The Shift from Profits to Purpose
Real estate investing has long been a vehicle for building wealth. But what if it could also serve a greater purpose that goes beyond profits and creates tangible change in communities?
That’s the mission of Avestor’s Affordify Housing Fund, co-founded by Tomond Jack, Michael Oden, and Akeen Felder, three fund managers leveraging their experience to tackle one of the most pressing issues in the housing market today: affordability.
With home prices soaring, interest rates climbing, and down payments keeping buyers out of the market, they saw a chance to do something different. Instead of focusing solely on traditional real estate investing, they decided to build a fund that makes homeownership more accessible while still generating strong investor returns.
But making an impact isn’t easy—especially when you’re balancing profitability, regulatory challenges, and housing shortages. That’s where Avestor’s Customizable Fund™ came in.
The Affordable Housing Crisis: The Real Data
Affordability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a growing crisis across the U.S.
- Median home prices have increased 48% since 2020, pushing homeownership out of reach for millions.
- Interest rates are at a 20-year high, making mortgages even less affordable for first-time buyers.
- Down payments remain a huge barrier, with 67% of first-time buyers citing it as the biggest obstacle.
For essential workers - teachers, firefighters, police officers, and veterans- these challenges are even more pronounced. Despite playing critical roles in their communities, many struggle to buy homes in the very cities they serve.
Affordify Housing Fund set out to change that.
Building a Fund That Solves Real Problems
The Affordify Model: How It Works
Affordify Housing Fund takes a two-pronged approach to make homeownership attainable:
1️⃣ Lowering Costs on the Front End
- Partnering with local governments and nonprofits to secure land at below-market prices.
- Negotiating lower-cost financing
- Working with vendors and builders to reduce procurement costs and keep home prices reasonable.
2️⃣ Helping Buyers on the Back End
- Providing down payment assistance to make homes accessible to lower-income families.
- Offering education programs that teach first-time buyers how to qualify for financial aid.
- Structuring deals to keep financing manageable and sustainable for long-term affordability.
Real-World Impact: The Success Stories
One of Affordify partners’ most impactful projects was a 10-townhome development in partnership with a nonprofit.
🏡 60% of the buyers earned below 80% of the area median income, making it difficult to qualify for market-rate homes.
🏡 With down payment assistance and reduced financing costs, they were able to purchase homes they never thought possible.
🏡 Investors saw strong returns, proving that impact-driven investing doesn’t have to sacrifice profitability.
Why Avestor? Scaling Impact While Scaling Funds
Before switching to Avestor, Affordify relied on traditional private money structures and syndications to raise capital.
While syndications work well for large, one-off deals, they present significant roadblocks:
- High Legal Costs – Each deal required expensive legal structuring, making smaller projects impractical.
- Capital Raising Bottlenecks – Raising funds deal by deal was inefficient, slowing down growth.
- Investor Inflexibility – Investors had to commit to single projects, limiting their options.
This is where Avestor’s Customizable Fund™ makes its mark
With Avestor, Affordify unlocked a smarter way to scale:
- Continuous Capital Raising – Instead of raising money for each deal separately, investors can commit funds upfront and deploy capital across multiple projects.
- Flexible Investment Options – Investors choose which specific projects they want to participate in, increasing engagement and trust.
- Lower Costs & Faster Execution – Legal structuring is streamlined, allowing for smaller, high-impact deals that wouldn’t be possible under a syndication model.
"With Avestor, we can do smaller deals—$400K or $500K developments—without paying $15K–$20K in legal fees every time. That makes impact-driven investing far more scalable." - Tomond Jack
Balancing Investor Returns with Social Impact
One of the biggest challenges in impact investing is ensuring strong financial returns while maintaining a commitment to affordability.
Affordify solves this through smart land acquisition and strategic zoning changes.
- Maximizing Density: They target underutilized lots and maximize density under existing zoning or rezoning for multi-unit housing. A single-family home lot might be converted into a duplex or triplex, significantly increasing investor returns.
- Investor Transparency: With Avestor’s built-in tools, investors receive real-time updates, performance metrics, and clear communication, ensuring trust and confidence.
This model allows Affordify to serve both homebuyers and investors—without compromise.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Impact-Driven Investing
Affordify’s 2025 Goals:
- Develop 25–30 homes in the first year of the fund.
- Expand to 100+ units through larger land acquisitions and developments.
- Grow beyond local markets and replicate the model in other cities.
And they aren’t slowing down.
With housing affordability only becoming a bigger issue, impact-driven funds like Affordify are proving that real estate investing can be a force for good.
Final Thoughts: The Avestor Advantage
At Avestor, we believe fund managers shouldn’t have to choose between profits and purpose.
With the right structure, right tools, and right network, investors can create sustainable wealth while making a real difference.
Affordify Housing Fund is living proof of that.
Whether you’re raising capital for affordable housing, sustainable development, or community-driven initiatives, Avestor’s platform makes it scalable, compliant, and cost-effective.
Ready to Build a Fund That Makes a Difference?
🚀 Book a strategy call and see how Avestor can help you grow—profitably and purposefully.
