Homeowner Stories

Meet some of our homeowners as they tell their stories below...

Erica & Keith

It was my landlord who suggested I call the State College Community Land Trust when she heard I was looking to buy a house. I had looked at houses in Hublersburg and Unionville, and the SCCLT afforded me the opportunity to have a home right where I lived, where I worked, played, shopped, and participated in community, such as volunteering for Acoustic Brew and attending church.

It took a while to get settled into my new home, even though I had help moving and getting organized. A friend let me borrow a truck. I got a great living room chair from my sister, a coffee table from a church friend, and a set of pots from my mom. Items were placed, moved, and moved again. Over time, I felt more settled, though after four years in my house, I only had a few pictures hung on the walls.

During the time that I spent in my house, my life shifted and moved, too. I became more involved in the SCCLT, I started a graduate program at Penn State while maintaining a full-time job. Eventually, I met Keith, a friend-of-a-friend who lived around the corner from me. I would see him when I walked my dog past his house and he was outside with his dog. Fast forward to Keith and I getting engaged, and then deciding to start our life together here in "my" little house.

The movement and changes continue. It has been challenging to combine our two separate and distinct (and very full) households. There were an infinite number of small decisions to be made (which of the two cheese graters to keep and where) and often more difficult ones. We are learning to go about our lives in a shared space. We each have a dog, (one is thirteen and medium-sized and the other is two and a half and large), that is also navigating new pack order and routines. We keep trying to simplify, only to have the realization that we each have attachments to certain things, and they don't always make sense. Some examples: a quilt that hasn't seen a bed in years; a pile of old fabric and clothes that have been set aside for projects; a desk that was expensive but we now have no use for.

We've been compromising easily in some cases, and not so easily in others. I try to remind myself that it's a process, and that we're in this together. The house is growing with us; Keith finished a room in the basement that we are using a den. Last summer, the front porch got a new look. We definitely accomplish more together than each on our own. And this home reflects both of us now.

Josh & Sarah

We first began thinking of buying a home almost immediately after we were married. With one year of graduate school completed, we felt as though we were in a great place to become homeowners. How naíve we were!

We began the process assuming we could easily find a nice, though small, starter home in State College within our graduate student budget. We would drive through neighborhoods and excitedly write down contact phone numbers of any ranch-style or single-family home for sale. When we would check the listing price of the house, though, we were astonished by how much we had underestimated the value of housing in the State College Borough. It was not going to be easy! After 6 months of hapless and hopeless searching, we had resigned ourselves to the idea that we would remain renters until at least the end of graduate school, if not longer. Lucky for us, that is when fate (i.e., the SCCLT) stepped in.

Josh was away for a conference during Spring Break in March 2005 while I stayed in town to finish some coursework. One day, I returned home to our apartment and a blinking answering machine. On it was a brief message from someone at the State College Community Land Trust saying they had a house we might like to view. I had no idea who the SCCLT was. We had applied for some of the first time homebuyer programs in the borough, but none of these programs fit our financial or residential needs. Was this new program even legit?

I almost erased the answering machine message, assuming that this SCCLT was just another dead end on our quest for a house. On a gut instinct, though, I decided to keep the message and have Josh listen to it when he returned from his conference...just in case. Thank goodness for that! Upon hearing the message, Josh contacted the SCCLT and a few days later we drove by the candidate house. To our amazement, it was perfect! Not just the sort of "oh, we can make this work" perfect. No. Absolutely perfect! Everything we had ever wanted in our first home was there, and all within a price we could afford. Plus, we also discovered the SCCLT was a wonderful program offering guidance and support during our transition into home ownership. We were beyond ecstatic.

Now, three years later, we feel so blessed to be in this home and to be a part of the SCCLT. Every year we.ve taken on a project for our house, slowly adding our own personal touches to it. Year 1: A brick walkway in the back. Year 2: A remodeled bathroom. Year 3: A new kitchen floor. Year 4: Who knows? There is always another project around the corner.

Bryon

If someone told me three years ago that I would have my own house and my own yard in the borough of State College, well let's just say I never thought it was possible.

Then, my friend Brent told me about the Borough's First-time Homeowner's Program and how it might be good for me to have a place of my own, something I've always dreamed of. Going through that process was both educational and inspirational. My dream might actually be coming true.

Once I was through all aspects of the program, I was at the point where I could start looking for a home. The condos and the townhouses that I qualified for were nice, but unfortunately not for me. The idea of not being able to be outside in a yard was not appealing to me. Then one day in the spring of 2006 I received a call from a group called the State College Community Land Trust. They received my name from the Borough and that I was at the proper place in the process to look at a house they were selling on Westerly Parkway.

Cathy, the SCCLT Director at the time explained that others who looked at the house decided it was too close to a busy road, not large enough for a family, or didn't like the idea of living in a duplex. I however, saw a dream come true. I saw a yard with tons of landscape potential. I saw a backyard that I could fence in for a four-legged addition. I saw three bedrooms, one that would make a great home office. I saw a full attic for storage. I saw a basement that would make a great entertainment room. I saw endless design and color opportunities in each room. I saw a place to build memories, host dinner parties, and celebrate with loved ones. But most of all, I saw an opportunity to be a part of something meaningful in my community.

As a State College Community Land Trust Homeowner, I have been given the opportunity to become an active member of my community by serving on the Board of Directors. I have made wonderful new friends. I have been given an opportunity to build equity for my future.

Almost three years later, I could not be happier in my home.