Born in Brazil, Jova first came to America through an internship with his university. He was studying environmental forestry and horticulture, and through this program, Jova learned of Bartlett’s Farm, a family farm on Nantucket Island. Jova worked at the farm for two seasons as a J1 student. After he graduated from school, he came back to work at Bartlett’s Farm and lived in their staff housing.

“I learned a lot at Bartlett’s Farm, about plants and especially about customer service,” said Jova. “I learned how to supervise others, and made good contacts on the Island. This knowledge was vital to my success.”

Eager to make extra money, Jova found a second job doing private landscaping work. He would leave staff housing at 5am, bike to the property where he would landscape until 10am, and then back to Bartlett’s to work his shift at the garden center.

After a while, Jova moved out of staff housing to live with his former wife in a basement apartment they rented for $1,200-a-month. A week before they were supposed to start their second season in this apartment, the landlord raised the rent to $2,500-a-month.

“At that point, we entered the Nantucket Shuffle,” Jova said. “My wife ran into someone, who knew someone else, who introduced us to Nat Lowell. Nat really helped us. He had an apartment he rented to us at an affordable rate, and he was really flexible with us. There was ample parking on the property, which allowed me to grow my landscaping business.”

Jova’s landscaping business eventually grew large enough for him to rely on this income alone. About two years ago, Jova decided he wanted to learn more about homeownership. Nat suggested he explore the programs offered at Housing Nantucket, and Jova signed up for our First Time Homebuyers class.

“The class was excellent,” said Jova. “When you buy a home, you need to be prepared for the unexpected. This class provided the knowledge to make it all work. If someone can’t put in the effort to complete the class, they probably aren’t ready to see through the homebuying process.”

In the class, Jova learned about affordable homeownership through Housing Nantucket’s Covenant Program. He also learned that demand for Covenant homes far exceeds supply. Jova employed a strategy suggested in the class that ultimately helped him find the home he purchased—talk to everybody about your goal of homeownership.

“I was chatting with a neighbor,” said Jova, “I told him I was interested in buying real estate, but there wasn’t anything under a million dollars on the market. He mentioned a property by the airport that was being sold through the Covenant Program, so I pursued the lead.”

Jova was eager to learn more. He viewed the property and immediately made an offer. The offer was accepted, and Jova and the sellers negotiated a contract through which Jova could live at the dwelling until they closed.

“I called Lauren Ard at Cape Cod 5. She gave the best rate and helped me obtain financing. I kept my finances clean, and the process was simple.”

In October, Jova closed on a Covenant home of his own.

“Paying down a loan is far better than paying rent,” said Jova. “There’s nothing like relaxing in my own house after a day of fixing up the property myself. I feel so lucky.”

Housing Nantucket’s programs create price-accessible housing solutions for the year-round people who power the Island’s economy. Thank you for supporting our work.