Ohio Family Seeing Stars in New Home
The biggest concern for the couple and their 7-year-old daughter was coming up with enough of a down payment. They had saved some money mover the years, but they did not have enough for the 20 percent down payment typically required for home mortgage loans. Meanwhile, housing prices were going up and competition was stiff for homes in the popular suburban neighborhood.
However, when they found the house they wanted, the Cloutiers were able to get the home with a low down payment because of private mortgage insurance (PrivateMI) from GE Mortgage Insurance. “It was nice that we didn’t need to put down 20 percent because we never would have been able to save that much,” said Susan Cloutier. “We put down about 6 percent and financed the rest, thanks to PrivateMI.
“We were happy to get a house that was a little more expensive that had everything we wanted,” she added. “Now we won’t need to move again to a bigger – and more expensive – house in a few years.”
The family first moved to the Columbus area five years ago from Washington, DC, when Susan accepted a job with the state of Ohio. Because they did not know the area very well – and because they still owned a condo in the Washington suburbs – the family decided to rent a home.
They liked the community, with the library, city pool and elementary school for their daughter Jessica nearby, and it did not take long to drive to downtown Columbus. However, the small house had only two upstairs bedrooms and just a single bathroom. Then there were delays in getting repairs for leaks and sewage backups in the older house.
Earlier this year, after they sold their condo back in the Washington suburbs and watched interest rates continue to fall, the family decided it was time to purchase their own house.
“We had several reasons for wanting to buy a house,” Susan Cloutier said. “We knew there were tax benefits, and The Cloutiers enjoy their new home, thanks to PrivateMI. we wanted a house that was a better fit for our family – better layout, better use of space, well cared for, and two bathrooms. We also wanted something we could call our own.”
After looking at homes for several months, the Cloutiers happened to drive by a house that was for sale on a nearby street this past spring.
“We all fell in love with it as soon as we walked through it. It was well maintained by a retired couple. In fact, they had advertised the house as being owned by Mr. and Mrs. Clean!” Susan recalled. “The care that the owners had given to this house and their attention to little details showed throughout the house. The house was nicely decorated, had plenty of closets and a great deal of storage space.”
They were also drawn to the beautifully landscaped yard with more than 15 birdhouses and a patio. An added benefit is that Jessica continues to go to the same school, the same pool, and the same local library.
“This house had something for everyone and it fit all our ideas of what we were looking for,” said Bill Cloutier, who works as a manager for a retail company. “It has a landscaped yard and a garage for me, a spacious kitchen and lots of closets for Susan, a playroom for Jessica and two bathrooms for all of us.”
And the family is already planning to make some changes they would never have been able to do to a rental home.
“Since it is our house, we don’t need to worry about whether our rent will be raised or that if we make changes, then we won’t get our security deposit back,” Susan said. “Jessica wants the theme of her room to be stars, and Bill is planning to paint the ceiling of the window dormer dark blue and put in glow-in-the-dark stars and planets. She is using that area as a snuggly reading area with her bookcase and her planetand- stars rug and pillows.”
“As you can tell,” Bill said, “we love owning this house.”