Haitian-born nurse Syndie Berrette helps Haitian families in New Jersey buy their first homes
The first homeowner in her family, Berrette taught herself English after leaving Haiti in 2007 and now combines nursing with a real estate business.
NEW YORK, United States. When Haitian-born Syndie Berrette talks about helping Haitian families buy homes, she is talking about a milestone she knows personally.
Berrette, a New Jersey-based real estate professional and nurse, told Caribbean Life on Friday, October 9, that she was the first in her family to become a homeowner. Through Home Match By Syndie, she wants other families to see ownership as achievable, even if no one before them has done it.
She said some Haitian families believe buying a home is beyond their reach, while others keep their purchases private. She wants a more open conversation about "what it takes to prepare, what questions buyers should ask and how to move toward a closing".
"I want to be the Haitian realtor in New Jersey," she said.
Learning a new language
After leaving Haiti in 2007, Berrette settled in Mississippi without speaking English. With no classes and no one at home to practise with, she taught herself and was speaking the language within five months.
Nursing school was a different challenge. She translated her coursework into French to understand the lessons and used YouTube for extra explanations. She said she cried after receiving a C on her first test, but kept working.
Of the eight Black students who entered her nursing programme, she said, only three graduated, including her. She never repeated a class and passed her nursing board exams at the first attempt.
That experience, she said, shapes how she approaches buyers facing an unfamiliar process.
From shift to keys
After 14 years in psychiatric nursing, Berrette said listening is central to her work, including hearing concerns about credit, savings and readiness to buy.
Working alongside RE/MAX First Realty II, she serves buyers in Union, Essex and Morris counties and elsewhere in New Jersey. Many referrals come from hospital colleagues through an effort she calls "From Shift to Keys". She continues to work as a nurse.
"Owning a home represents having something a family can identify as its own and potentially pass to the next generation," she said.
