Over 200 eager individuals braved the overcast skies and rain forecast to attend the NHT's second staging of the Home It! Expo at The Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay, St. James on Saturday, October 27th.
Sabrena McDonald-Radcliffe, the NHT’s Assistant General Manager of Advertising and Sales, indicated that the Home It! Expo was created to educate Jamaicans about the NHT’s diverse product offerings and to empower them with the relevant skills needed to navigate property ownership successfully.
“At the NHT we’re all about accessibility, and the Expo provides the perfect opportunity for persons at every segment of the homeownership process to access the relevant information to get them home. We wanted to create a one-stop shop experience where attendees could access other housing-related services from our partner institutions,” she added.
The entertainment filled expo, which ran from 11 a.m. to 6:00 p.m, saw individuals learning about how to access NHT’s benefits, grants, financing arrangements and verifying their contributions status and mortgage eligibility.
Participants were also able to engage with eight of the NHT’s sixteen External Finance Partners, including First Heritage Credit Union, BNS, VMBS, JMMB, JN Bank, First Global Bank, NCB and Sagicor. Other agencies on the ground included Total Solar Energy, CALS Food, Agile Solutions Remax Realty, Claudia Davis- Real Estate Broker, Draughtsman Inc Geomatics, Paula Sells Jamaica & Associates Realty Company Ltd, Renewable Energy Design and Installation Services Ltd, PowerSource Industries Limited, Tropical Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Co. Ltd.
Audiences were also captivated by the several educational sessions and treated to performances from local talents. Insightful was how Janet Alcindor, an NHT mortgagor for 12-years described the expo.
“I am so happy we decided to stop by! I’m ready to add a new room and fix-up the house and get into solar- and today I got the information I needed about the home improvement and smart energy loans,” shared Alcindor.
“At the NHT, we serve a very diverse contributor base and the expo is the perfect opportunity for us to meet individuals where they are, tailoring information to their specific needs and goal because we have so many options.” McDonald-Radcliffe stated.
The Assistant General Manager also shared that Home It! would be returning to Kingston on Saturday November 2nd for the third staging.
“We’re heading back to Emancipation Park! Since our last expo in Kingston (in March 2024), persons have been constantly asking when we’ll be returning because they really appreciated the convenience of accessing all their services in one central location.”
NHT Marketing and Sales Officer, Shawn Syblis explained that the upcoming expo will see an even greater turn out of exhibitors from which contributors can benefit.
“We start at 10 a.m. and will go up until about 8 p.m. In addition to the variety of services offered here today persons will be able to access services from surveyors, more legal firms and realties. We’re also partnering with several renewable energy firms for those interested in pursuing our Smart Energy loan offerings.” shared Syblis.
For information about the NHT’s Home It Expo, visit our website at nht.gov.jm.