INSIDE AbodeAllAbodeUAbodeLifeMarket Update

Host Dave Jones sits down with his friend Jeremy "Dash" Dashiell: Tacoma community counselor, founder of the Protected Energy clothing brand, and, as of this summer, a homeowner through Habitat for Humanity.

With rates where they are and prices up for years, a lot of people in Pierce County are getting priced out of owning a home. Dash heard "no" too. The first time he tried the Habitat program, his credit and income verification weren't where they needed to be. So he spent the next three to four years building his credit until he knew the answer would be yes.

Then the real work started. Dash walks through the whole process: orientation and the homebuyer course, the paperwork that decides whether you fit the income range, why he kept his car loan open but paid down his credit cards, proving the income from his clothing business, and a board review that stalled over the holidays. He was accepted in late January. He put in 100 hours of sweat equity, half on the construction site and the rest in the Habitat store, and was shown a house the day after orientation without knowing it was his.

Then the closing date slid. Down payment assistance through the City of Lakewood took months. April 13 came and went with his lease running out and his kids already told they were moving. A July date fell through too. When the funding finally hit, everything moved at once (he was sending documents from his backpack on a walk at Wapato), and he got his keys on July 27.

This isn't a story about it being easy. It took almost a year in the program and years of prep before that, and as Dave says, everyone's timeline is different. But it shows it can be done, and Dash's advice for anyone who thinks owning isn't for them is worth hearing: think future, not right now.

For renters, first-time buyers, anyone curious about Habitat for Humanity, and the people who work in housing in Pierce County every day.

MEET THE GUEST

Jeremy "Dash" Dashiell, founder of Protected Energy
📸 Instagram → @protectedenergy20
👤 Facebook → Jeremy Dashiell

🏠 Learn about Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity → https://www.habitat.org/us-wa/tacoma/tacomapierce-county-hfh

#InsideAbode #HabitatForHumanity #FirstTimeHomeBuyer #DownPaymentAssistance #SweatEquity #PierceCounty #Tacoma #Lakewood #WindermereAbode #RealEstatePodcast #PNW

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