For over two years, Evette Brown had been on Housing Assistance’s Ready to Buy list, waiting for the right opportunity to realize her dreams of becoming a homeowner on the Cape.
“What struck me about her is her faith,” said Housing Assistance Director of Real Estate Gael Kelleher. “She waited and waited and waited, but she always knew it was going to work out.”
In July, Evette’s faith paid off when she purchased an affordable home in Yarmouth with Kelleher’s support.
“God is the one who helped me do this. I couldn’t do it myself,” Evette said. “He gave me the strength as a single mom to accomplish this on my own. It is very hard to accomplish stuff on your own when you’re a single mom, but I did it and it’s possible for anyone else to do it.”
“I was tired of paying rent. My dream was to own my own home. That was my biggest dream.”
A native of Jamaica, Evette has lived on the Cape for nearly 20 years. Until this summer, she had rented homes on the Mid-Cape with her son. “I lived at my old address for four and a half years. It was time to move on,” she said. “I was house hunting for much of that time and the right one came along and I just took it.”
A certified nursing assistant, Evette took our First-Time Homebuyers workshop a few years ago at the prompting of her landlord. While she attempted to purchase several affordable homes prior to this year, the circumstances never worked out.
“I never gave up,” she said. “I tried and tried and stayed on the waiting list.”
As to her persistence, she explained it this way: “I was tired of paying rent. My dream was to own my own home. That was my biggest dream.”
In the spring, Kelleher contacted Evette, letting her know there was a deed-restricted ranch for sale in Yarmouth that would be perfect for her. Evette closed on the house on July 17; that same day, she packed a car full of her belongings and started moving in.
“It was incredible, an incredible feeling knowing that you’re going to own your own home and paying your own mortgage instead of rent,” she said with a huge smile on her face. “This is a bigger space. My bedroom is so big I can move around. My kitchen is big. I have a big backyard and front yard. And I have my own privacy with no neighbors telling me to turn down my music.”
Her persistence has served as an important lesson for her son. “I’m showing him the right way. He sees me. I work very hard,” she said. “He is the reason why I’m living. I did all this to let him know you can rise from nothing to something as a person.”
Are you in the market to purchase your first home? Click here to view our current listings of affordable homes on Cape Cod. You can also register for our First-Time Homebuyers Workshop here which will prepare you for the homebuying process.
