For years, the mortgage industry has operated under a hopeful assumption: “If you build it, they will come.” This notion, popularized by Field of Dreams, has often underpinned the creation of new loan products, outreach programs and grand strategies aimed at reaching untapped homebuyer markets. However, when it comes to engaging diverse and historically underserved communities, the harsh reality has emerged: Simply building programs is not enough.
Simply launching a new loan product, hosting a first-time homebuyer seminar, or adding a Spanish-language landing page will not automatically open the floodgates. Diverse consumers, such as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, Native, LGBTQ+, immigrant and multiracial communities, are increasingly sophisticated, discerning and, in many cases, justifiably skeptical. Access is not enough. Authenticity is everything.
Why Diverse Markets Are Critical for the Future of Homeownership
Demographics are destiny. The Urban Institute projects that by 2040, 70% of all new homeowners will be Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other nonwhite households. The future of the U.S. housing market is multicultural. Mortgage lenders, banks, credit unions and community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that fail to understand and invest authentically in these communities are not just missing an opportunity but actively forfeiting their future relevance. Engaging diverse communities is not an act of charity, it is a strategic imperative. However, such engagement must be intentional and earned, not assumed.
If You Build it, It’s Not Enough: The Limits of Outreach Without Authenticity
Many lenders enter these efforts with good intentions but fall short in execution. They often launch new products or community partnerships without first addressing essential foundational work:
- Recruiting and empowering diverse leadership.
- Cultivating a culturally competent internal culture.
- Engaging community voices before solution development.
- Designing mortgage products that reflect lived financial realities, such as multi-generational households, gig economy income, or limited credit histories.
When these steps are skipped, the message received by the market is clear: You don’t know us and don’t care. Representation isn’t window dressing, it’s strategy. Consumers notice whether a lender’s internal teams reflect the communities they claim to serve. They notice whether marketing materials feel inclusive or performative. They notice if community partnerships are transactional rather than transformational.
Without authenticity, the result is predictable: apathy, distrust and disengagement. If you build it, they don’t care, because they don’t believe you built it for them.
Internal Culture Building: Where Trust Begins
Credibility with consumers begins internally. Institutions seeking to expand equitable access to homeownership must invest in building teams that reflect and understand the diverse communities they aim to serve, not as a branding exercise, but as an organizational imperative.
This means:
- Recruiting and promoting diverse talent at all levels.
- Creating safe spaces for employee voice and feedback.
- Embedding diverse seats at the decision-making table into business operations, not just HR policies.
- Training all staff, not just front-line originators, in cultural competence and community engagement.
When culture is authentic internally, it becomes magnetic externally. Customers can feel the difference between a company that lives its values and one that merely markets them. Trust is built not through slogans but through sustained, transparent action.
Authentic Strategies That Actually Work
Institutions that are successfully serving diverse homebuyer segments recognize that long-term success is built not solely on product offerings, but on sustained, meaningful partnerships.
Strategies that resonate include:
- Community-driven product design. Involving community leaders and residents in designing mortgage solutions.
- Localized, sustained engagement. Being present and active in communities year-round, not just during Homeownership Month.
- Culturally competent financial education. Offering programs in multiple languages, tailored to cultural values around family, money, and homeownership.
- Flexible underwriting practices. Recognizing nontraditional credit histories, multi-source incomes, and communal wealth-building models.
- Leadership representation. Empowering leaders from diverse backgrounds to shape corporate strategies, not just front-line outreach.
The Opportunity Ahead
The path to expanding homeownership for diverse market segments requires more than launching new products or marketing campaigns. It calls for honest reflection, authentic investments in people and culture and commitment to genuine relationships built on trust, not transactions. In a market where customer skepticism runs deep, simply “building it” guarantees nothing. Trust must be earned through authenticity, cultural fluency and unwavering commitment to community wealth building.
The institutions that understand this will thrive and lead a new, more expansive chapter of sustainable homeownership in America.
Jeremy Davis is president of mortgage at Southern Bancorp, a $3 billion certified community development financial institution (CDFI), where he leads with both margin and mission in mind, driving growth while expanding homeownership access for underserved and overlooked communities.