Testimonial

Bringing Families Home

Meet the Kim’s recent immigrants from the Korea, who only dreamed of owning a home in the United States, found their prayers answered working with SALOM CENTER.
The Mr. Kim, a family of four, was renting a one-bedroom apartment because of the high rental costs in Los Angeles.  They used their small Living room as a second bedroom for their four teenage children.  But their situation became even more difficult when their landlord sold the building they were living in, forcing them to find a new place.  “No one wanted to rent a family of six a one bedroom apartment, but we couldn’t afford anything else” Mr. Kim said. After weeks of searching, they finally moved into a two-bedroom apartment with substantially higher monthly rent.  Their new living situation forced Mr. Kim to take on a second job just to make ends meet.

Encouraged by their pastor, Mrs. Kim contacted SALOM CENTER in January of 2006.  Even though she felt her family was years away from owning a home in Los Angeles, she wanted to learn about the process of becoming a homeowner.  They attended our Homeownership Fair and heard about the programs. Excited and motivated, the Mr. Kim enrolled in the homebuyer Education classes, completing the courses, which qualified them for subsidy programs.  Working with our homebuyer educators, they prepared themselves for the next step: the lending process.

Because the Mr. Kim had emigrated from the Korea only three years ago, they had to establish a credit history.  Working with our Housing Counselor, they began establishing credit, preparing their finances and paperwork, and saving money.  With their Mr. Kim incomes, they were able to qualify for a home loan up to $380,000.
The next stage for the Mr. Kim was working with Realtor, helping them look for a home.  Realtor cautioned them in their search, because of the record-setting Los Angeles housing market, finding a home they could afford would be just as tough as their previous housing search.  The Mr. Kim began praying for a miracle, to find a home within their means that would also meet their needs.

They needed a home they could move right into, with at least three bedrooms, since they had one girl and three teenage boys.  They knew it was not going to be easy, but their hope and determination enabled them to keep going.  One day Grace ran across a home slightly out of their price range, but they went to see it and fell in love with it.  This three bedroom, two bath home was just what they were looking for! Though it was slightly out of reach, the Mr. Kim took a chance and placed an offer.

Their faith and patience paid off, as their offer was accepted.  But now they needed to bridge the gap between their lending qualification and the purchase price.  Working with SALOM CENTER and our lending partners, once again their prayers were answered.  SALOM CENTER was able to secure multi-layer financing for them.  Using their tax return as heir down payment, the Mr. Kim closed escrow at the end of February and moved into their new home!
Mrs. Kim had some advice for other first time homebuyers, “Don’t try to buy your dream home your first time out, buy smaller and let your investment grow. SALOM CENETER was an answer to our prayers and we will forever be grateful.  Everyone was so terrific and professional; we have told everyone that they too can make their dream of homeownership a reality, if they just believe.”