Sabrina Guillaume’s parents have always encouraged her to invest in a home in Liberty City.
However, when she began the home view-in process at the age of 24 in early 2020, she ran into many obstacles. After being approved in advance for the loan, the pandemic came. Then there was the issue of getting her finances in turn. As an entrepreneur, she had to set aside money for taxes while saving for her new home. And after dealing with what she described as a “red bottom real estate agent,” the nickname created for a Miami real estate agent wearing a Christian Louboutin – she had led her to a million dollar home, so she had to start over until she found the right one.
She eventually closed over a year ago in a double-layered Liberty City near the newly redeveloped Liberty Square. “I was disappointed so they literally dragged me to the closure table,” she told the Miami Herald.
But Guillaume, now 28, said it was important to buy back to the community she grew up in. This is one of Miami’s historically black neighborhoods that is currently experiencing massive gentrification and a decline in black residents. According to Zillow, the median selling price for the region is $476,667.
When only a few Black residents can afford to buy property in South Florida, many Black residents and community members say it is more important than ever for black people to retain generational property in historically black communities such as Liberty City and Coconut Grove. However, the challenges are very big. They face a surge in prices, increase their financial burden, and for those who own their property, it’s a temptation to cash in a rising market.
As black communities in the Miami area once began to change, Guillaume says that while black residents can’t afford to sit on the sidelines, they need to invest.
Miami rapper Flo Rida is an example of a “buying the block” of black investors in South Florida. Two years ago he bought a square at his hometown of Miami Garden.
“I feel that people need to be open-minded too, and that they need to ride the waves before they actually happen,” Guillaume said. “So you can’t afford it by the time you think you might move over there. They’re already developing.”
Tamekia Daniels, a real estate agent in Miamiaria, said it is important to preserve the black community, despite speculators willing to pay for what appears to be a premium on land in areas with highly desirable locations, such as Little Haiti and West Grove.
“It’s very important as the neighborhood becomes more peaceful, it dismantles familiarity and heritage and everything that comes with being in a particular area,” she told the Herald.
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Things that get in the way of black homeownership
Daniels saw firsthand the challenges black families face when it comes to buying a home. Her clients were primarily black buyers looking to buy homes in communities they grew up in, such as Liberty City and Little West River.
Daniels said black buyers often face challenges during the home buying process, such as failing to meet the income requirements to qualify for a loan, such as predatory lending. She said entrepreneurs in particular are spending rewarding time, as they don’t always keep their finances settled.
She said she saw cases where one parent might do some weird job to contribute to the household, but their finances aren’t made up of a way to record annual income, which means that they saw a family not qualifying for a loan.
The share of first-time black home buyers has increased during the pandemic, but in 2024, only 18% of homes were affordable for black home buyers, according to a recent Zillow analysis. In Miami, that number is just 12%, making Guillaume one of the lucky ones to close to a market home that surpasses black residents.
Ned Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center for Institutes at Florida International University, said that the growth in black homeownership is not that great. “I think it’s really important to understand that things aren’t getting much better,” Murray said. “They actually got worse.”
Murray said 2004 was a milestone in black homeownership, hitting a 49% high mark, but has since declined considerably. Murray had a 46% share of black homeowners nationwide in the final quarter of 2024. However, he noted that it is 20% lower than the overall county-wide homeownership rate.
Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, attributes the lower levels of black homeownership in Miami to black families who, on average, don’t earn as much as white families. Citing Zillow’s study, Divounguy explained that the median household income in the Miami metropolitan area is around $70,899, while black households earn an average of $61,111 compared to $78,150 for white households.
Divounguy also pointed out that metropolitan areas like Miami, which have many black households, are not keeping up to the demand for affordable housing, which puts even more cost burden on black residents.
Beyond income and housing costs, another challenge to black homeownership is low credit scores.
Teri Williams, CEO of Black-owned Bank OneUnited, announced a generous loan program in February for first-time home buyers of colour, and is hoping to receive many eligible applications from Miami people.
However, due to her disappointment, only three Miami applicants were approved. Many applicants had credit scores in the 400 and 500 range and were ineligible. Williams and her colleagues at the Bank found that low credit scores and high income ratios to debt had a negative impact on applicants, and that they did not qualify.
“It was a challenge,” she told the Herald. “We had a lot of applicants, but there’s very little approval. What we’re seeing is that a large part of our community doesn’t know what their credit score is or how to fix it.”
“Don’t sell mom’s house.”
In addition to bringing black home buyers to their property, Daniels and Murray emphasized that one of the most important goals at the moment is to keep black homeowners in their homes. As home prices in South Florida rise, many say it’s more important than ever to hold onto family homes.
Danny Felton, a real estate and mortgage broker who spoke recently at the “I won’t sell my mom’s house” panel at the Blackwells Summit at Florida Memorial University, said black home ownership is the basis for generating generational wealth.
“We have to look at real estate as an investment tool, not as a burden,” Felton said. “When I buy it today, it’s a basic need and I appreciate it, I pay myself to own property.
Felton grew up in Liberty City and grew up with his father, who showed him the importance of homeownership.
In 1977, Felton’s parents Willie Felton Sr. and Freddie Felton sold their home in Liberty City, and the money they made helped them buy Little River property for $17,500. They built a new four-bedroom, three-bathroom home there, and Willie Felton Sr. lives there today.
To build the house, mechanic Felton Sr. had to trade skills with other black men in the neighborhood, like the architect who painted his blueprint and the electrician who wired the house.
Time shows Felton Sr., now 91, is hanging at his family home.
“I sold another house from there for $490,000,” said Danny Felton, who has sold and managed the property for 30 years.
Danny Felton says that doing so changed his life. He prioritizes sharing information he has learned about homeownership with other Black Miami natives and people like him.
In coconut gloves, 74-year-old Clarice Cooper has been telling his neighbors to grab his house for years.
Cooper is president of the Coconut Grove Village West Home Owner and Tenant Association, and her family has lived in Grove for 100 years. She warns the community of gentrification and what they will lose if they sell.
She always sees investors flocking to steal property. Most of them don’t intend to live there.
“Even if they’re not trying to occupy it, they’ll (buy) it, upgrade it and rent it,” she said. “That’s a lot of flips too. We urge people to sell a home for $500,000 to $600,000 and sell it for $7,000 to $8 million.”
Cooper bought his Coconut Grove home in 1981 for $43,000. Today, she must regularly decline offers to buy a home that ranges from $800,000 to $1 million.
“We lose the ground every day,” she said. “A lot of people want to go back to the glove, but they can’t come back here.”
