Written by: Lisa Karel
How do you purchase a home in one of the country’s most expensive real estate markets?
That was the conundrum for Juliette, who moved to San Diego, California, from Tallahassee, Florida, in 2022. Amazingly, Juliette was able to purchase her condo only two and a half months after arriving on San Diego soil. How did she do it? Juliette’s journey began 25 years ago, when she first encountered our CEO and founder, John Hope Bryant. At an alumni event for the Center for Religion and Civic Culture University of Southern California, she heard Mr. Bryant advocate for financial literacy education and the power of goal-setting. As she prepared to make a cross-country move in the next two to three years, his words came rushing back. She set an ambitious financial goal—save $20,000 for a down payment so she could purchase a home.
As a part-time real estate broker, Juliette understood that coming up with a down payment was only one aspect of a larger process to owning a home. She knew that a borrower’s credit score has a significant impact on the type of mortgage they can qualify for, so she sought help from Operation HOPE financial coach Melissa Carron to help her navigate the homeownership process before making the move to San Diego. First, they went through Juliette’s credit report line-by-line and agreed that paying off credit cards and other debts would accelerate her credit score. Next, they analyzed Juliette’s spending habits, created a budget to reduce expenses, and started allocating more of Juliette’s income to savings. Juliette was amazed to learn how much she could save by giving up her Starbucks run and regular mani-pedis—to the tune of $10,800 over two years.
When she had extracted all the savings she could from her expenses, she turned to the other side of the ledger—her income. Juliette worked four part-time jobs to supplement her teaching salary, including at Walmart, where she worked hard to achieve three promotions and a bonus during her two-and-a-half-year tenure there. She made sacrifices, including working 12–16-hour days, because she had a singular goal—to purchase a home. “Mr. Bryant’s perspective on goal setting had a major impact on my life,” said Juliette. “I firmly
believe that if you follow his recipe for success and are prepared to work, you can be self-made.”
In addition to participating in Operation HOPE’s Credit & Money Management program, Juliette learned she was eligible for help with her down payment as a first-time home buyer and educator by taking our Homeownership program. “Melissa kept me accountable to my goal. With her gentle and kind personality, she laid out very clearly what I needed to save to purchase a home and then checked in with me regularly to make sure that I was on track,” said Juliette. “Even when she was preparing to go on vacation, I got a call from her asking if I needed anything before I closed on my home.”
After a lot of hard work on both sides of the ledger, Juliette paid the down payment, paid off her credit cards and car payment in full, and achieved an outstanding 800 FICO credit score. This financial discipline enabled her to obtain favorable mortgage terms on a new home in San Diego! She continues to set new financial goals and is chipping away at them based on the principles she learned from Mr. Bryant and Melissa. Juliette encourages others to set ambitious goals, be prepared to make sacrifices to meet them, and enlist the help of experts like Operation HOPE for guidance on how to get there.