Why I built Home Ko 'To.

I am a first-generation immigrant. When I was fourteen, I negotiated our family's first mortgage. Not because I was an expert. Because I was a little more comfortable in English, and a little better at the computer.

I thought my parents' situation was unique. But it wasn't. I was just a child doing my best — reading paperwork I did not fully understand, explaining terms I barely knew, and hoping I was not missing something important.

That story is far too common. And it is exactly why I built HomeKoTo — as a project of Aware Financial, my fee-for-service financial planning practice.

Decades later, I have built my own real estate portfolio. My professional training is in conventional investments, but I truly believe home ownership has been one of the most accessible ways to build wealth and a real foundation in Canada.

Unfortunately, it has gotten harder to own. It has also become harder to find information you can trust.

HomeKoTo is my way of passing that knowledge to our kababayan who cannot hire me yet. Everything here is free. It is funded by sponsors and professional partners who believe in pre-educated clients as much as I do.

In my planning practice, I work to correct that knowledge imbalance. Every family deserves to understand their options in plain language, in a way that honors their hard work, their culture, and their dreams.