Phung: “They fixed it up to look new.”

Phung Tran feels incredibly lucky to have the home she’s always wanted. In the corner of her living room stands a hoa mai tree. In Phung’s native country of Vietnam, the delicate yellow flowers symbolize good luck.

Right in the middle of the housing crisis in the fall of 2009, the home Phung Tran had signed a contract to purchase went into foreclosure. Since the lender would not agree to make the needed repairs, certain rules prohibited the home from being purchased through the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency’s (OHFA) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program.

However, OHFA Homeownership Specialist Ryland Moore referred Phung to Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS). It was determined that through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, NHS could purchase the home, make the repairs, and in turn sell it to Phung at an affordable price. NHS would also provide her with a zero-interest mortgage and $6,000 in down payment assistance.

Although the repairs took nearly a year, it was worth the wait.

“They fixed it up to look new,” Phung said.

Phung’s home was the very first property completed by NHS using NSP funds. The goal of the NSP is to stabilize communities that have suffered from foreclosures and abandonment by buying and repairing foreclosed and abandoned homes and residential properties.

Phung enjoys the beauty and size of her new home. Her large living room even provides her with enough space for her to exercise by walking or running laps around the room.

Sharing in her joy is her older brother Cuong Tran. Since Phung does not speak English very well, Cuong was there every step of the way to translate important conversations and complicated paperwork during the homebuying process.

It makes Cuong feel good to have helped his sister get her two-bedroom, one-bathroom house.

To learn more about Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency please visit their website.  

For more information on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, see our advocacy page.