Meet Amdane: A Gen-Z Homeowner’s PCLT Story

Read Amdane’s homeownership story in his own words.

“My name is Amdane, and I am a 26 year old homeowner. I’m originally from west Africa, Togo. A father of two and I currently reside in Charlottesville. I’ve lived in Charlottesville a majority of my life and so growing up here has giving me a very unique lens to approach life with. Although my parents are homeowners now, observing how they approached their difficulties as immigrants and parents in the past has given me a lot of valuable information about what system we’re living in compared to West Africa. Especially when it comes to language, I think it has been fascinating to see how learning English for my parents, although opened doors, it still kept them separated from understanding much deeper cultural contexts. 

I discovered Piedmont Housing Alliance early on in my home search journey. A close friend, Richard Feero, passed on information about potential homes for sale that were currently under renovation by a private owner. Richard and I stayed in touch, communicating changes. A few months later it was shared that Piedmont Housing purchased the homes and were in search of potential buyers who not only fit their income criteria, but they also needed to be in the position to become a first-time homebuyer. I reached out and joined one of their info sessions where they shared their story along with their mission and opportunities that were available. I was quickly drawn to the land trust and what they represented. My intention after that was to simply follow the next steps that they very clearly laid out. “

Takeaways:

“One of the biggest takeaways throughout this process as a whole is how much time it takes, not necessarily in terms of consumption, rather the timeline itself can feel intimidating. In most cases there’s a lot of personal preparation work for someone in my position to be ready to find themselves in those larger conversations about closing. It takes time to bring up your credit score or to create healthy spending habits. The second biggest takeaway was post purchase, and for a couple of months there was this intense level of imposter syndrome looming. A lot of information I’ve read about home owning and the housing market is that it will be this great ordeal for this generation and possibly the ones to follow. Finding myself with something I can claim as my own felt unreal. Felt like I was going against the norm in a sense.”

Advice for Future Homeowners

“The advice I have for anyone looking to take a similar path is first and foremost, trust the process. I speak for myself here – and I also feel as though many within the generation I’m in can at times feel the pressure of patience and in processes like these, it’s tenfold. This is not a negative feeling, it’s just a very important step. I constantly felt like I was not doing enough, when really all the effort I put in before unfolded into the house I’m able to call a home now. It’s really hard to stay focused for a year or two to reach a goal that may be even later on, but it’s like working out. The effort now isn’t a solution, it’s a step. I fell off many times due to impatience, fear, and even feeling unworthy to be in this position, but the amazing efforts of those at Piedmont Housing Alliance eally helped me get through. They even sat me down to share some of my concerns.

Home ownership is not impossible, its just really confusing when you don’t know the language. I just want to add that I am always a resource for anyone looking for support.”