Client Testimony: Curtis and Shayna Steinhauer

My wife and I were born and raised on the Harbor. After earning our bachelor's degrees in 2016, we decided it was time to come home. The only problem was, the housing market and the homebuying process in general seemed to an impenetrable mess.

We weren't sure how much house we could afford, or who to ask. We didn't know whether we should talk to a bank or realtor first. We didn't even know what our credit scores were. As millennial's entering the market for the first time, we felt totally lost.

On top of all this, we carried more student loan debt than we care to admit, and I struggled paying medical bills related to my lifelong battle with auto-immune disease. We had seen friends our age and income level successfully purchase houses in the area, so we knew we could do it. We just didn't know where to start.

NeighborWorks Grays Harbor turned out to be the answer to all our questions, and indeed, our prayers. We signed up for housing counseling, and NeighborWorks housing counselor Julie Galligan did a wonderful job guiding us step by step through the process. She explained to us how to start the homebuying process, and perhaps more importantly, walked us through the process of budgeting and getting our credit in order.

We are only partway through the process, but the dividends are already paying out. We haven't moved to purchase a home yet, but with Julie's counsel we successfully pulled ourselves out of medical debt, we bumped our credit scores into an acceptable range, and we learned priceless information about the process of buying a home.

Whether you have a particular house in mind, want to start looking, or simply want to get your finances in order for when the time comes to buy, NeighborWorks Grays Harbor housing counselor's have the knowledge, network, and experience to help you reach your financial and homeownership goals.

I cannot recommend them enough.