How Jonathan Lawless and BILT Rewards are Democratizing the Housing Industry for the Better
After more than 20 years in the housing industry and living through his own ‘memorable’ first-time home buying experience, Jonathan Lawless has learned a thing or two. Now, Lawless, Head of Homeownership at BILT Rewards, is using his knowledge to positively impact the housing industry.
Lawless entered the housing industry in 2000 – during the .com bubble – working with Fannie Mae. “It was an interesting time for housing. A lot of money was flowing into real estate, interest rates were dropping, and there was a huge influx of people refinancing their mortgages,” said Lawless.
This experience fascinated him. He enjoyed getting a peek under the hood and learning about the whole housing ecosystem. He fell in love with it and spent 20-plus years with Fannie Mae. In March 2022, Lawless made a career move to BILT Rewards. BILT Rewards is the first-ever rewards program that allows renters to earn points on rent and builds a path toward homeownership. Put simply, BILT Rewards allows renters to earn points by paying rent. Not only that, but BILT can also help you boost your credit. BILT reports rent payments into all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
“BILT Rewards is helping renters build their credit and become homeowners, which is so much a part of what I've always focused on in my career. It is an amazing opportunity to get to work so closely with renters and help them on their homeownership journey.”
Lawless finds it extra rewarding to help renters become first-time homeowners after his homebuying experience.
“The process of buying a home is so hard. I think everyone has a story when they first buy a home,” said Lawless. “Our realtor found a condo for us in DC that was owned by a friend of hers. It was during the financial crisis, so the owner was walking away from the property. Our realtor was trying to get us into the unit to get the bank to sell it to us at a discounted price, but the bank was hesitating on whether to sell it to us or auction it. We ended up having to sign a 3-month lease, and this was the month before my wife and I were getting married. We had no idea whether we’d end up owning the unit or not, all the while trying to finalize wedding details.”
It worked out well in the end—both the wedding and the condo. Lawless got the girl and got the condo and at the right time. He saw the value of his condo double in less than five years.
“It's a fulfilling, amazing feeling when you finally are in the home. It's yours and you've got the keys. It seriously feels like a dream come true.”
It’s a dream that he’d like every American to experience, and now he is working for BILT Rewards to make that happen.
When you fly on an airline, you earn points or miles. When you use a credit card, you earn points or cash back. But when you pay rent, which is often your largest expense, you get nothing. BILT Rewards is changing that narrative.
BILT Rewards allows you to pay your rent, earn rewards points, and build your credit. The BILT Mastercard, created in partnership with Wells Fargo, is a credit card with no fees, and it can be used to pay rent no matter where you live. For each dollar you spend, you earn a point.
“You can do what you’re already doing, like paying rent, but earning points and building your credit at the same time. You can earn a free vacation every year by simply making your rent payment.”
You can also save your points and use them toward a down payment on a home. BILT Rewards has already had 150 people buy homes using points for their down payments.
“We all know the situation right now. With high mortgage rates and expensive homes, everyone thinks it's impossible to buy a home right now. Frankly, for a lot of people, it is impossible, but there are these unique ways people can get into homeownership. Using points for a down payment is only one example.”
Another unique way is through co-buying a home.
During his days at Fannie Mae, Lawless spent a lot of time thinking about how to get more people into homeownership. He was fascinated by the concept of co-ownership—and the prevalence of it, even then.
“One fact that always stuck with me is at Fannie Mae, we looked at how to count income from other people that live in the same home. When we looked at the data, of all the Hispanic families that had a mortgage, 25% of the time another person was living in the home earning money that wasn't the spouse. It showed that co-buying is a very common way of living. It is the pooling of resources, either multi-generationally or with different families.”
Now we are seeing young groups of friends explore co-buying as one way to achieve homeownership in a market that has otherwise been stacked against them. Lawless expects this trend to grow.
In his more than 20 years in the industry, Lawless has seen a lot of changes. One thing that hasn’t changed is Lawless’ passion for his work to make homeownership more equal and accessible to all. Even if or when it is not easy, he still pushes for change and innovation.
“I'm always attracted to problems. When you look at the challenges of homeownership and all the various struggles that you see in getting a mortgage and becoming a homeowner, it is so awful and painful. I want to figure out how to get the right parties together to solve big problems like that.”
That is what drives him each day at BILT Rewards. He loves the day he sees someone become a first-time homeowner. Because owning a home defines who we are individually and as a culture. It is fundamental to how we live.
“When I saw my parents, who were both deaf, buy their first home, it was such a momentous occasion. It was only a 1,000-square-foot home that cost less than $60,000, but they took such pride. Seeing and feeling how owning a home impacts people close to you is amazing—but it impacts everybody. Every day I feel blessed to work in housing, to work with amazing people and amazing companies. You don't have to get me out of bed to get to work because I’m always excited to be doing stuff like this.”
With BILT Rewards only in the early stages of growth, Lawless will have no trouble waking up for years to come. He will get to share in the enjoyment of many more young people becoming first-time homeowners through his work with BILT Rewards.
Nestment, Inc. does not guarantee and is in no way responsible for the accuracy of the information provided in this blog post. All information is provided “AS IS” and with all faults. Data presented here may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. While the information on this site is about legal and tax issues, it is not intended as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for the particularized advice of your own attorney and tax professional.
