CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — By the time I turned 30, I wanted to buy a house. But I also know that life has its own way of planning things out – and sometimes dreams take a little longer than we’d like. 

I turned 30 and homeownership didn’t happen. I was a little down about it, but I’ve always been the type of person who knows deep down that things happen when they are supposed to. So I just kept working towards that goal. 

All the while, I kept in touch with Shauna. 

I met Shauna (Graves, of NextHome Allegiance) around 2015 when I moved to Charlotte from Cleveland. My mom is a REALTOR® and she referred me to Shauna to help find a home. However, at that time, I knew renting was a better option. There were some things I wanted to work on first. Throughout the years, I helped Shauna with different community events she held like her NextHome Allegiance Shredding Event, and I donated food items to support Loaves & Fishes.

We kept in touch for six years before I finally bought a home through her. 

In January, it was time. I told myself, “I am buying a home now.” Then I called Shauna and told her I was ready. 

Every weekend, I was driving around and looking at what was available. Then, Shauna let me know about these new townhomes that were just being built. I signed the contract in December 2020 and then watched the whole thing be built – from foundation to finish. I was out there every week during the building process. I took pictures. It was so exciting. 

I closed at the beginning of May 2021, at the age of 32. Not too shabby, all things considered. 

I was so thankful to be working with Shauna. Case in point was closing. We did the final walk through on Thursday, and there were several things that needed to be fixed. The touch up paint was a completely different color and looked awful. The recessed lights weren’t installed correctly. 

Now, without her, I would have just operated on good faith that these things would have been taken care of by the time we closed Monday morning at 9 a.m. Shauna was my voice of reason. On her advice, we came back at 8 a.m. on closing day to make sure that all the repairs had been done. 

Nothing had been touched. 

There were so many emotions. I’m walking through this place that I am finally buying. I am finally going to be a homeowner, and this is my closing day. I’m excited, but upset at the same time. 

With her help, we were able to push the closing back until the afternoon, giving time to get some of the major things fixed first. 

I am so glad I had help navigating all those experiences. 

It was an experience, for sure, but it is so nice to be home now and know that I achieved one of my goals. 

Hopefully this doesn’t sound strange, but it is so cool to be able to press my garage door opener and pull into a garage. Something about that just feels amazing. When I bring my groceries in, I know this is my home. It’s just that feeling of being home, for me that is such a big deal. 

One day, I hope to pass that feeling on to someone else. I know that this isn’t my forever home, but when it is time for me to move on to bigger and better things, I will be leaving a little book filled with all the pictures I took throughout the construction process. So if you are buying this house, you can see all the things that have gone into it.