Coa Realty Group helps Granite Staters access bilingual resources and support for homeownership

Moises and Jennifer Coa, Coa Realty Group (Photo by Robert Ortiz Photography)

When Moises and Jennifer Coa first moved to New Hampshire, they sought certain qualities that they knew the Granite State could offer: more space and a lower cost of living than what they had experienced in Massachusetts. Quieter neighborhoods, tighter-knit communities and less crime also had unique appeal.

But it was the ability to own property and to build generational wealth for their growing family that officially won them over. That possibility overpowered any reservations they may have had as a Hispanic family moving to New Hampshire, where the Hispanic population sits at 4%. While Moises and Jennifer wondered how their son would be accepted in school, what they found waiting for them was a fully welcoming community and an incredibly positive experience.

As more Hispanic people are moving to the Granite State, they have difficulty buying a home due to what the couple believe is a lack of generational knowledge and misinformation. The couple want to change this via the Coa Realty Group with Keller-Williams, the first Latino-owned real estate branch in New Hampshire.

“We noticed disparities in the process (of home ownership),” says Jennifer Coa, who has worked in real estate since 2005. “A lot of the Hispanic communities are represented by realtors who don’t speak our language. And so a lot of times when we have conversations with community members, they’re like, ‘I don’t even know what I’m signing.’ Moises and I feel like we can bring our culture, our language and our experience into the New Hampshire area and give our community that opportunity to understand what they’re getting into.”

Not only have Jennifer and Moises Coa brought their culture into their work, but the work has become a true family operation. Moises Coa transitioned into real estate after catching the bug.

“I told him to get his license for 12 years, and he never listened,” Jennifer Coa jokes.

The couple, now married for 15 years, decided to go into business together. Moises’ sister works as an administrative assistance in the office, and his niece helps as a summer intern.

For the couple, this story is about more than just real estate. It’s about giving the Hispanic community the tools to find success — and a feeling of home — in a place where that need is growing. The Coa Group regularly hosts bilingual homebuying workshops and creates materials to help bust myths about what people should expect from buying their first house. They also teach about commercial property buying and offer relocation assistance. Most of their clients are not just first-time homebuyers but the first in their families to own property. Jennifer and Moises see themselves in that narrative, too.

“We want to give them not only an experience but provide them with all the tools that they need and understand,” Jennifer says. “And we want them to go back to their families and their kids, and nurture them so that they can take advantage of this generational wealth that they started to build.

“Moises and I were first-generation owners also, and now our siblings own houses because we were an example to them. We’re coming from a place of experience, but we are also coming from a place of love, because we know that this community can achieve a lot of great things.”

“We’re making a difference in people’s lives,” Moises Coa adds. “We’re making a difference in their family growth, in generational wealth and in opening doors for families.”

That difference is only just the beginning of Jennifer and Moises Coa’s hopes for Coa Realty. In the long term, they hope to influence the state of New Hampshire to create more buyer assistance programs and funding, as well as more affordable housing options for residents. While their experience living in the Granite State has been overwhelmingly positive, they still recognize that there are misconceptions about the Hispanic community that they hope to dispel.

For now, this starts with meeting the needs of Hispanic homeowners and helping them feel safe, informed and supported.

“We grew up in a low-income community, and we have had to work our way up without the guidance and the opportunities that now exist (for aspiring homeowners),” Jennifer says. “So we’re really passionate about getting that message out that just because you know you’re coming in as a new immigrant or because you’re starting off, it doesn’t mean that the path to homeownership is impossible, or it’s this far, far away dream that you’ll never achieve.

“It is possible because, through homeownership, we can build generational wealth. We just want to just help people open the doors to those opportunities.”

603 Diversity is a publication under the umbrella of Yankee Publishing, Inc., the parent company of NH Business Review. This article is being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.