Memorial Day weekend marked a major transition for Margaret Giles, who became a homeowner for the first time.
“I was intimidated a little, being 50 years old, but I had to step out there,” she said.
With the help of the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program, federally funded and administered by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, Giles purchased a home in the Broening Manor neighborhood, a stone’s throw from the new Amazon fulfillment center at Broening Highway and Holabird Ave.
“I feel like I found a diamond in the rough,” she said of the two-story home with a backyard in a quiet neighborhood. “I wanted to find something a little tucked away, so to speak.”
The Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program is open to those who hold Housing Choice Vouchers – sometimes called Section 8 vouchers – and meet certain criteria.
Participants must have over one year of continuous employment of no less than 30 hours per week, no debts owed to Baltimore Housing, no housing quality standard violations, and no lease violations within the last three years.
Giles works for the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions as a health information specialist. Prior to moving to her new home May 27, she had lived in Highlandtown for nine years.
She said it was her landlord who told her about the program, and encouraged her to participate. Then he put the house she was living in up for sale, and she knew she had to act quickly.
“I kept praying and hoping I would be worthy enough to find a home that I could say was mine,” she said.
Once qualified for the program, candidates must attend homeownership counseling and obtain a certificate from a HUD-approved agency.
Giles completed these steps with the Southeast Community Development Corporation, attending a group home buyer education workshop and, later, one-on-one counseling.
“If you didn’t understand something, they were so pleasant,” she said. “If you had your hand up, they would skip and jump toward you.”
The workshop covered home buying, lending and incentive programs, and included real estate agents and lenders.
In her one-on-one sessions with Ismael Quezada, a housing counselor with the Southeast CDC, Giles brushed up on budgeting, insurance and maintenance scheduling.
She also learned, among other things, to inspect foundations for termites and water damage, to periodically change filters for HVAC systems, and to keep her outside faucets shut off from inside the house.
“It was all extremely helpful,” Giles said.
Armed with knowledge, she began her search for a home.
“I was trying to stay in the Southeast area,” she said. “My mother is in a nearby nursing home, and I didn’t want to deal with inner city stuff.”
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home she finally settled on had been in the same family since 1958.
She has a special affinity for the backyard.
“When I get home from work, I feel safe and secure,” she said. “I can just go out and sit in my backyard.”
Her external situation is not the sole source of her satisfaction.
“(The experience) made me say to myself, ‘Margaret, I’m proud of you,’” she said. “I’m not looking for validation from anybody else.”
The program is open to first-time home buyers who will purchase the property as a primary residence. For more information on the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program click here.