Like any young professional Mike McAdam yearned for his independence, to move out of his parents’ house into a home of his own. He finished college, got a job and planned find a place to rent with the long term goal of homeownership. Recognizing the affordability challenge in Southern California, his dad advised him to stay at home a while longer – rent free and save for a down-payment.For ten years McAdam diligently saved and started looking. As a first-time homebuyer and a paraplegic, McAdam had many concerns. He didn’t have a lot of money, and buying a ‘repo’ or a distressed home that needed lots of work wasn’t a good option for him. Frustrated by working with several agents who kept advising him to ‘wait a while longer’ he was finally referred by a friend to Fullerton Realtor Adam Brett.
“We just clicked” said McAdam who says that Brett is not just his Realtor, he has become McAdam says “My friend – first and foremost”. McAdam frustrated by the misleading financial information he had been given earlier that almost scuttled his homeownership dream, said that Brett put all his experience and business acumen to work on helping him craft a financial plan that would help him achieve his homeownership goal. Part of that plan involved applying for a $10,000 down payment assistance grant through the Pacific West Association’s of Realtors, “Opening Doors” First-Time Down Payment Assistance Program.
The “Opening Doors” program was created and is supported by local Realtors with the objectives of helping ‘challenged but worthy’ first-time buyers to bridge the down payment gap, and help make the dream of home ownership a reality for families in northern Orange and southern Los Angeles counties.
According to Brett, by providing down payment assistance, the program positively affects housing affordability by creating buyer equity, a lower monthly payment, and a guaranteed market interest rate on a safe mortgage product. Said Brett, “This program is structured to help close the housing affordability gap by bringing the opportunity of homeownership to challenged buyers. It was a perfect fit for Mike McAdam. “
“It was a team effort and everyone worked very hard to make this happen” acknowledged Brett who also noted that McAdam who works for a local school district has outstanding credit scores, and his dad hand carried the reams of completed paperwork and documentation to the Association of Realtors, and after years of looking and previewing, ‘the dream home’ had been found and an offer accepted – everything was finally in place.
One month ago McAdam delightedly moved into his dream home. Said Brett, “The ‘Opening Doors’ program really did open doors for Mike who used some of the grant funds to widen doorways in the home to accommodate his wheelchair and special needs. “Mike is an amazing man, it was an honor to help him” said Brett who acknowledged that everyone involved in the process, from seller to lender felt the same way about McAdam.
In turn McAdam feels the same way about Brett, “Without Adam’s help, I’d still be waiting. Adams is a special real estate agent. You can trust him, and he really cares about his clients. You can tell Adam is not just out to make a buck. He has become a great friend to me – I can’t say enough good stuff about him!”
“In these turbulent financial times where negative real estate stories abound, it’s nice to hear some good news for a change” noted Mike McAdam’s dad Bill McAdam who also commented, “Adam Brett really did go above and beyond to make my son’s homeownership dream a reality.”
As for Mike McAdam he can’t wait to invite the folks to his house for Thanksgiving dinner and to string up lights for the holidays…all the simple pleasures of home ownership.
Adam Brett is a sales associate with RE/MAX North Orange County. He can be contacted at (714) 496-8116 or (800) 977-ADAM or visit
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