COOLIDGE, Ariz. (KNXV) – Homeownership is considered one of the cornerstones of the American Dream.
It has seemingly become unattainable for many people, but one Arizona woman never gave up on her dream to have a place of her own.
Sherry Yates finally became a homeowner at the age of 77.
“See how long that is, I love that,” she said.
Yates has been at her home in Coolidge for nearly a year now, and there’s still not a single inch of it she would change.
She said her affection for the home is because she has been a renter her whole life up to this point.
Now, she’s a homeowner, and the only lease she has is a new lease on life.
“You know, sometimes I feel 35,” she said.
Yates moved to Arizona in 2007 and rented in Glendale, with multiple generations under one roof.
When the landlord sold the house, she found herself in a new rental house in Avondale, paying a couple hundred dollars more.
After some years there, that house foreclosed, and Yates ended up renting an apartment in central Phoenix where she realized the constant in her life was change.
“It’s hard to stay in an apartment, plus when you got kids, and they got kids, it’s very hard,” she said.
To add to the challenge, Yates said she didn’t know where to start on her journey to homeownership until she met New Oakwood Homes counselor Beckah Stiasny.
“It’s a big scary thing to buy your home, let alone build your home, so we council throughout the whole time,” Stiasny said.
Yates’ pesky credit score was keeping her from getting the loan she needed.
Her team helped her get all of that sorted out and helped her figure out how much she needed to save to make a $12,000 down payment on a $300,000 home.
Yates said she now guests over all the time.
Her home is 1,700 square feet in size and features four bedrooms, a two-car garage and enough space to take care of her mother, her husband, two children, and then some.
She said she considers her mortgage a privilege.
“I would pay my mortgage before I pay anything,” she said.
Copyright 2024 KNXV via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
