Finally, home
Mom, housing advocate moves into a place to call her own
Alexandria Carver-Noi gave up last year. She had been looking for a house for herself, her three children and her mother for months. She lost out on two houses she loved and passed on 20 others.
Carver-Noi had been saving, scrimping and sacrificing, hoping to put together enough money to buy a house that would work for her family, and it wasn't happening. As a renter, she shared a bedroom with her youngest child, 7-year-old Kaiden and there weren't enough bedrooms for everyone in her care.
“I took all the money I’d saved to the Acura dealer. I thought, ‘If I can’t find the house I want, I might as well have a nicer car, with all-wheel drive,’” CarverNoi said.
She made a deposit and went through all the steps to trade in her old car for the new one. But when the day came to pick it up, she asked for her money back. “Trust the process,” she told herself. “House before car.”
Carver-Noi, 40, was one of many Americans struggling to buy a home. According to a housing opportunity index by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, just a little more than half — 54.2 percent — of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of October and end of December were affordable to families cited in that housing index earning the U.S. median income of $79,900. Locally, the median price of a home climbed more than 10 percent last year, to $255,000.
Several factors made buying a home even more difficult for Carver-Noi: She supports her family on one income, and she doesn’t come from a family where home ownership is a tradition. She is also Black, and faces a reality of a long, ugly history of discrimination in the housing industry toward Black Americans.
In addition to her determination, Carver-Noi had something else going for her. She works as the director of housing counseling for Better Community Neighborhoods in Schenectady. She trains people on how to make a budget, apply for a mortgage and find resources that help home ownership easier. She has guided clients from homelessness to home ownership. CarverNoi had tools at her disposal many people do not, but she also felt the pressure of her position. She was modeling both her faith in the process, and her own advice to be patient.
long after Carver-Noi turned down the new car, she got a call from Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County. The nonprofit had gutted and rebuilt a house on Eastern Avenue in partnership with the Capital Region Land Bank and the city. It was three bedrooms and a rental studio. The house had been been empty for months while Habitat looked for an eligible family. Carver-Noi was looking throughout Schenectady County, but living in the city was her preference both because it’s where her children go to school and it’s the community she serves.
Carver-Noi was hesitant, but went to see the house anyway. Once there, she realized it was four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full basement, shed and yard — and a full apartment that would be perfect for her mom. Everything inside was new, from the carpet to the appliances. Carver-Noi’s offer was accepted.
That was the easy part.
Habitat for Humanity doesn’t seek to make a profit on their homes, explained Executive Director Madelyn Thorne. But the houses aren’t free, and although Carver-Noi was pre-qualified for a mortgage, she needed a loan for the purchase of the house. She went through three lenders before Saratoga National Bank agreed to finance her mortgage through the State of New York Mortgage Agency. Months went by. She learned SONY-MA has 120 days to review an application, and they used all the time. COVID-19 slowed the process.
Carver-Noi saved more money while she waited. No takeout food, no movies. No wants, only needs. She cut out reoccurring monthly fees like streaming services and Kaiden’s taekwando.
“I was afraid to spend a dollar,” she said.
At last, the loan approval came. CarverNoi was eligible for $68,000 worth of grants designed to offset closing costs and the down payment. She also received a grant from the Restorative Housing Justice Fund through Building Blocks Together.
There were more steps: A house inspection and an appraisal. Carver-Noi knew about discrimination in appraisals, where Black clients find their property is appraised differently than similar homes where a white person has asked for an appraisal. The widespread issue prompted the federal government to appoint a task force to look into it and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed it in a March press conference.
“I debated up to the time for the appointment,” Carver-Noi said. “I felt people who look like me aren’t treated fairly, and I had to wonder if the appraiser saw me, would the house not appraise? It hurts. I was disappointed. I went back
and forth about it, but in the end, I had someone represent the house for me, even though I was there.”
On closing day, Carver-Noi’s family dressed in their “Sunday best,” although at the lawyer’s office everyone else was too nervous, so Carver-Noi was alone in the big boardroom. Someone arranged — anonymously — to have pastries delivered.
When it was over and all the papers signed and the keys were in her hand, she cried, releasing all the pressure and the nerves and the gratitude she felt. A womNot an of deep faith, she thanked God.
“I could not compose myself. I could not be consoled,” Carver-Noi said, in an interview from her house, where all the kids have their own bedrooms, where she can grill out back, where she picks up trash on the street because that’s what you do when you’re a homeowner, and you’re proud of your house, your block, your street, your city.
“When we started moving in, my oldest has been saying, ‘I’m so proud of you,’ and I tell my children, ‘As long as you see me,” Carver-Noi said. “This is something they can tell their children. This is where home ownership started for our family. I’m grateful for the resources available to me. I’m breaking generational patterns. This is where I change the narrative for my legacy.”