Janese became a homeowner in 2020. But the path to get there wasn’t so smooth. She’d experienced housing insecurity, and after her divorce Janese found herself with less than perfect credit. “Prior to getting this house, it was challenging,” she says. “I had a lot of failures, although I kept trying.”
She started with traditional lenders, but her low credit score held her back. “No bank would give me a loan. I had down payment money that I could use,” but it was less than what she owed in collections, Janese says. Then Janese heard about Divvy, and her realtor helped her apply. That first application didn’t get approved, but that didn’t stop Janese. (It turns out nothing stops Janese.) Knowing the minimum credit score she’d need (generally speaking, Divvy requires a minimum credit score of 550), she paid off an account in collections, reapplied, and got her approved home-shopping budget. “I cried. I cried because I knew that was one step closer to homeownership.”
Janese and her agent stayed in close contact with Divvy while she looked for her dream home, checking in to find out exactly what each home’s monthly payment would be. “The customer service was really good,” she says. “They were very quick, [and] when I saw this house within my budget, it just looked beautiful. I was so excited that I could afford [the monthly payments] and that it would actually be mine.” Janese and her daughter moved out of their two-bedroom apartment and into the home they love—from the bathtub that first caught Janese’s eye to the peace of mind she calls “one of the most valuable things you can ever feel.”
In fact, that feeling of security and comfort meant so much to Janese that she launched a second career as a mortgage originator. In addition to her day job as a sales professional, she’s now helping other families find their own paths to homeownership. “I want to help people that were in that same exact position that I was in. Just thinking back on the process and what I had to do to get where I’m at today…I’m sure I could have made it much quicker with a little bit of assistance. My life is very hectic between my full-time job, being a mortgage originator, and then building up my commercial broker business. It’s been crazy but super fulfilling.”
So what does Janese love most about being a homeowner? All the doors that equity has opened to her and her daughter. “You can fund a business through home equity. You can upgrade your home through home equity. You can do a lot through home equity, and Divvy made that possible.”
Hear it straight from Janese in her Ready. Set. Own. commercial: