Since our founding in 1982, Suncoast Housing Connections has helped over 61,000 clients. Read their stories.
“Thank you to all of those at Tampa Bay CDC. You guys made this adventure more understandable for us and it prepared us to be ready to take care of our finances and to be able to purchase our home.”
Juan & Glennys
JUAN & GLENNYS
CAROL
We began working with Carol in September of 2020. She is a retired single adult who wanted to own her own home to avoid escalating rental costs–she was paying close to $1100 a month for her two-bedroom apartment. Together, we determined that a condo was the best option for her. Although Carol initially had trouble finding an affordable condo that would still be a nice place for her to live, she was eventually able to find the perfect two bedroom, two bath condo in Dunedin with a carport for her car.
After we connected her with a lender, Carol received $40,000 for down payment assistance from Pinellas County, covering her closing costs and a large portion of the purchase price. Her mortgage was only $98,000, with an interest rate of 2.75. Even with with principle, interest, taxes, insurance, and an HOA fee, Carol’s monthly payments are only $888.36. Carol expressed her gratitude for the work we had done and spoke highly of the homebuyer education classes she attended, stating that she would have missed much of what the classes taught her to look for–particularly during the inspection process.
ERIC & JACQUELINE
Eric and Jacqueline had no idea how to start the process to purchase a home, and were not sure if they were ready, until they attended our home buyer education classes and began working with a housing counselor at Suncoast Housing Connections. The couple was also unsure about using all of their savings to buy a home, particularly during the uncertainty of COVID-19. The counselor connected them with a lender that offered Down Payment Assistance through their bank, helping them with the needed closing costs. They were then referred to a realtor to help them find a home. Eric and Jacqueline were able to purchase their new home, despite bringing less than $2,500.00 to the closing table. They are so excited and let us know their new home is a perfect fit for their family.
SINGLE MOTHER
A single mother of a teenage daughter, of modest means, began working with Suncoast Housing Connections this summer. She stated all they were really looking for was a two bedroom, one bathroom condo. They wanted their own home but determined that buying a small condo would minimize the upkeep they would need to perform on a home.
Looking at their finances, it appeared that they could only purchase a home with a mortgage less than $70,000. With the rapidly escalating prices of real estate, this was going to be difficult to achieve. However, they were able to take advantage of down payments assistance programs to help them buy the home. Our staff was able to point them in the direction of using multiple down payment assistance programs to help them achieve homeownership.
MARIA & LUIS
Housing Counselor Rosemary began working with Maria & Luis in April of this year. Maria is disabled and her husband works for a local drive through oil change shop. They primarily speak Spanish and needed assistance with navigating the home buying process. They had worked hard at saving money to buy the home but needed help with the closing costs and some of the down payment. Rosemary helped them complete the application for down payment assistance through Pasco County. She was also able to connect them with a lender that offered down payment assistance. With the funding they received from both of these sources they were able to achieve their dream of homeownership in September. They wanted to share this message with the staff of Suncoast Housing Connections: “Muchas gracias por todo, porque sin su ayuda nada huvieramos podido hacer, que Dios se lo multiplique en bendicione sobre usted y su familia. Un millon de gracias.”
Translation:
“Thank you very much for everything, because without your help we would have been able to do nothing, may God multiply it in blessing on you and your family. A million thanks.”