The Urban League of Palm Beach County once again was able to make the American dream come true for one of our clients – a woman with three children who was homeless before reaching out to us through our First Time Homebuyer program. 

Florence Garcia is a Hispanic single mother with three daughters ages 11, 8 and 2. 

She came to the Urban League of Palm Beach County for our homebuyers’ workshop education in 2020 to get help obtaining her first home. 

At the time, Florence was paying a monthly rent of $1,136, with the nonprofit Adopt-A-Family assisting her with paying half of that rent. 

A counselor did a full assessment of her financial situation and deemed her mortgage ready. 

She worked with Community Land Trust (CLT) to get pre-approved with FINEMARK National Bank and Trust for a loan at 97% Client Loan to Value (CLTV) in the amount of $153,589.  

The house she wanted to buy was $158,340 with closing costs of an additional $10,052. 

Florence received down payment assistance of $10,000 from Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, and, with out of pocket funds and credit from the owner’s title insurance, she was approved for a mortgage of $153,589.

Her monthly mortgage payment of $1,081 covered the loan repayment of principal, interest, real estate taxes, and homeowner’s insurance.  

In the end, she saved about $54 monthly by going from a renter to a homeowner.  

Florence told our staff she was grateful for the work the Urban League of Palm Beach County did in helping her buy her first home which seemed unimaginable when she was homeless just a few years earlier. 

Learn more about the Urban Leauge of Palm Beach County’s Comprehensive Housing Services here.