Acts Housing wants to start a Beloit homebuyer boom

BELOIT — Milwaukee-based Acts Housing has been in Beloit since 2019, but in many ways the organization still feels like a startup.

“A big reason they brought me in to Acts Housing was to help the organization build partnerships and become better known,” said former Beloit City Council President Regina Dunkin, who joined Acts in June last year as regional director. “Acts is here. We have the programs to help more families become homeowners. We just need to keep working on getting the word out.”

Beloit is the first Acts Housing office outside the city of Milwaukee where the organization has helped nearly 3,900 families buy homes since 1995.

Acts Housing in Beloit, which is located at the Pumphouse Building, 1005 Pleasant St., is in the final stages of hiring its second housing coach. Housing coaches help families work through the four-step Acts process — orientation, becoming mortgage-ready, finding a home and buying and moving in.

Last year, Acts helped 23 families buy homes in Beloit. Dunkin said the goal this year is to help 30 or more buy homes. She said the organization has nearly 180 families in various parts of the process. She also said that although the city of Beloit remains a focus for Acts, they can help families buy homes in any part of Rock, Green or Dane County.

“We believe that homeownership can provide a more affordable and stable opportunity for families,” said Dunkin, who also was executive director of Merrill Community Center and Community Relations Coordinator for Beloit Heatlh System in a long career of public service. “There is no perfect time to buy a home, but being a homeowner, you don’t have to deal with rent increasing each year or additional expenses that you have to pay as a renter.”

Every study on wealth in the United States has come to the same conclusion, the first and most important step to building wealth is owning a home. Over time, the money put into the property builds equity that families can use to buy a bigger house, take into retirement or pass along to children.

High rates of home ownership also correspond with better looking neighborhoods. Property owners tend to put more time and effort into maintaining their homes.

The city of Beloit has long struggled with a lack of wealth compared to surrounding communities and it shows up in housing statistics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 59% of the houses in the city are owner-occupied. In the Town of Beloit, it’s 80.2% and in Rockton it’s 80.7%.

On March 15, Acts Housing is holding an Act on Homeownership fair at the Eclipse Center from 10 a.m. — 2 p.m. The goal is to get as many families as possible to come and learn about the various ways Acts Housing can help. Acts not only can walk families through the home buying process, the organization also offers purchase and rehabilitation loans for families who don’t qualify through the traditional mortgage market.

“There are a lot of people renting because that’s all they’ve ever known,” Dunkin said. “I was one of those. I didn’t live in a house I owned until I got married. People don’t have to wait. We have the programs to get families into homes. They just need to take that first step.”