Page 23 - EQ Mag-issue 5

COVER STORY (Cont’d)
One other pleasure the Lewis’ admitted enjoying is
entertaining their friends. But this pleasure paid off big!
The moment finally came and the right seed was planted.
Over a game of dominoes, entertaining friends at their
apartment, a school friend, Darryl Bowles with BBVA
asked were they actually really going to buy a house one
day. He had recently become a Mortgage Banker for the
Bank, and was sharing with all his family and friends and
anyone that was nearby in his space that would listen
about his new role. More importantly, because Darryl is a
property owner himself and real estate had been a part of
his life since long as he could remember. Charles shared
how Darryl always talks about how he had seen the
impact real estate had in his family and how important it
was to own your own home and that it was the first step to
building generational wealth.
[Chuck Friends: Darryl Bowles & Troy Tezeno]
There was a brief discussion about the desire to own their
home and all of the challenges they saw ahead of them to
get there. Of course, no action was taken immediately, but
the seed that was planted with the Lewis Family in that
conversation with Darryl on that evening stuck with them
that time. The thoughts about owning a home began to
get stronger and stronger and so many questions came
flooding in as well. Over that game of dominoes, the Lewis
Family shared concerns such as their credit score and how
not being sure if they could save enough money for the
purchase with all the obligations they currently had was an
issue. The Lewis appreciated that Darryl responded and
answered each one of their concerns and inquiries and
was very encouraging that no matter what their current
situation, there was a way to be successful and purchase
their first home.
The main things that stuck with the Lewis’ was that Darryl
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mentioned how much they were currently paying and how
much it would cost to own a nice home wasn’t that much
difference. The fact that the Lewis’ learned that they could
possibly own their own home for a little bit more, equal, or
a little less than their rental payments, was interesting and
exciting at the same time. He helped them to understand
how credit scores, income, location and the different
programs offered by the lender all work together.
The Lewis started looking at how much money they were
spending monthly, and calculating the annual amount
they were paying in rent to someone else. “Our place was
nice, but it wasn’t truly ours, we didn’t own it,” said
Kimberly.
Once we made up our minds that owning our own home
was a top priority, we started to talk and learn what our
next steps were to reach our goal. Both Charles and
Kimberly agreed that they’d be the first to say, it was
definitely a journey, but opening the door to our home
with our keys in hand was a very worthwhile journey to
take.
TWO MADE UP MINDS:
Step 1: to manage their money better, and stop shopping
as often as they did.
Step 2: to start working on their credit. This task would
take discipline and accountability from each other.
Step 3: to retaining the money that was allocated for
savings, this was the most challenging part of the process.
Learning to compensate for building the down payment
funds while paying the monthly bills, expenses and other
unexpected expenses that came up from time to time.
Learning discipline for the bigger goal was tough. Saving
over and above just the down payment was important to
them.
Step 4: to drive around neighborhoods just to start getting
a feel for locations. This was also a way to stay inspired
with a goal to strive for and to stay on track to reach the
goal for the Lewis.
Step 5: to paying the bills on time, keeping balances low
and being as consistent as possible no matter what
popped up financially. This process is where the Lewis
family feels most people probably fail in their pursuit of
homeownership. This was very tough, very hard and