Q: How did you get started with the HELP Program?

We had looked into another company that basically did the same stuff you did but they wanted all this money to get into it, basically like a down payment to get in that you didn't get back, you lost. They wouldn't lock in on a price and they wanted to make 97% I think after a year to refinance of market value. Which means the way the market is going, in a year instead of paying $200,000 for it, you would be paying $270,000. And you are losing basically all that money. Being able to have a house with a locked in purchase price is a huge factor for us.

Q: Let's jump back to how you began looking into a lease-to-own program. What was your original situation?

Well, the original situation was that we both went through credit issues. We were in a lease option with an individual landlord and she got divorced and wanted the house back. So we got to looking and didn't really want to throw rent money away and we weren't really in a position quite yet to be able to qualify to buy it out right. So we got to looking at programs and I found you guys in the paper actually and after talking to you guys it just sounded really good, almost one of those too good to be true situations. And the way it has all worked out, I mean, it is all working out great because if we would have been set on trying to save money and sat on stuff we probably wouldn't be able to afford the house we are in, in a year. So it worked out to our advantage to do it this way. I think a lot of people would benefit from it that way, just because you can get into it you are locked into it. My husband was about 30 points away from being able to qualify both scores to buy it outright right now. And to wait six months or a year we would have been paying $30,000-$40,000 more. It just didn't make sense to wait.

Q: Although it seems like a good decision now that you are in the home, did you have a lot of worry over the monthly payments?

I went over everything--our budget, our income—hundreds of times in my sleep, asking myself is this really doable?  The house we were renting was $854 per month and going through this program we are basically doubling our house payment.  I'm one of these people that does a lot of research before I jump into something. And I got to researching prices of houses out there and comparable prices because I didn't know if that was part of you jack up the price of the house so you are basically buying $100,000 for triple its price, and that wasn't the case. It was everything right and with everybody else and its like ok, what else is there. To me it worked out great, it helped us get into a house now and worked through the snags and stuff we were dealing with. We actually feel like The HELP Program isn’t treating us like we are some low life because we have had some issues in the past. To me that is huge.
 
Q: What are your plans for the house? Is that somewhere that you will stay for a long time or do you think you will take your equity in the home and cash out?

Actually the plan is, stay there until the kids are gone. We have two teenagers, one is a freshman and one is a sophomore. So we only have three or four more years and then my little one is 10 so several years left for him. My husband works for the state and he's got 20 years before he can retire. So basically I think, unless we get a wild hair at least for the next 10 years we will have this house. Once he gets to the point of retiring and then we will probably get rid of it and travel. I told him I'm not moving again, I like the area, I like the place, I like everything. It is exactly where I wanted it, location, things like that they all fell into place.
 
Q: How much equity do you have in the home right now?

We met a few of our neighbors a couple weekends ago and the one down the street said they bought their house last year and in a year’s time it went up $100,000. The neighbors next to us are actually selling theirs and building a bigger house in Hidden Springs. That's just the thing a year ago when we were looking at lease option programs things like that, we were looking at $150,000, $130,000, $140,000, $120,000 mark and that was the going for pretty much all of them and now it's $240,000, $250,000 and next year it is going to be even more.

Q: The purchase option for you home is set for $249,000.  What is it worth right now?
 
The house across the street sold for $270,000 and it is about the same size as ours--same garage, same square footage.

Q: How much equity would you guess was in the house already?

Well, it's not even finished yet, they still have to finish the fence but with all the mud you know I honestly have no idea.  I guess we are looking at the next door house selling for $270,000 right now and we are buying the house for $249,000 you could turn around tomorrow and sell it for $260,000—and we still have over six months left before we have to purchase the home. 

Q: So what would you say to me if I were considering The HELP Program but I am a little concerned about home prices?

I would say if you are interesting in doing any kind of program the lease option program, there seems to be a ton of them out there because I probably researched them all, I've probably done them all.

As far as the programs go this one seems to give you the most for your money. The other program that we looked into like I said, it had a $1000 up front that you had up front that you basically lost, you never got back and there was so much per month and none of that went towards closing nothing, you ended up having to pay closing at the end. With the other program you have to fix the credit stuff on your own.

I actually had a mortgage guy that we had in line that was going to help us but they wouldn't lock into a price. So now it is worth $205,00 and it was a 1,556 sq/ft and they wanted $205,000 as if Oct of last year so now who knows. So next year at 97% close to 280, 290 so it is basically money you have lost. That is the way I look at it is money that you have lost because you are now paying more for the same house that you would have a year ago plus all the fees that you lose plus all the things like that.

And to me this the houses that they had available weren't as fancy, didn't have as many upgrades, a fireplace, the crown molding on the doors it didn't have the nicer doors, the three car garage, it was just your basic house. With this one we seemed to have gotten more of the upgrades.
 
I still pinch myself everyday and my husband asks me, "Can you believe this is our house?”