Nearly a decade before women in the United States were legally able to get credit in their own name—such as toward a credit card, vehicle loan, or mortgage—a young single nurse named Jane aspired to buy a home in the Sixteen Acres section of Springfield.

“My Great Aunt Jane bought this home in 1965. She had to have her dad, my great-grandfather, kind of co-sign it,” said Max Anderson, in reference to the obstacles to financial independence that women faced until the passage of the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This law made it illegal for financial institutions to refuse loans and credit based on a borrower’s sex, marital status, or familial status (as well as race, religion, and other reasons). “She never married and lived in the house until she passed away in 2018.”

“My great aunt is very well represented. I’ve put some pictures on the mantle of back in the day, of me with her, and a picture of my great-grandfather. Then I found baby pictures of her, a fold up of five of them, I put that in the living room,” said Anderson, a product engineer at a small manufacturing company. “As a kid, my brother and I used to come here for sleepovers. We’d go out to Friendly’s and Toys ‘R’ Us. She spoiled us.”

For Anderson, this house was nearly the one that got away. Over the past few years, he’s spent more time readying to part with it than he has settling in. He began renting it from his mother shortly after he graduated from college in 2022, on a presumably short-term basis, until they fixed it up enough to sell. The updates took a while, then gave way to the stress of prepping for showings to prospective buyers. Twice his family had a buyer and closing date lined up. And twice the deals fell through.

“That was a really stressful time and played a role in me deciding to buy the house,” said Anderson, who grew up in Enfield, Connecticut. “I remember one Sunday in November, we took everything out of the house, knowing that come Friday, it would no longer be in our hands. We were days away from never seeing inside it again. And that Monday, we found out the deal was off. That’s when I thought more about it and said, ‘You know what? This is a really nice home.’ I just started to really fall in love with the idea of living there. Of making it official.”

His main hesitation with the home until this moment—its distance to Interstate 91, which is farther than he was used to—was eclipsed by its space and walkable location. Plus, the comfort of knowing all the ins and outs of the home’s history.

“It’s right down the street from Western New England University. I’ve found that East Forest Park, especially right near Pope Francis High School, is a great place to run,” said Anderson, who also likes to cook. “The house has three bedrooms. I use the smallest as my office. There’s an enclosed breezeway between the main house and garage, which is great this time of year for watching TV and hanging out.”

“I came across this awesome program called Welcome Home PLUS, which offered a very low interest rate and lender’s credits. One of the requirements is to be a certified first-time homebuyer. I didn’t want to wait for the next available in-person class, so I signed up for Way Finders’ online Frameworks course. It was 75 bucks, and in my opinion, I was like, ‘I’m going to get that money back.’ So, I just knocked it out one weekend,” said Anderson. “And then I had to talk to Homeownership Specialist Mariola Jarzynska, basically to ensure that my budget was good and I was ready to buy the house.”

After taking these steps—workshop and phone call—many people opt to continue working one-on-one with a homeownership specialist, a service Way Finders offers for free to the community. But Anderson was ready for the next steps.

“Correct, it was just one and done,” said Anderson, who had carefully mapped out his budget in advance of the call—a tip he highly recommends—and was able to finetune it afterward. “She was asking questions like, ‘How much do you spend on groceries per month? How about going out to eat?’ I had bought a car nine months prior, so I was very prepared. But one thing I found helpful was to account for yearly expenses, such as auto and homeowner’s insurance, in my monthly budget. To ensure I have that money when those yearly payments come up.”

“The week after I closed, I was like, ‘Hey, you guys are coming over for dinner, we’re going to celebrate this.’ It was kind of like old times for my family. It was really nice seeing people here in the house,” said Anderson, who has also extended a standing offer to his brother to rent out the spare bedroom. “It’s his for the taking!”

Congratulations to you, Max!