NSCAP Program Helps Launch Woburn Real Estate Office

[The following was submitted by North Shore Community Action Programs.]

Anthony J. Giglio was a man with a plan. A Realtor in Woburn and the North Shore for more than three years, he saw an opportunity to take his career to the next level by owning his own agency. Through hard work, adherence to a business plan and a disciplined approach to saving -- with help from NSCAP’s Individual Development Account program -- he realized his dream this year. Today, Giglio and his business partners Roland and Gale Spadafora are the proud owners of RE/MAX Legacy on Pleasant Street in Woburn.

“The former owner had decided to close the office down,” Giglio explains. “But the three of us didn’t want to leave the real estate market in Woburn. We came up with a business plan and went to him with an offer. I had saved on my own for a while, but my savings took off when I was accepted into the Individual Development Account (IDA) program at NSCAP. I learned about the IDA program from a client I represented who was able to purchase her first home because of NSCAP.”

The IDA program supports low- to moderate-income people who commit to a savings program that leads to one of three asset-building goals. The asset goals include first-time homeownership, post-secondary education or training and startup of a small business (microenterprise).

IDA participants must be income-eligible and committed to saving at least $55 per month. Participants choosing to save for a house must be first-time buyers; those saving for post-secondary education must have a GED or high school diploma. Participants are required to complete NSCAP’s Financial Literacy workshop before enrollment, as well as additional training related to their asset goal, such as first-time homebuyer education or small business workshops.

Giglio entered the IDA program after completing the required eight-session workshop on Financial Literacy and going through the qualifying process. He received a 2-to-1 match for a portion of his savings through the IDA program.

“It really is an awesome program,” Giglio said. “And I am excited to help other IDA participants working with NSCAP in the future. I like to be able to sit down with people and educate them about the home buying process, how to improve their credit score, that kind of thing. I opened the perfect business to help people become first-time homebuyers – that’s what I’m in business to do.”

A few months into the new venture, RE/MAX Legacy already has five employees, is profitable, and continues to grow.

Mr. Giglio’s real estate agency is the first small business enterprise that a NSCAP IDA participant has opened. Recent participants who also met their savings goals used the accumulated assets to invest in post-secondary education, either for themselves or their children, or to purchase their first home.

The IDA program at NSCAP is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development and the federal Assets for Independence (AFI) initiative administered locally by MASSCAP (the state-wide community action association).

IDAs enable participants to save money to acquire an economic asset and build long-term financial stability. Asset-building is an important tool to help individuals and families to build financial self-sufficiency that can carry forward for generations. NSCAP’s program provides a high-yield match ($2 for every $1 saved) resulting in the accumulation of $6,000 per participant, based on the $2,000 they save. 

NSCAP has run a successful IDA program since 2001, and has participated with the MASSCAP/AFI project since 2006. Since 2006, NSCAP has worked with 16 participants who have saved a total of $75,000. 

For more information on the Individual Development Account program or the Financial Literacy Workshop offered by NSCAP, please contact Deborah L. Grace at 978-531-0767 x209 or dlgrace@nscap.org.