September 15, 2017
To Whom It May Concern,
My family and I had been looking to buy a home since November 2016. We were on our 3rd realtor, all of whom came highly recommended. Some had experience in appraisals, some had general contracting licenses, some had tenacity, but none of them had what it took to place our family in a home.
After being out bid on over 10 homes in a seller's market, we had nearly given up. Our boys refused to even look at houses anymore due to the disappointment. We had only begun to save a few months before so we could only qualify for FHA loans which weren't even being considered when a Conventional offer was presented. We were forced to step out in faith as our family was about to become 5 instead of 4. Staying with family was the humble route we had to choose. With a new addition on the way, our situation became desperate. We continued to look, see, bid, and be outbid. Our son was born and we still were staying in one room.
My husband came home one day with a card from a realtor Margie Miller of Miller Associates. "Oh great," I thought, "now we have to start all over explaining our finances, our hopes, and our situation." I thought what the heck, let's give her a try. I reluctantly called the number on the card and she answered. We set up an appointment for a couple days later.
As the evening approached, we headed grudgingly toward her office. Honestly, with doubts our situation was going to change...another realtor promising to be our last and get us into a home. We were greeted by a well-dressed woman with kind eyes and a warm smile. She welcomed us into her office and seated us in a tidy conference room. The feeling there was very comforting and warm. As she began to give us some background on herself and her experience, I began to feel at ease. I knew this woman was a Godsend in our lives.
We proceeded to tell her about a house we had been looking at but was only accepting conventional offers. She replied "Have you seen it? Well, let's go!" This to me was huge. I'm not sure if she even knows this to this day but that one gesture was what sold me on her. She was able to discern how discouraged we were and willing to do anything she could to help the situation at that very moment. That is Margie Miller in a nut shell. A caring, wise person who is willing to invest her time and efforts just to see others benefit and prosper.
We ended up loving the house, we came back and sat down with her to write up an offer...she asked a simple question. "Why don't you switch to Conventional?" It seems that in our time of waiting and being out bid on other offers, we had saved up enough money to convert to a conventional loan. We never would've realized that had it not been for her experience, out-of-the-box thinking, and spirit of determination to see this to a positive end. We ended up switching and submitting an offer on that home. However, we were again outbid by a cash buyer. Nevertheless, we had a renewed hope. God had sent someone with wisdom and determination to help us. We continued in our search and each time we found a house we wanted to see Margie made it happen. If not that same day then it was for sure the very next. Eventually we found our home.
Margie didn't stop there. In her effort to look out for our best interests, she asked if we wouldn't mind getting cross qualified with her lender Jon Skampton of North American Financial. The thought of providing the mountain of documentation all over again was a task we weren't looking forward to. Again reluctantly we were obedient and made the call to Jon. After a pleasant phone interview with him, we received an easy to read email requesting the documentation. Jon told us about a brand-new grant program we could possibly qualify for so we submitted the documentation. I must admit, the grant program he described seemed too good to be true. It wasn't. It was real. We met the simple qualifications and were given 5% of the total cost of our home. The day we signed the closing documentation, the grant was forgiven. No balloon payment, no variable interest rate, nothing!
This grant allowed my family and I to furnish our new home, just the way we wanted. We have been in our home for about 2 weeks now and reality still hasn't hit completely yet. Through this long humbling journey, we watched God move on our behalf. We are grateful and thankful for those he placed in our path to come along side us and educate and encourage us to keep pushing until the end. It turns out it's just the beginning of the next leg of our journey.
A great big thank you to Margie Miller for her tenacity and caring spirit to help us realize one of our dreams!
Thank you
M&C Silva and boys read more