A new loan program launched this month is offering small-scale real estate developers in Montgomery County a way around one of their biggest obstacles: getting banks to say yes. Jumpstart MontCo, unveiled at an event outside a home at 436 Moore St. in Norristown on Nov. 5, pairs training and mentorship with construction and renovation loans that can be approved in a single day, no appraisal required.
The program starts with $1.5 million in initial lending capacity for renovations and new construction anywhere in the county, according to WHYY. Loans can cover up to 85% of acquisition and construction costs, with fees included, and monthly interest payments are deferred until construction wraps up. Anyone can apply, on a rolling basis, and applicants do not need to be Jumpstart graduates to qualify, per Jumpstart MontCo’s own program materials. Graduates of Jumpstart’s training programs do get a half-point reduction on their interest rate.
Jumpstart founder Ken Weinstein, who started the organization in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, has said that access to funds is often the critical barrier for small developers, noting that banks generally avoid construction loans and loans under $200,000 — the exact size of most Jumpstart loans. Recipients of Jumpstart MontCo funding must also meet requirements ensuring that apartments and houses renovated with the money remain affordable, the station’s report notes.
Who the Program Is Built For
HealthSpark Foundation CEO Emma Hertz described the program’s target borrower as someone who has rehabbed fewer than five properties before, according to The Times Herald. HealthSpark is providing a $750,000 line of credit to back a three-year pilot phase of the program, with a required matching component bringing the total lending capacity to $1.5 million. Sources differ on where that matching money came from: WHYY reports it as a matching contribution from Jumpstart itself, while the Chestnut Hill Local reports the match came from a private investor and JPMorgan Chase.
Hertz anticipated that the available funds could support rehabilitation of 10 to 20 properties across the county, per the Times Herald’s report. A borrower survey cited in that coverage found 83% of respondents identified as Black or African-American, and more than half identified as women.
Building on Years of Training in Norristown and Pottstown
Jumpstart MontCo builds on training programs already running in Pottstown and Norristown, which have taught more than 500 people the skills needed to develop real estate, per the same WHYY account. Jumpstart Norristown and Jumpstart Pottstown have each trained more than 500 graduates in their respective programs, the Times Herald separately reports. The new loan fund connects borrowers to training, mentorship, and networking opportunities across the broader Jumpstart network, according to the Jumpstart MontCo website.
This marks Jumpstart’s first lending program outside Philadelphia, where the organization has operated since 2015, combining industry training and mentorship with acquisition and construction loans. By 2025, Jumpstart Philly had issued more than $60 million in loans for hundreds of residential and mixed-use projects in the city, per WHYY’s earlier coverage. A Montgomery County spokesperson told the Times Herald that Jumpstart Philly had actually closed more than 540 loans totaling over $70 million, with one foreclosure identified among them. Weinstein has said he would like to bring the program to Delaware County in the near future.
A County Grappling With Rising Housing Costs
The loan fund arrives as Montgomery County confronts a steep run-up in housing costs. Median home prices in the county rose 47% from 2019 to 2024, climbing from $310,000 to $457,000, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. As of 2024, 46% of renters and 19% of homeowners in the county were spending more than 30% of their income on housing, the Inquirer reported, while total new housing units built countywide fell 41% over that same five-year span.
Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Chair Jamila Winder said teachers, nurses, first responders, and young families are being priced out of the communities they serve, and that Jumpstart Montgomery can help repair and preserve existing homes while creating housing options for different budgets. The program supports goals laid out in the county’s first-ever affordable housing blueprint, launched in May 2026, which aims to add 2,000 units of housing each year. HealthSpark Foundation has described its broader Montco Housing Loan Fund as a revolving fund, allowing it to continuously reuse capital for housing projects across the county.
