It was February, and Cameron and Kevin B. had decided they just couldn’t do it any longer.
After nearly three years of shuttling their kids back and forth to their school over an hour away, the Hoover, AL, family decided to start house hunting. A new home, a new commute, and, hopefully, a new outlook on life.
But when they crunched the numbers, the math didn’t add up. They didn’t have enough equity in their current home to be able to sell it and afford the down payment on another one. They would have to put their home search on hold—for at least five years.
Until, that is, Cameron opened her laptop one recent night and read the email declaring her the winner of our $40,000 Kickstart Your Mortgage giveaway.
“It was hard to believe at first—it’s still a little bit unbelievable,” the 38-year-old told us (her last name is being withheld to protect her family’s privacy). “You always hear about how it happens to someone, but it’s crazy to think, ‘Oh my gracious, out of so many people, we were the ones that won.'”
Cameron had entered the contest on a whim, and never told her husband about it. She’s an avid user of our app, so when she saw the promotion in one of our emails, she thought it couldn’t hurt to enter. But she had already resigned herself to the idea of staying put, and continuing the hellacious commute that’s sucked up hours upon hours of her family’s time.
It takes one to two hours to get to the kids’ school each day, and that time is doubled at least three times a week when the couple have to make additional trips for extracurricular activities. On top of that, their three kids often cannot participate in social events because of the commute—a fact that has caused teachers to voice concern about the kids becoming disconnected from their peers.
“The kids are really excited,” Cameron said. “You feel their disappointment when we say, ‘We just can’t get you over there.’
“It’s going to be a really positive impact for them,” she added. “We’re not going to have to tell them, ‘No, we’re not going to let you be in choir’ or that they can’t do those things that are good for them.”
What does ‘home’ look like for the family?
With the prize money in hand, Cameron and Kevin hope to move swiftly to be in a new house before the new school year begins. They’re meeting with a Realtor® in the coming week, and they’ve already selected a mortgage lender and organized all the necessary documents to get pre-approved.
Their search will focus on neighborhoods near Oak Mountain State Park, giving the family of five (plus dog) proximity to hiking trails, zip lines, and other outdoor activities.
It’s a hot market where homes have been selling in a matter of days and for above the asking price. That’s why the $40,000 prize is the key that will keep the family competitive, and unlock the door to their new home.
“We can show people we’re serious about buying a house, because we’re able to make that financial commitment to it,” Cameron said.
Plus, the family will get to spread out a little. Their current digs are a trilevel home built in the 1960s. It’s on a picturesque lot with lots of old trees and a creek running behind it, but the house with all its rooms and levels keeps the family somewhat separated.
Cameron is excited for a possibly newer home with a more open floor plan. She wants another spacious and treed lot with room for their cocker spaniel, Chewbacca, to run around. They want a garage, or at least a carport, for their vehicles. Her husband would love a wraparound porch, and Cameron—well, she is a pianist and music educator, so she’s lusting after space to put her “baby grand.”
They still need four bedrooms and three bathrooms, while a full basement—one they could potentially use as an in-law suite for her parents—would be ideal.
No matter what, they’re “invigorated” about the idea of embarking on the search for a home they can “invest in.”
“There are such rich things to do” in Birmingham, AL, Cameron said. “We know this is where we want to stay, and now we have the opportunity to search for that home that we can stay in long term.”
The post The Winner of Our $40K Kickstart Your Mortgage Sweepstakes: Cameron B. of Hoover, AL appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.