At 71 years of age, Calvin Yearby isn’t the youngest first-time homeowner in Chattanooga, but he might be the happiest.
A former truck driver who’s lived in Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Michigan, Yearby has traveled many miles in his seven decades, but he’d never turned down the road that led to homeownership until this year.
Yearby, now a custodian at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, was comfortable in the house he’d been renting since 2001. But a knock on the door changed everything. The owner had lost the property, and Yearby was going to have to move.
“It was time for me to look for a place to call my own,” Yearby says.
Yearby doesn’t remember whether he first saw the home he now owns on the Internet, or while he was driving through the Orchard Knob neighborhood in which it’s located, but he does recall his first impression of the place. “I liked it the minute I saw it,” he says, flashing a big smile. “I said, ‘That’s mine!’”
The small, but roomy, ranch-style residence was owned by Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE), which had purchased the house in 2010, refurbished it, and then placed it on the market. CNE is a non-profit housing organization that provides education, counseling, and affordable home loans.
Yearby mentioned his interest in the house to the staff at St. Paul’s. They took it upon themselves to help him through the process of buying it. Bob Leopold, a former staff member, accompanied Yearby to his first meeting with CNE, while Susan Caldwell, St. Paul’s administrator, reached out to Crye-Leike Realtor Greg Humble, a member at the church. Humble, who obtained his real estate license in November, was eager to assist.
“I was on my way to church on Sunday morning when Susan called me and said Calvin had found a house. She wanted me to talk with him right away,” Humble says. “I told her I’d meet him in the kitchen.”
From there, things happened quickly. Cardwell helped Yearby with the paperwork involved in purchasing a home through CNE, Yearby took CNE’s first-time homebuyers class, and Humble got the rest of the ducks in order – literally. “I had the home inspector, the termite guy, and more lined up outside his door and marched them through,” he says.
From offer to closing, the deal was completed in three-and-a-half weeks. “It happened so fast,” Yearby says. “Everything just fell into place. I couldn’t believe it.”
Built in 1935 (Yearby gleefully says, “It’s older than me!”), the house has nary a wrinkle. In addition to a refurbished kitchen and bathroom, the walls are coated with fresh paint and the hardwood floors are as polished as one would expect in a custodian’s home. Each room is furnished with comfortable-looking modern furniture and a few wall decorations, and Yearby’s record player graces the entire house with rich sounds. “I like to listen to the blues,” he says, smiling again.
From the curb, the exterior could pass for a far younger house.
At one point, Yearby nearly backed out of the deal because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make the payments. But with the support and encouragement of CNE, Humble, and his friends at St. Paul’s, he pressed forward.
“I wondered if I could afford it,” Yearby says. “But everyone was patient with me, and helped me though it. I’m truly grateful.”
Yearby walked away from the closing table without having put any money down on the house or paid for closings costs. What’s more, his house payment (including principle, interest, insurance, and taxes) is less than he was paying for rent. “I was thrilled,” he says. “I looked at my income, and I knew I could swing it.”
(Yearby also walked away from the closing table without the keys, but someone made sure he left with them.)
Humble is pleased as well. The contract for his client’s house was the first he’d signed as an agent; the sale also was his first. But the satisfaction he derived from helping Yearby far outweighed his appreciation for his first commission check. “I worked in corporate American for 15 years,” he says. “The last place I worked was AT&T Midtown Center in Atlanta, Ga. I was on the 19th floor, and my only contact with the outside world was through instant messages and emails. I couldn’t do it for another day, so I resigned, moved here, and got my license.
“This is something I can do for the rest of my life because there’s more to it than sitting down at a closing table and walking away with a check. I’m helping people. That means more to me than anything else.”
Today, after decades of living under someone else’s roof, Yearby is excited to be living under his own. “This feel great,” he says. “I don’t have to worry about the rent man knocking on my door because I put a nail in his wall, or selling the house out from under me. This is something I can call my own.”