Tamika Taylor is starting off 2018 with one of her biggest resolutions already achieved – buying a home. Thanks to a chance phone call and a unique opportunity from a Community Ventures (CV), a registered Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO),Tamika and her 18 year old son are now settling into her newly purchased home in Nicholasville. “I am super excited…to finally have a home that I actually own.”
As a CHDO company in Kentucky,Community Ventures works to provide mortgages with favorable terms to clients looking to purchase a home for the first time, especially those looking for a house that might need minor rehabilitation but do not have the resources to do the work. The program allows CV to purchase existing homes in qualifying counties, specifically counties that surround Fayette, and then subsidize the cost of renovations and upgrades before selling it to new homeowners like Tamika. CHDO funds are made available through a partnership with Kentucky Housing Corporation.
Tamika has been interested in buying a home for some time. Like many Kentuckians, she explored different ways to buy a home, but with no success. Finally, while browsing the internet for ways to purchase a home in Kentucky, she discovered Community Ventures. Tamika saw that they worked with other Kentucky organizations like Kentucky Housing Corporation to help people become first-time homeowners, so she picked up the phone. She received a quick overview of the home-buying opportunity through the CHDO program,and she learned about the requirements for loan eligibility including the necessary credit score and the level of debt she could have. Once she realized that she could be eligible for the program, CV walked her through all the steps in the process. For her, the first step was completing the online eHome America Homebuyer’s Education Course.
Community Ventures offers an online course that participants can complete at their own pace. The course teaches prospective home-buyers about the ins and outs of home ownership, from the home-buying process to the financial management of home ownership and more. Homebuyer Education courses can be helpful, and are sometimes required, in order to qualify for specific mortgage loans. After completing the course, Tamika worked with Jackie Faris at Community Ventures to find a suitable home. Jackie provided an extensive list of homes that she could check out within her level of affordability. Tamika visited several homes and finally found one in Jessamine County that she loved.
As an added benefit of the CHDO program, Tamika worked with Community Ventures to immediately make significant renovations to the home. CV’s renovations made the home energy-efficient, with all new appliances, new light fixtures, and a new air conditioning system. Thought not in Tamika’s case, some homes may also receive renovations on their roofing, or insulation and or major home systems if necessary.
Working with the Community Ventures staff, Tamika found that the process for making these decisions was made much easier. “CV was very helpful. I know I bugged Jackie a lot. But she answered all my questions…if I was concerned about something, they were there to put my mind at ease.. Tamika was also able to create a completely new aesthetic for the interior, choosing new paint colors, new carpet, new kitchen appliances, and much more. Most importantly to her, CV built the brand new deck for the backyard that she had always wanted.
Tamika and her son recently moved into the home in Nicholasville, just in time for the holidays. She has lived in the house for one month now, and is grateful for this experience. While parts of this journey were stressful and she felt nervous, she looks back on the process as easier, in part thanks to Jackie and the Community Ventures team. ” I wish I had done this sooner. For anyone thinking about it, I would tell them, if you are financially ready , and ready for the big step…because it really is a big step….go for it. I’m glad I did.”
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