I’m excited to provide a testimonial regarding my experiences with ESOP, Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People and the Home Buyer Education classes and the journey my wife and I had in purchasing our beautiful home.

We started our home buying process the wrong way. We had $30,000 to put down, a 700-credit score, and a good long-term job, so being a prior homeowner many years ago, I thought it should be easy to get approved for a decent home. After working with two loan officers who took little time with me, the best offer I had was a loan for $72,500 if I put $30,000 down.

A friend of mine suggested that go to a home buyer program to see if I would have better luck. I found ESOP online, and the 4-day online training fit my schedule. The course was so informative, I began to see the mistakes I was making after the first class. The facilitator was very knowledgeable and, most importantly, patient with everyone and answered all the questions. Each day I learned more and more and soon felt much more prepared to not only purchase a home but better able to manage my finances to be prepared.

One of the best assets for me was working with Ana Gonzalez. After reviewing my information Ana was able to tell me why I wasn’t approved for much and made wonderful suggestions that helped me clear a lot of debt out of my budget. Her suggestions truly made it feasible for me to eventually get approved for a loan for more than $200,000.

I had such great service with ESOP that I decided to work with the recommended Real Estate Agent Sonya Edwards. Sonya was wonderful and went above and beyond throughout our time with her. She took time to understand our home interest, our personal story, and was a calming influence as we search for a home during a volatile time with houses being sold sight unseen. During the search process, our bid was not accepted three times, and Sonya continued to encourage us and that a better house was out there for us. She was absolutely right!!

The perfect house came available on a Saturday afternoon, and Sonya got us in to see it on Sunday afternoon. We put a bid on it immediately and all three of us were excited about the home. It was as if Sonya was part of our family now and shared in our love for the home and excitement for how lovely the house was. We had such practice with the paperwork by this point in the process it was easy to get the information to the other realtor.

Sonya was truly amazing in helping us get the house. It appeared that the seller had reservations to sell to an FHA loan applicant and requested much more information than usual about our finances. Sonya also wrote a wonderful letter to the seller sharing our story and need for purchasing their home. She truly was a personal advocate for us in purchase the home.

We are so happy and feel so blessed to have the home we have and to have had Sonya as our agent to usher us through the process of buying a home.

I highly recommend ESOP’s Home Buyer Education classes and continuing that relationship to Branches Real Estate throughout the buying process because they will have your back. The classes will get you prepared to purchase – the real estate services help you put the education into action – together they help you learn about what is best for you as a future homeowner.