We're Dan and Jon. Here's how we work.
Earn With Homes is the two of us, with an office in Amherst, Ohio. Between us we've been part of more than 170 real estate transactions, and the houses people have lent us money on are on the Deals page.
Dan Wilson
Dan grew up on job sites. His dad was a framer and later a general contractor, and Dan spent summers framing, tiling, and hanging siding on his dad's houses before joining the Air Force at 19.
He bought his first rental on active duty with a VA loan: a condo, then a duplex he lived in one side of, then a fourplex and a second duplex. Eight units, living in one and renting out seven. On that first duplex the mortgage was about $1,300 a month and the other side rented for $950, so he lived there for about $350.
He left the Air Force in 2022 after 14 years, with his rentals covering the bills. He runs the capital side of Earn With Homes, and he lends on private notes himself: a $40,000 note in first position, five years, fully amortized, to an operator he trusts after doing his own homework. He's sat on both sides of the note.
Jon Smith
Before real estate, Jon was a regional manager for a chain of high-end restaurants, which meant budgets, financial reports, and several locations running at once. He underwrites houses the same way.
He's been part of more than 70 real estate transactions and owns 10 rental units of his own. At Earn With Homes he finds the houses, walks them, runs the numbers, qualifies the families, and handles everything on the ground in Ohio.
Who does what
Jon finds and underwrites the house
He checks the price, the condition, the title, and what a family in that neighborhood can afford each month.
A title company closes it
The purchase closes through a title company. When a private lender funds the house, the title company records the mortgage with the county.
A family moves in
Jon qualifies a family, and they move in on a lease with an option to buy or on a land contract, with a fixed monthly payment.
Want to talk with Dan?
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