Jason & Gabbi DeWitt

Cedar Falls, IA

Down Payment: $850

Equity Earned: $46,000

“We were skeptical at first,” says Jason. “Our sales consultant had built a Homestead home, so he was very knowledgeable about the process and the materials.  That helped build trust in him.  We went through his home and could see the materials that Homestead uses.”  Gabbi adds, “It was nice to have someone locally we could work with.  He sat down with us, helped us decide what was within our budget, what kind of payment we could afford, and he didn’t pressure us to spend more than that.”

“The biggest initial fear was the cost.  We’re not handy with woodworking or construction, so we didn’t know if we could do this.  We subcontracted most of the work and saved a lot of money by getting multiple bids,” says Jason. 

Gabbi says, “We never thought we could build a new home because we don’t make tons of money.  We were absolutely tickled to find out we could! Our initial investment was $850 and we had $46,000 in equity when we moved into our new home.  We were stunned that we got that much equity simply by doing things that anyone could do, like painting and staining.  It was amazing that we could go in and borrow against the equity in our new home right away.  It took five years before we could do that with the older home we used to live in.”

 “I was impressed with the quality of the cabinets.  I kind of held my breath because I wasn’t sure if they would look the way I wanted.  They look fabulous!” says Gabbi. Jason adds, “Some people have this preconceived notion that Homestead homes are prefab and that Homestead must cut corners somewhere.  They’re all very impressed when they walk through our home.”

“Our new home is the perfect size for us and our children.  We made some modifications - like increasing the square footage, taking out a wall, and adding 9-foot ceilings - to make it just what we wanted.  We are very happy with our home!  One of the things I appreciated most was working with the loan officer at Homestead.  After shopping around, we got our permanent financing through Homestead,” says Gabbi.