client stories

Andrew: I just graduated from VCU. I was still living at home with my parents and I need to get out. And had just started my first job at the federal reserve. I was about two years into the job, so I was pretty much stable financially.
Tanetta: When you go to college, you know-
Andrew: They don’t teach you how to buy a house.
Tanetta: They don’t teach you those things. The practical things of life that people should know. The great thing about HOME is that if you don’t know they’re there to walk you through that process.
Andrew: So it’s important to remember that just because we have degrees and we had jobs at the time, and I was the one looking for the house… that I did need that assistance to get into an affordable place.
Andrew: I went from a single bedroom in my parents’ home, of course I had my mom’s good cooking and pretty much the lay of the land, all the space, half the-
Tanetta: My cooking is good.
Andrew: Your cooking IS good.
Both: [Laughing]
Andrew: Half the chores. But then I moved to my own- not just one bedroom but a whole house. And of course, I have more chores to do, but it’s my own space. I met my wife – I met my girlfriend, at the time, and she became my wife – and she was able to move in here with me. I think that was a part- that was a big, big change in my life. It was like you’re moving from- from a boy to being a man.

Andrew: So the main reason that we chose to live in the East End, Church Hill specifically, was because a lot of our friends from college were starting to settle over here as well. There is a church down the street that they all go to, so we kinda moved to the area so we could be a part of that community group. We have friends down the street. Our pastor lives right around the corner from us, so we do a lot of things at his house and with them. He’s also on the school board, he’s Don Coleman, he’s one of our really good friends. We have other things going on, she does volunteer work in the community
Tanetta: Yes, and our pediatrician lives in the community.
Andrew: Our pediatrician lives down the street from us, which was really awesome, we get to interact with him. He goes to our church as well. Our babysitter is actually right down the street from us. I hang out with her husband while the girls do grocery shopping and girly things or whatever [laughing]

Tanetta: I feel that this home is perfect for us because it helps us to stay within our means and we’re comfortable.
Andrew: Yeah.
Tanetta: We know that we are safe
Andrew: We’re safe. We’re not spending so much on mortgage that we have to- that we have to manage every single penny so we can make the mortgage payment.
Andrew: We have good roots in this community.
Tanetta: Definitely.
Andrew: If we were to move to another house it would be in this community, just because we’ve made so many connections and we have so many friends and we want to stay close to them.
Tanetta: Definitely.