GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Buying a home can be intimidating for anyone, but imagine sorting through the mountain of paperwork when it's in words you don't fully understand. While many of us don't necessarily know all the legal terms, at least the forms are written in English.
But for Gabby Cordova, a first-generation homeowner in Michigan, she found the house-buying experience intimidating as a non-native English speaker.
"Just trying to understand all that paperwork, even in English, it's complicated. Like there's words you don't really use or have ever heard of," Cordova said.
Fortunately, Cordova had a Spanish-speaking agent to guide her through the process.
Thomas Cronkright, CEO of Sun Title, noticed a recurring scene in closing rooms: Hispanic minors translating documents for their parents.
"I'm just thinking, man, that's not right, like we can do better. We as an industry can do better. We as a community can do better," Cronkright said.
In response, Sun Title partnered with the Hispanic Center and West Michigan Chamber of Commerce to form the Hispanic Impact Board (HIB), aimed at empowering Spanish-speaking homebuyers.
Cronkright emphasized the importance of understanding the terms of such a significant transaction.
"This isn't like buying a car. This isn't like buying a piece of furniture, like this is it in a lot of ways, it might be the first time they're entering in the market as a homeowner," he said.
As the Hispanic community grows in West Michigan, Sun Title wants to address the need for clear communication in real estate transactions.
"We underestimated the need on the part of the Hispanic community to be able to understand the real estate transaction process, whether they're a buyer, whether they're a seller, having the ability to explain in Spanish and break it down in a way that they can understand what is this journey of home ownership actually look like," Cronkright added.
The company's goal is to ensure homeowners fully comprehend their purchase, regardless of the language they speak.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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