Self-Help was featured in a local paper, the Raleigh News & Observer, over the weekend. Our mantra when selling homes and lending money is to use common sense and always look at the big picture. It's kept us afloat so far, and hopefully will allow us to continue to do good things for the people and communities that need our services. As an organization, we usually go out of the way not to blow our own horn, but I'm glad the N&O decided to do a story on us. I think it's good for people to know that not all lenders have acted irresponsibly, and that it is possible for a lender to succeed by caring about people as much as it cares about its bottom line. As my fellow real estate agents know, the end of a long day feels much more rewarding when you know you have really helped someone achieve the dream of homeownership.
A blurb from the article:
"One year into the credit crunch and mortgage meltdown, a Durham financial institution that banks on neighborhoods at risk is still doing business as usual.
How so?
Common sense, said Martin Eakes, co-founder and CEO of Self-Help, a Main Street nonprofit that has, according to its Web site, provided $5.24 billion to 60,130 homeowners, small businesses and nonprofit enterprises since it started the practice in 1984.
And it's still buying, rebuilding, selling and lending for and to just the sort of people in just the sort of places who are caught up in the sub-prime lending mess. Yet, with much of the country's banking, developing and real-estate industry in crisis, "Financially, we're doing fine," Eakes said in an interview this week.
Not that he doesn't feel depressed and keep his fingers crossed.
"So far, our borrowers are doing pretty well, but I'm anxious for them a little bit," he said; but, "I'm depressed for those communities we have helped to build up." "
See the full article at http://www.newsobserver.com/978/story/1180193.html.
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