How one Louisville realtor is helping African immigrants build generational wealth

Jean-David Nsilulu Jr. didn't know anything about buying a house when his parents first sought his help meeting a builder.

The Congolese immigrants weren't confident they knew all the right questions to ask, Nsilulu said. So they leaned on their son, who — after a little research — asked so many questions that the builder's representative wondered if he was a realtor.

"At the end of it, she said, 'You should look into real estate,'" Nsilulu said. "'I think you'd make a really good realtor.'"

A year later, Nsilulu, in need of a job change, remembered that conversation. Real estate, he decided, was where he should be — not just for himself and his family, but for his Congolese community.

Congolese residents are currently the second fastest-growing population of immigrants in Louisville, behind Cubans, with nearly 3,000 people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo resettling here between 2018 and 2022, according to the Kentucky Office for Refugees.

Nsilulu has witnessed the steep increase in Congolese arrivals since his family moved to Louisville in 2004, when he was 11. As he considered his career options 15 years later, he also noticed a gap in services for Congolese homebuyers who didn't speak English.

"It's a very scary process, very intimidating," Nsilulu, now 32, said of buying a house. "I had heard of a few people in my community who had went with somebody else. They just didn't understand what they were signing and ended up getting a crazy interest rate, a crazy monthly payment to the point where they were working multiple jobs to be able to afford it. So I got my real estate license."

Since 2019, Nsilulu has worked as a realtor with Keller Williams, specializing in assisting African clients who often find him through word of mouth.

Nsilulu's native languages are French and Lingala. And he said he's able to guide some non-English speakers through homebuying in a way other realtors can't.

"I also relate to them at a level that (other realtors) might not be able to understand," he said. "... An immigrant speaking to an immigrant understands the struggle that you've been through. You understand what it takes for you to get here in America. You understand the steps that you need to take in order to be successful."

For Nsilulu's family, it took 10 years of annually entering a visa lottery program with intensive background and medical checks before they earned entry to the U.S.

"They definitely put you through the wringer," he said of the process. "... But it's a blessing."

Nsilulu now sees it as his mission to help other immigrants take their American dreams a step further by supporting them in building generational wealth through homeownership.

"I thought it was very important to give back to my community, give back to my immigrant family, and also educate them about the importance of investing in yourself and what real estate can be able to do to create many opportunities for you here," he said.

Slava Furs has worked alongside Nsilulu at Keller Williams for the past several years and said Nsilulu is always the first to offer help to anyone who needs it.

"He's very charismatic, very caring, too," Furs said. "... The best way to describe him is he has energy."

Furs is also an immigrant, whose native language is Russian. And while both men work with all types of clients, Furs said their backgrounds give them an "extra level of trust" with people in their communities.

"It gives a fair play to people that work hard and are really trying to better their life and change their life," Furs said. "... Without professionals that are multilingual and can speak to people who are native to our language, that playing field doesn't get leveled as much."

Nsilulu said he's thankful the Congolese community in Louisville continues to grow — allowing him to maintain a connection to the culture in which he was raised. And he hopes to encourage more immigrants to get involved in real estate.

"It's a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it," he said.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville realtor eases homebuying burden for African immigrants