A few years ago I had the pleasure of helping a young man purchase his first house. In fact, it was the first house that anyone in his immediate family had ever owned.
The young man, who I will call Billy (not his real name), was a high school friend of my son. He was a nice kid but didn’t really have any good mentors in his life. For a variety of reasons, his parents could not hold steady jobs so he and his siblings bounced around from place to place. His last year of high school his parents moved out of the Phoenix area and Billy ended up staying with his grandfather until he graduated.
Billy had some vision problems and needed a cornea transplant, but he had no health insurance or money, so he struggled in school and at work. After graduation, Billy went to work at a number of minimum wage jobs. It appeared he was going to be on the fast track to follow in his parent's footsteps. With no college education, he was struggling to find a good job. Meanwhile, my son went on to finish college and had secured a good job at a large company. The company was hiring so my son recommended Billy for a position. He was granted an interview. Billy didn’t have any nice clothes so he borrowed a shirt and tie from my son. I remember having to help him tie the necktie because he didn’t know how. I helped coach him a little on how to prepare for the interview, and he got the job! It was an entry-level position, but it was decent pay and most important, it had health benefits.
Over time Billy became close to our family. He was very appreciative of the helped he had received from my son.
After about a year on his new job, Billy was able the have his corneal transplants, one eye at a time. His vision improved and he was able to start community college. By his second year at work, he received a promotion. With his new income, he was able to qualify for a mortgage. He could not wait to buy a house. It took us a few weeks to find him a decent house that he could afford. But with a little work, we were able to find him a nice little 1200 square foot 2BD + Den.
We almost lost the deal because the seller concessions, he needed, pushed the price over appraisal. But we were able to negotiate with the seller and arrange a lender credit to pull it back together. Billy is very proud of his house and has done a nice job of maintaining it, even making a few improvements.
Billy has been there a few years now, he has a girlfriend and hopefully soon will be married. He has blossomed into very happy and optimistic young man. He has broken the cycle of failure and is on the road to success.
My son was married in Feb 2018 and Billy was one of his groomsmen. He has become a member of our family. One of the things I am most proud of is that when Billy needs advice or help, he calls me. It is a good feeling to know that he trusts us to help him.
I could do transactions like this every day. You probably work twice as hard doing this type of sale than you will doing a million dollar cash sale. And you don’t make much money. But if you can help change someone’s life, it is all worthwhile.
Joe Domino is a Realtor® serving the Phoenix & Scottsdale metro area. You can follow Joe's real estate blog at From The Outside Looking In or find more great information by visiting his website at www.Scottsdale-AZHomes.com.
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