While renting for seven years, Elinor had set her sights on owning her own home, but she knew that if she did not prepare and educate herself about the process, that her dream would go unfulfilled.

"I had been renting, always with the idea that I would leave where I lived and go to my own house," said Elinor, a computer systems engineer. "Once that idea settled in my head, I began to look for the requirements for first-time buyers and at the same time I began the steps to achieve being a homeowner...For example, I began to organize my credit and savings."

That hard work and preparation paid off when Elinor was among those picked in a lottery to purchase their first homes at a recently completed condominium community in Lowell that was developed through MassHousing's CommonWealth Builder program.

To buy her brand-new home, which she shares with her 12-year-old daughter, Elinor used a MassHousing Mortgage with the Agency's Downpayment Assistance. She additionally received funding for first-time homebuyers through the City of Lowell, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's Lift Up Homeownership, and the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance's STASH program. In combination, Elinor was able to put down 27 percent towards her purchase price and use some of the funds to cover her closing costs and lower her interest rate.  

Sometimes she still cannot believe she is a homeowner.

“It is a feeling that cannot be described in words,” she said. “Even today, I still find myself walking from one place to another and thinking it really is ours!”

Elinor credits her experience with the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership (MVHP) as being a major factor in her being able to buy her home. She took her homebuyer education course through MVHP and Nelly Portuhondo and other staff guided her through the lottery and financing process that ended with keys to her own home. Elinor got her MassHousing Mortgage through Eastern Bank.

"All this was possible thanks to the immense help and support of Nelly Portuhondo, who always guided me, indicating and letting me know about the available aid and the means to manage it," she said. "[MVHP] are a team of professionals who get involved in each case individually and are committed to finding the best solutions and help. They are the best!"

MVHP Executive Director Cathy Mercado said Elinor worked hard to educate herself about the homebuying process and all the resources that were available to her.

"I think about how grateful they were for the opportunity to be able to purchase a home in this market," said Cathy. "She has a daughter and every time she would see the unit or visit us, this young lady's face just lit up. They were so excited to find a place where they could have roots and have the opportunity to purchase their own home."

Elinor noted that completing the homebuyer education course played a major part in her success story.

"It allowed me to delve deeper into the steps and things in the process that I only knew superficially," she said.

Cathy said organizations like Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership are crucial to homebuyer success stories like Elinor's because they not only provide homebuyer education and guidance, but they also know about all the programs and grants available to first-time homebuyers.

Having programs like MassHousing's CommonWealth Builder, which promotes homeownership for first-time buyers and fosters wealth building and generational wealth, helps MVHP with its mission, said Cathy.

When MVHP helps someone achieve their dream of homeownership, it resonates throughout the entire organization.

"I will speak for all of us here that we are mission driven and our clients come before everything else," said Cathy. "It just feels like a sense of gratitude toward the homebuyer. It's less on how we feel. We are excited for them. Once someone closes, we are always here if they need us. If something comes up, they can come back to us. They continue to be part of our family tree of homeowners."

What is Elinor's advice to others who want to buy their first home?

"They should organize themselves financially, focus on their objective until they achieve it, and seek advice from entities and professionals who can guide and help them achieve it," she offered.

The benefits of homeownership are many, she said.

"You can personalize your space without fear that the owner won't like it. It's really feeling like it's yours, that you are the owner," she said. "It is a dream come true."

The happiness and comfort their new home has brought to her daughter is perhaps the biggest positive from Elinor's homebuying journey. "My daughter asked me, 'Mom, what is your favorite number?' and I answered that I had several. She said, 'Do you want to know what mine is?' and she answered with our unit number, 'because that is where I am happy.'"