The financial knowledge gap that keeps roughly 100 million renters in the United States from achieving homeownership is a societal failure that Steven Libman, founder of Investing With Purpose, aims to address through a faith-driven community investment model. With 15 years of experience in multifamily real estate, Libman has developed an approach where financial literacy is a central pillar of resident services, now being advanced through Investing With Purpose and exemplified at a property owned by Integrity Holdings Group (IHG).
The wealth gap between homeowners and renters is stark: the average homeowner has a net worth of over $350,000, compared to roughly $10,500 for the average renter. Libman attributes this not primarily to income differences but to a lack of knowledge, access, and compounding decisions made without proper information. He argues that the financial world has failed ordinary people by suggesting that managing money is too complex, leading them to outsource their conscience and thinking to advisors and CPAs who may not proactively identify ways to reduce debt or build savings.
A live example of this model is a 418-unit property in Lubbock, Texas, owned and operated by IHG. The property runs a financial literacy program in partnership with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, delivered by on-site ministry coordinators. The program is free for residents and covers debt reduction, credit building, and savings strategies—the foundational mechanics that most people in multifamily housing have never had access to in a structured way. Notably, the property consists of individually deeded duplexes, and residents who complete the program and meet qualifying milestones have a pathway to purchase their own unit, moving from tenant to homeowner, and in some cases to landlord, within a realistic timeframe backed by partnerships with local credit unions and banks.
Libman emphasizes that this is not philanthropy dressed up as business. Retention data from properties running this model shows that residents with six or seven friends in the same complex are roughly 45 to 50 percent less likely to leave, and lease attrition drops by 40 to 50 percent. Lower turnover means lower costs, more stable income, and better performing assets. The financial literacy program is an investment in community stability, which directly benefits asset performance.
Investing With Purpose is also developing summer tutoring and kids’ programming at several portfolio properties to address the learning gap affecting children in multifamily housing during school breaks. The goal across all initiatives is to meet real needs, build genuine connection, and create an environment where people want to stay.
The broader question this raises is what responsibility an operator has to the people living inside its assets. For Libman, a faith-driven operator, the answer goes beyond maintenance, safety, and lease compliance. "Where people live affects almost everything their life touches," he says. "The communities they are building, the people they are with, if we can impact somebody’s life inside a community, and then you see the butterfly effect of that, it is immeasurable." More information on the Asset Ministry Program and the firm’s broader community investment model is available at investingwithpurpose.org/impact.
