A Fast-Track Opportunity for Homeownership

“When I saw Habitat's name, that was reassuring. I probably would not have sent that first email if I didn't see Habitat's name on it — an organization I knew was trustworthy."

-Matt, GMHFH Fast-Track Homebuyer

For years, Matt did what a lot of people do when they're dreaming of owning a home: he scrolled Zillow. He checked Realtor.com. He plugged numbers into mortgage calculators and watched the math stop making sense every single time.

"When you see what the interest rates would do to stuff, it was like, this just doesn't make sense," he said. "So many things would just go way above what I'd be paying in rent now."

Matt is a youth pastor at Sardis Baptist Church in the Matthews area — a role he's held for nearly a decade. Every day, he pours into the lives of young people, helping them find their footing and build toward their futures. But when it came to his own future, one piece kept feeling out of reach.

He's single, working on one income, and like so many people in today's housing market, he found himself stuck in a frustrating in-between: stable enough to want more, but priced out of a path to get there. For about four years, he'd called an apartment home. It was safe, it was comfortable — but it wasn't his.

"I've really wanted to own my own place," he said. "I've been fortunate to have that roof over my head, but I was looking for that next opportunity."

 That changed the day a listing caught his eye.

Scrolling through listings one afternoon, Matt came across the Sycamore Trail Townhomes — available through Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity's new Fast-Track Homebuyer Program. The financing terms listed stopped him cold.

"The first day I saw it, I was like, that can't be right. There has to be a typo, a misprint, something can't be right about that."

But it bugged him. So he sent an email. And it turned out to be very, very real.

Matt applied, qualified, and is now preparing to become Greater Matthews Habitat's first-ever Fast-Track homebuyer — purchasing a brand-new two-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhome in Matthews with an affordable mortgage made possible through a partnership with the Town of Matthews and the developer.

Matt had heard of Habitat before, but mostly in the context of building homes. The Fast-Track program — which partners with developers and municipalities to make existing and new homes affordable — was new to him. So was the idea that an organization he already trusted was behind it.

"When I saw Habitat's name, that was reassuring," he said. "I probably would not have sent that first email if I didn't see Habitat's name on it — an organization I knew was trustworthy."

As part of the program, Matt is completing HIP-hours before closing, including volunteering at the Greater Matthews Habitat ReStore. He's been working the dock, helping unload and sort donated furniture and building materials — and he's taken to it more than he expected.

"The guys at the dock have been so great — really friendly and really helpful," he said. "It's definitely been a good workout because some of the furniture is pretty heavy, but it's been a great experience."

It's also given him a fuller picture of what Greater Matthews Habitat actually does — and he's been surprised by the scope of it. "I really had in my mind Habitat being something that solely built houses," he said. "Now partnering with other builders to expand helping people in the area — that's been a surprising thing, but a cool thing."

For Matt, the pull toward homeownership is both practical and deeply personal. He talks about equity, about making smart financial choices, about being ready for whatever opportunities come his way. But underneath all of that is something simpler — the feeling of walking into a space and knowing it belongs to you.

"It being mine," he said. "Going in and being like — this is my kitchen, this is my bathroom, this is my living room."

He grew up in North Wilkesboro, a small town where, as he puts it, "no one's really ever heard of, but it's home." That sense of place — of belonging somewhere — has clearly stayed with him. And soon, he'll have a new place to call his own.

He's already got the first meal planned: a taco casserole, baked in a glass dish, made exactly the way he likes it. "It is so good," he laughed. "That's one of my go-to meals."

Matt's journey to homeownership is a reminder that the path to owning a home doesn't always look the same — and that Greater Matthews Habitat is committed to opening more doors, in more ways, for more people in our community.

For Greater Matthews Habitat, Matt's story is just the beginning. "The Fast-Track Homebuyer Program opens up an entirely new pathway to homeownership for limited-income families in our community," said Natisha Rivera, President & CEO of Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity. "We are so proud of Matt and excited to see what this program makes possible — not just for him, but for the many families we hope to serve through opportunities like this one in the years ahead."