Business systems analyst

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for allowing with this life changing opportunity.  As first time home buyers, I wanted to thank everyone who made this a reality.  We love our home with all our heart.  I can now breathe fresh air, sleep at night and feel safe in my home.  We promised we would take care of our home dearly and we will always cherish it, and love it.  Our home is our castle our everything thanks to you!

Working with SafeGuard Homes was a pleasure.  I am truly grateful for the ease of the process, patience through the lending process, the expedient response to my concerns, and having to work with a true professional team.  Safeguard Homes is not a run of the mill business, they are extremely knowledgeable, caring, and diligently follow-up.  I highly recommend them.

The Summer of year 2020 for most of the world was the hardest and scariest time of their lives.COVID 19 was destroying communities and as a healthcare worker, I endured long days and nights. But that did not stop me from wanting to become a homeowner.At the beginning of the year, I started to do a lot of research on what it would take to own a home. I took advantage of free seminars, online resources, researched different programs for grants and stayed on top of fixing my credit.June 2020, I began to look up homes. I did not know where I wanted to live but I did know my one-bedroom apartment in Bronx, NY was not enough. I knew I wanted my son, eight, to have his own space and the ability to invite friends over for play dates and sleep overs.I started to view homes in Rockland County July 2020. Because it was a “seller’s market,” homes were on the market sometimes for 24hrs! Agents were extremely busy and some with less patience than others. Rockland was nice but the taxes were too high.I went more north. Monroe was next. The homes were spacious and there was lots of land. Most important-- it was quiet. No sirens, trains, or car horns. Once again, the taxes were too high, and I could not afford it. I kept looking. The whole time during my search, I knew Middletown could be a possibility, but I thought it was too far. The entire month of July and most of August I kept telling myself, I am not going to Middletown, although I would look at the houses online and REALLY liked what I saw.One Saturday night, I was up late browsing homes. At this point I decided to just search Middletown because everywhere else I had not found the home for me. Maybe a place I said I wouldn’t go be where I needed to be. I viewed thirteen homes within six weeks. During my late-night search, I came across this beautiful home. I mean it was perfect. It satisfied my must haves list, and it was move-in ready! I sent the home to my realtor along with four other homes the next morning. Since I was traveling over an hour, I wanted to make sure I could see a few homes during my visit to Orange County.My home was the fourth appointment. From the second I stepped in; I fell in love. The details of every room, I could tell was well thought out. There was more than enough space then I imagined. The set up was perfect for my mom since she would be staying with me a lot to help with my son. She would have her own space and full bathroom as well.I decide to put in an offer. And well the market was hot, I had to be aggressive. Not too aggressive because the end goal was to be able to afford the house, not just receive an accepted offer. I felt extremely nervous and intimidated when I saw so many business cards on the counter. I kept thinking, how am I going to get in this home?!  There’s so much competition!! I said a prayer and went for it. My offer was higher than the listing price. I made sure to keep in mind everything I discussed with my lender. I knew how far I could go. I stayed below that amount. I kept saying if this house is for me, it will be mine.I looked around the house one more time before leaving. I took one picture of the bathroom because it was gorgeous. I did not want to take any more pictures because I did not want to become attached. However, I looked at the pictures from the listing over and over again.My realtor put in my offer. The next day my realtor said someone will be reaching out to you because the house is through a program. She did not have much information, but she was giving me a head’s up.That same day I received a call a HUD Certified Housing Counselor, Katie. From that day forward my life changed.Katie explained what SafeGuard was and her role. I was nervous of course. This was my first time purchasing a home and all the research I did; I knew nothing about SafeGuard. Katie was informative and knowledgeable.She requested documents that were necessary to decide if I would qualify for the home. During this time, I had to stay on top of my email and make sure to keep my phone close by. I would like to think I was prepared. Prepared in a sense, that all documents that were needed, I had. My mom always taught me to keep important documents in a safe place and organized.While waiting on a decision, it seemed like forever; it was about three days. After submitting documents and discussing a budget, a decision was finally made.Katie called me to give me the most amazing news.  My offer was accepted!!!! I could not believe it.I did not think I had a chance with the market being hot and all the business cards on the kitchen counter.The news kept getting better and better. As the tears fell down my face, Katie explained that because the home was offered through SafeGuard, my offer price would drop down. The house could only be sold for a certain price. SafeGuard sells homes for a price so people like me can afford them and have a wonderful place to call home. I could not believe it. I cried so hard that day. Poor Katie, I was practically sobbing in her ear. I was so grateful. It was amazing hearing the great news. It still makes me emotional to this day.After the offer was accepted, things started to move quickly. Inspection, appraisal, request of documents and most importantly managing my time. As a full-time healthcare worker in the middle of a pandemic, a mom and taking college courses after ten years, I had a lot on my plate. Patience is all I kept repeating to myself, day in and day out. Because I did a lot of research, I knew what to expect. Some requests I was not aware of. The process was a bit gruesome at times, but the outcome was so rewarding. Bank delays and underwriting request had me emotional. Underwriting was the hardest. I qualified for a grant since I was first time homeowner. There were specific documents and letters that were needed but again I had to manage my time for the process to be complete. I had to stay on top of communicating with the lender and meet deadlines. I also spoke to Katie from SafeGuard during this process, and she was able to help me retrieve documents that were needed for the grant. She also helped me remain calm and was always professional.I received the call from the lender stating I was given the grant. For completing a first-time homebuyer education course SafeGuard also let me know I would be receiving a check for an additional $2,000 at the closing. Another emotional day and another step closer to my home. After sending off a few more documents, I was finally cleared to close.Closing day was amazing. During the entire process, I did not explain to my son what I was preparing to do. I did not want him to ask me every day and if something did not work out, I absolutely did not want him to be disappointed.As I sat at the closing table, I could not believe I was there. I could not believe a house in an area I said I would not move to was about to be mine. Not to mention I fell in love with the neighborhood. I researched and traveled on the weekends to check out the neighborhood. It was the perfect. The hardest part of closing was not being about to meet the amazing people from Safeguard. Covid has stopped a lot of things but I wish that could have been different. And as I understand it is for everyone’s safety, I felt so blessed to be chosen for one of their homes. I wanted the opportunity to thank them face to face. I signed my name countless times. Every page was another step closer.Once I received my keys, I felt so good. The process was long and hard at times but beyond worth it. I finally told my son, and he was speechless. He said, I’m so happy I’m going to cry. Of course, there I was crying and crying. Happy tears. I arrived at my house and still could not believe it was mine.I am still on cloud nine. I have enjoyed and am incredibly grateful for my home. Coming home from working in the city to my house is such an amazing feeling. I am grateful for SafeGuard and so happy that I have received this opportunity. Their team has been amazing and extremely helpful even after I moved in.I hope they continue to put a smile on other faces just like they did mine.Patrice C.  

It has been an absolute pleasure working with SafeGuard Homes.  They have been professional and informational throughout the whole process.  The renovations & craftsmanship of the home was done so beautifully.  I am very excited to call this Safeguard home my own!

Looking at the prospect of buying our first home with potentially uncooperative sellers was intimidating but luckily Safeguard was very easy to work with and not only made the process easy but also pleasant.  Highly recommend working with them! 

You guys are great at helping people in a stressful situation!

You are a very great help and I think I learned a lot.

I could call you anytime and someone was always there to listen. As a member for years I want to thank you, you taught me how to have a budget, and gave me peace of mind.”

Thank you for helping me and my husband pay off our debt, you guys are doing very good, any question I had was always answered and everyone was always very nice. You guys are doing great.

I felt like I was working with someone who cared about me.

The representatives were very helpful from beginning to end. I am 100% satisfied, without your help I would not have paid off my credit cards so soon. I would like to thank SafeGuard for helping me become debt free. You are doing a wonderful job!

Very professional and trustworthy…Thank you!

I was very happy with your service and never thought I would see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You all helped to save my life, I cannot thank you enough. Words cannot express how grateful I am for all you did for me. I was $30,000 in debt and I could not see a way out, I was so stressed out. God blessed me with you…I will remember you and stay in prayer.

I highly recommend this service to anyone, it is very beneficial for anyone in any financial situation.”