From Dream to Reality: Owning a Home in NOLA

Yvette Burke Ezebuiro refers to HOPE mortgage originator Abby Virgil, who shepherded her through the process of becoming a first-time homeowner, as “my angel.”

After 14 years of renting a house in New Orleans, Ezebuiro decided it was time to fulfill her dream of buying a home. As a disabled person who works part-time as a cashier at the Superdome, she had been receiving rental assistance from the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ezebuiro applied to HANO’s homeownership program, intent on using the subsidy to buy a house rather than continuing to rent. She enrolled in two HANO classes for would-be buyers, Financial Fitness and Homebuyer’s Education.
Ezebuiro’s friend referred her to HOPE, where she initially learned that she needed to eliminate much of her debt to qualify for a mortgage. So Ezebuiro buckled down, determined to attain her dream.

“Every time I got paid, I paid the credit cards. I don’t know how I made it. God helped me because nothing ever got cut off. I pinched here, pinched there, and I made sure everything got paid,” Ezebuiro said, adding that HOPE told her in detail what she needed to do, whereas another bank might have dismissed her outright as unable to meet the credit requirements.

When her debt was paid off, Ezebuiro returned to HOPE and began working with Virgil to apply for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. In addition to the federal assistance for her monthly mortgage payments, Ezebuiro received a forgivable loan from the city of New Orleans and a $15,000 Hope Enterprise Corporation grant to help with the down payment. As HOPE does with many first-time home buyers, Virgil spoke to Ezebuiro about the importance of budgeting and managing her credit.

Meanwhile, Ezebuiro looked at homes with a realtor. Unable to afford large-scale repairs, she needed a house that was ready for her to move in with her daughter, Missy, and their dog. She was outbid on her ideal house, but then it came back on the market, albeit for a higher price than she had anticipated.

“And I said, ‘Lord, where am I going to get that money from?’ I didn’t know where I’d get it from, but I told my realtor, ‘Put that house in because I’m going to get this house.’ I’m in the house I wanted,” she said. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home with a yard where Ezebuiro is excited to host her son and two grandchildren for barbecues.

When Ezebuiro closed on the house in November 2022, she called Virgil excitedly and sent pictures holding keys to her new home. Virgil said she got goosebumps. “It’s so exciting. Because there are some people out there who don’t even believe that they can own a home,” Virgil said. “It does take some legwork, but it’s there. It is available. It can happen.