Happy Thanksgiving! I read this HBR article today and it pinpointed what I am thankful for this year. Of course I am thankful for my family and health, but beyond that, I am thankful for the opportunity to help a majority of Americans - those that are or aspire to be homeowners.
In the Harvard Business Review's article "The CEO of Athenahealth on the Role of Anger in Starting New Businesses," Jonathan Bush CEO of Athenahealth writes about how innovation and social usefulness is bred from difficult times and situations. The housing crisis certainly meets that criteria.
When our CEO Joe Melendez was sitting in an empty open house during the height of the crisis wondering if anyone would come in, the anger that many Americans were - and some are still feeling today - set in. But that anger, like every emotion, is just energy. Its what you do with that energy that is most important. That's when +Plus down payment protection was born.
We used that event to create something that empowers homebuyers by putting them back in control of their home no matter what is going on around them. It also helps - at least a little - homeowners ignore all the mixed messages and news about the housing market and just live life. We focus on the future and optimism because there is enough of the other stuff. We want homebuyers to feel the same.
Our recent research conducted between ValueInsured and the Nielsen Harris Poll found that 9 out 10 millennial renters want to be homeowners. The dream still lives, they just need to live it their way and have more control than we have seen in the past. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful we can give that to them!