a house,” he says.
So, when a group like Utah Casa Group explains the options for loans or new programs, such as the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number loan program which doesn’t require a Social Security number and opens the door for undocumented communities to buy a home, dreams can become reality.
In October 2022, Mountain America Credit Union was one of the first to offer a competitive ITIN loan program with low interest rates — a huge game changer, says Vazquez. Mountain America Credit Union has branches in Summit and Wasatch counties, and other credit unions in the state, like Chartway Federal Credit Union and Granite Credit Union, have competitive loan options that only require an ITIN.
Currently, Granite Credit Union has a hybrid program in which a Social Security buyer and an ITIN buyer can purchase a home together for 0% down, says Vazquez. Most of these programs only ask for 5% or 10% down, meaning individuals don’t need to save as much money up front.
The programs have spread like wildfire, says Vazquez.
“The moment (people) hear ‘Hey, we just bought a house with an ITIN loan program,’ the fact that they see that their friend was able to do it is what they cling on. They cling on to the possibilities,” says Vazquez.
The other factor for families buying a home under difficult market situations is the willingness to work together.
“Latinos are very family based, very unity based, like, ‘We’re a team.’ They’ll go in on it together. They’ll be like, ‘Hey, we got this. I’ll go get a job or I’ll get two jobs, but we’re going to make this home thing happen,'” says Vazquez.
In Utah, the median age of Latino home buyers is 30. “It’s my generation,” says Vazquez.
His generation, he says, are the kids who were brought to the United States by their undocumented families, the generation that was protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, by President Obama in 2012.
“Obama was like, ‘These kids are American at heart. It wasn’t their fault. They didn’t choose to come here and be undocumented. We should open up the doors for this specific generation because they can contribute to our economy, and they are contributing to our economy,'” Vasquez says.
“My generation really has seen both worlds. We’ve experienced where we came from and why we’re here. And that fuels us to (be) like, ‘I’m not going to have my parents’ sacrifice be in vain. … We’re going to make the best of ourselves so that sacrifice was worth it.'”
These young Latinos are determined to make their families’ dreams a reality, he says.
“We’re going to be a part of the American Dream. We’re going to take a slice of the American Pie. And that means we’re going to graduate college, we’re going to have great jobs, we’re going to have great businesses, and we’re also going to own a home,” says Vazquez.
That’s what he and his wife did when they bought their home in 2017, and since then he’s been motivated to help others achieve that dream.
One of the biggest challenges for families wanting to buy homes in the Wasatch Back is costs, as homes in the area cost significantly more than homes in the valley.
While the median two-bedroom home in Salt Lake County is valued at $404,900, based on an August 2023 report, the same in Wasatch County is $614,000.
In Summit County, two-bedroom homes are pricier, with a median value of $895,000.
In more rural areas like Kamas, housing is estimated at 16.8% less expensive than Salt Lake City.
Some homeowners prefer the quiet offered by rural parts of Summit and Wasatch counties, and it’s these areas where home ownership is more realistic, where a monthly mortgage payment is comparable to rent.
Aside from high costs limiting options for families, fear is a major factor keeping people from purchasing their first home, Vazquez says.
“We almost didn’t (buy our first home) because fear crept in,” he says. “There’s always fear-based decisions any time you’re buying. The market, is it going to crash? Is it a presidential election? Is it COVID? … But I’ve never met anybody that bought a home and regrets it.”
Having someone explain market trends and refinancing opportunities, says Vazquez, helps people realize that what they want is actually within reach. For more: www.utahcasagroup.com.
