Against Long Odds, An Abandoned House Becomes a Home for Elgin Family
The Flores family in front of their new home in Elgin.
For first-time homebuyers, today’s real estate market has presented many new challenges that seemed unimaginable even two years ago. At that time, even a vacant or abandoned home could command a good price and the requirements for lending were much more relaxed given high employment and increasing market values. The current landscape in real estate presents greater barriers to entry for first time homebuyers even in more stable suburban markets, yet hope remains through partnership and teamwork between the homebuyer, their lender and organizations dedicated to the preservation of their communities.
Martin and Michelle Flores’ story is one such example of how working together turned an abandoned home into a dream come true for these first time homebuyers. Natives of Guanajuato, Mexico, Martin and Michelle married and came to the Chicago area 5 years ago and settled in the Elgin area. When their son Matthew was born four years ago, they decided that now was the time to buy a home in the city that they had come to call their home. Unfortunately, the couple’s first attempt to acquire a home through a more traditional route did not meet with success and with their second son, Jacob, on the way it looked as though they might never realize their dream. After talking with friends and family members, however, they learned that Neighborhood Housing Services of the Fox Valley (NHS) in Elgin provided counseling and training for first time homebuyers—counseling that would be critical in obtaining a loan to buy their first home. After completing homeownership counseling and training through NHS and obtaining pre-approval for a loan, the Floreses began looking for a home in Elgin.
Abandoned for many months, the house they found seemed like it would be perfect for their growing family if they could acquire it and put some work into renovating it. A Real Estate Owned (REO) property of Fannie Mae, the property had unfortunately been unkindly treated by its previous owners and fallen victim to the cycle of disrepair often found in abandoned and foreclosed properties. An inspection by an NHS construction specialist confirmed the Floreses’ worst fears about the property and the dream of successfully purchasing and renovating the home began to fade.
Realizing that the home would continue to be a blight on the community and the Floreses may not have the same opportunity to buy and renovate a home again, NHS immediately sprang into action. To begin with, the non-profit organization restructured the loan for the purchase and renovation of the home to take into account the need for a much more comprehensive renovation. At the same time, the organization had to work with the sales agent to increase the length of time given to the Floreses to purchase the home in light of the work that needed to be done. Unfortunately for NHS and the Floreses, however, the sales agent actually cancelled the sales contract for the home in the middle of this process and it looked as though the Martin and Michelle would never have a home to call their own. “As the stress mounted in this process, NHS was always there to help,” according to Martin.
Calling on a long-standing partnership with Fannie Mae, NHS was able to save the situation. By working with Fannie Mae, the sales contract was re-instituted and the loan to purchase and renovate the property was put in place. “Elgin is a wonderful community with a lot of first time homebuyers that are looking to settle down and raise a family here,” according to Johnny Placeres, Neighborhood Director of NHS of the Fox Valley. “Unfortunately, the real estate market today presents special challenges to first time home buyers,” states Placeres. The rise in foreclosed and abandoned properties and more stringent underwriting criteria on loans for buyers like the Floreses have made preserving communities even in suburban areas once free of vacant homes a challenge. As Placeres puts it, “That’s when we really have to dig in and begin working with our partners, like Fannie Mae, to revitalize troubled properties that need good homeowners.”
Today, Martin and Michelle Flores have finally realized their dream of homeownership. Says Martin, “It was a slow process that required a lot of patience, but in the end it was worth it. We have a home, not a house.”