Hitting Pause in the Kitchen & Starting Our Own Homeownership Journey

This week, I don’t have a new JoMaine’s Kitchen video for you. Life has been moving fast. Between work, settling into a new place, hosting guests, and getting adjusted, there just hasn’t been time to film and edit. But instead of leaving the blog empty, I wanted to take a moment to share something a little more personal.

As many of you know, Joseph (my partner) and I recently moved in with family. Part of the reason was to help us prepare for the next big step: buying our own home. We’ll be staying with family until we figure out where exactly we want to be, which city, which neighborhood, and what kind of home feels right for us.

And yes, even realtors don’t just wake up one day and decide to buy a house. Some might, sure. But for most of us, it’s a process. Every journey to homeownership looks a little different.

For us, it all started kind of by accident. We had talked about buying a home and dreamed about things like:

• Where would we want to live?

• How many bedrooms & bathrooms do we need?

• What neighborhood feels right?

  
  

Like many people, we’d scroll online listings and get our hopes up, only to stop and realize… what can we realistically afford?

Around that time, we started attending Homeownership Workshops put on by Lift to Rise, a nonprofit here in the desert dedicated to making housing more affordable in the Coachella Valley. Their mission is something I truly believe in, both personally and as a realtor. We initially went to support our good friend Veronica Lopez with Secure Choice Lending, who was hosting the workshops. Veronica is an incredible mortgage loan officer and funny enough, Joseph actually worked with her in the mortgage world and was even her assistant for a time. When she told us about the workshops, we promised we’d show up, and we did. Out of all the sessions across Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella, we only missed one.

Each workshop was packed with people just like us, wanting to learn. Veronica broke down the home buying process from a loan officer’s perspective and shared the big “don’ts” of escrow, the things buyers should absolutely avoid once they’re in contract. She also explained down payment assistance programs available through Riverside County.

After the last workshop in Coachella, Joseph and I stopped at a restaurant he had been patiently waiting to try. (He grew up in Indio, so being in the area made it the perfect excuse.) While we were waiting for our food, Joseph looked at me and said, “So, I feel like Veronica has been talking to us directly.” He reminded me of something she had said: sometimes you have to do things that make you uncomfortable to be a homeowner. Whether that means accepting that promotion for more money, staying at that job a little longer, or, if you have the luxury, living somewhere with no rent or really cheap rent. Even if it’s not what you’re used to, you make those sacrifices for the long run.

Apparently that struck a chord. Joseph told me his mortgage loan officer brain (yes, he’s licensed, though he doesn’t actively use it) was telling him that we needed to downsize to save money. And what easier way to save money than not having to pay rent? So here we are, living with family, making sacrifices now for the long-term goal of owning a home.

I’ve already seen firsthand how powerful down payment assistance can be. One of my buyers, who I’m getting ready to close with soon, was able to secure over $90,000 in assistance thanks to Veronica. This specific program covers up to 20% of a home’s price, and the best part is that it’s forgiven after 30 years.

So while I don’t have a new recipe this week, I’ll be back in the kitchen soon. In the meantime, you can always explore some of my other recipes here on the blog, or catch my cooking videos over on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

And since Joseph and I are officially starting our own homeownership journey, we’ll also be documenting the process along the way. From figuring out where we want to live to navigating the mortgage process, stay tuned. I’ll be sharing it all right here.

Thanks for letting me share this little update with you. Homeownership isn’t just something I talk about as a realtor. It’s something Joseph and I are actively working toward ourselves. And that, to me, makes the journey even more meaningful.