HomeChoice™ Participant to Excited Homebuyer, Amanda's Homeownership Story

The journey to homeownership is unique for everyone. For Amanda, it was based around community.

A young Alaskan in the Turnagain neighborhood, Amanda bought her home in April of 2024.

From HomeChoice^TM to Homebuyer

A year before closing, Amanda did not know if homeownership was a next step for her.

“I wasn’t super motivated to buy a home but I have a lot of friends who are interested in doing cooperative agreements and cooperative living… We had been talking about it as a friend group asking, what does it take to buy a house?”

Together with two of her friends, Amanda signed up to take AHFC’s HomeChoice^TM class.

The class made the possibility of homebuying feel more concrete.

“I didn't know anything about the details of buying a home,” she said, “Being able to go step-by-step through the process made it a little bit more real.”

Then, a few months later, her parents called and opened a conversation about homeownership.  “They very generously offered to help me with the down payment for a house,” she said.

Ready to begin the process, Amanda went to meet with a lender for the first time.

“After my first meeting with my lender I went home and looked up a couple things in my HomeChoice™ book.” 

Friendships, Cooperation and Cabbages

After looking at several homes, Amanda closed on her five-bedroom, two-bath home in April 2024.

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve looked around Anchorage. Some of the homes don’t really have that much character and this house really did. I liked the flow. I really liked the original cabinets, this light really stood out,” she said, pointing to a patterned mid-century lighting fixture mounted on the wall.

On her wish list while looking for a home was a separate living space for friends and roommates. The home she purchased provides her with the ability to rent the bottom floor, with its separate bathroom and kitchen, to two friends.

“I really like living with my roommates. We have regular meetings to talk about stuff and work through things together. And we do the garden together–that's really fun.”

In the backyard, Amanda and her roommates share a garden space that they planned out together. This season, the garden includes two raised beds with cabbages and leafy greens, an apple tree, a greenhouse and buckets of potato plants.

Each cabbage in the raised bed is labeled with the name of a friend in their friend group.

“That’s me,” Amanda said, smiling as she pointed to the cabbage named after her.

Self-determination and Autonomy

For Amanda, homeownership has granted her the ability to live with her friends and create a space of her own.

“To me, it [homeownership] really does mean self-determination and autonomy,” she said.

Amanda is in the process of updating her 1960’s home.  Despite the renovations being overwhelming at times, she enjoys the freedom to make the decisions and the feeling of progress.

“I have this tangible feeling of making this thing better over time," she said. "I really appreciate that.”

Only a few years ago, Amanda did not expect to be a homeowner today. She encourages Alaskans who are questioning if homeownership is right for them to seek out more information.

“The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to make a decision. And it can make things less scary too.” 

“Ask around, go to the HomeChoice™ class, and talk to a loan officer to see what your options are. I think I would have done that sooner if I knew that the whole process was really to help you learn more about what you could afford.”

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AHFC offers no-cost homebuyer education classes that can help you navigate the homebuying process, whether you're dreaming of buying your first home or returning to the market. View the class schedule and sign up today!