Six County Association of Governments: In Their Own Words – a homeowner story

Thursday, Aug 24, 2023

By E. Sanches, homeowner

If you’re thinking about applying for this program but aren’t really sure you’ll be able to qualify, apply anyway! You might just end up being approved to build your own house like Dave and I have! I was scrolling on Facebook one day and saw a post that caught my eye. It was from Six County Self Help, and it mentioned building your own house with no down-payment, no experience, low monthly payments, and lowered interest rates. At first, I had thought of it as a scam because I hadn’t heard of a program like this, and it seemed too good to be true. I looked into it further and quickly found out that it was REAL and there were plenty of success stories to back it up!

I talked to David about it that night, and at first, he didn’t think we should apply because we weren’t in the best situation financially, but after some time, we decided we would give it a shot. At the very least, we could learn what would disqualify us from buying a home, and work on – or fix those things we needed to in order to come closer to our dream of owning our own home. After we got our application in, we needed to send in more information/verifications. It was A LOT of paperwork, but it was so much more manageable, and less overwhelming with the help of the program manager, Kristin. She made sure to answer any and all questions we had.

When Kristin let us know we did not qualify the first round, we were heartbroken. We knew that this would probably be our only shot at being homeowners anytime soon. We didn’t stay heartbroken for very long though, because Kristin let us know there was a phase 2 coming up, and guided us through what we needed to do in order to have a better chance at qualifying. It was a lot, but we wanted a home SO bad, and couldn’t let ourselves lose the vision we had started with. We got to working super hard on closing out two loans, and selling a vehicle. With all of our savings, and the money we got from selling the truck, we ended up paying off, and closing out thousands of dollars of debt to lower our monthly debt to income ratio in such a short period of time. When we had those accounts paid off and closed out, we went through the process of applying again, and this time we were approved for a house, with a full basement!

When we heard Kristin say we were approved, so many emotions came over the both of us. Our dream was really going to happen, and when we had first started, we didn’t think it really would. I am SO beyond grateful for this program, and to have the opportunity to be a part of it. It is life changing, and it is possible. You just have to be willing to put in some work and effort.

 

Also in this issue of Self-Help Builder: