Today we’d like to introduce you to Pamela Sanchez.
Pamela, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
According to the Oxford Dictionary; Grit is a noun and it means: The courage and strength of mind that makes it possible for somebody to continue doing something difficult or unpleasant. I am an independent woman who strives and is empowered by this characteristic. I became a homeowner, landlord, and investor as an 18-year-old Latina, women of immigrant parents with no cosigner, no trust fund, nothing but ambition, hard work, and perseverance. I was born and raised in the South Side suburbs of Chicago, Il by a single mom and grandmother who worked two jobs to provide me with the best needs they could possibly give me even if sometimes it meant they would sacrifice their own needs with mine. I admire these women so much and I remember as a little girl seeing them come home so exhausted yet still hustling just so I could have a better life. Their values have always inspired me to set and achieve goals with balance, hard work, and enabled me from an early age to be a strong and independent woman. I knew I wanted to be successful and I knew that was something I had to work hard for in order to reach.
The day of my 16th birthday, instead of shopping, getting ready or celebrating my birthday as one would do. I instead started applying to various jobs not because I was asked to or forced to but instead because I wanted to join the workforce, learn how it was to earn my own money, and after so many applications. I got a job at a fast-casual restaurant, where I started working 30 hrs weeks, on top of my academics, and as a Varsity athlete. I started to have a chaotic schedule – I started to pack my work uniform the night before in my school bag, as soon as my last period bell would ring, I would rush out the doors to go straight to work, and at work during my break, I would do my homework since I would get off late and the assignment’s that I couldn’t complete at work I would stay up late to work on them. I was balancing so many things but I stayed persistent because I knew that the fruit of my own hard work would be the sweetest.
But one day, everything accelerated for me: I remember it was during the pandemic, I was 18 years old and it was the final months of my high school senior year. I came home from work after working a long shift to my mom sitting at our dining room table sobbing because we had lost our home and we had to leave the premises as soon as possible. That very moment I remember I was holding my phone and I dropped it out of shock, my head was spinning, my heart sank to my stomach. My mother started to feel so hopeless that every single rental application she had put in was denied. We had no one else to depend on, and we were moments away from becoming homeless. This was finally the moment I could repay my mom for everything she had done for me. So I looked at her and I said “It’s my turn to take care of you”. I had an idea. After countless research, I read about the benefits of buying a Multi- Family Home as an investment. So I got in contact with a mortgage lender and asked what I needed to buy a home. They replied with two years of tax returns, good credit, proof of income, savings for a downpayment. I made an appointment with a lender and I was denied the first time for not having a sufficient DTI (debt to income ratio). I had everything but that.
I did not give up because the next day I received a job offer that would pay me enough to qualify me for a loan but on the condition, it would be a 3.5hour commute every day and I took it so for the next few months I commuted 3.5hrs for 6 days a week in order to qualify. I tried again and I gathered all my things and presented my mortgage lender with an offer letter, paystubs, bank statements, credit reports, and the other necessary requirements. That same day I was PRE-APPROVED and I began working with a realtor to browse homes. Getting to the closing table wasn’t easy, I stayed under contract for a few months, I had several complications in and out, I made several sacrifices and pushed several limits. The day I went to the title company to sign on my closing day as my hands signed the documents. I was in so much disbelief. I had not only become a landlord, homeowner, investor. I had provided a roof for my mother, other families, but I had also house-hacked so she could never worry about paying a mortgage, the property would pay itself, after being fully rented.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being a now 19-year-old, Latina, entrepreneur the older generation tends to assume when you are young you know nothing. This seems to be one of the latest struggles I face, especially during my home-buying process. I would go to home showings and my mother would accompany me and they would instantly talk to her but little did they know the buyer was a young, ambitious, and driven woman. It’s a real shock to the older generation but I look at this positively because I want to motivate younger and older generations that if you dream, have ambition, want to work hard, anything is possible.
Through every stage of my life, I have faced a bumpy road but I like to look at it from a brighter perspective since it has shaped me to be the woman I am and will forever be. As I mentioned I come from an immigrant single mother who came to a foreign country with nothing, without understanding a single word in English but somehow still managed to build something, raise a kid, and hustle hard. Being raised by a single mother has been such an essential to my identity and I’m thankful for it. Things can sometimes be rocky but there’s never been a road that can’t be paved. I was almost homeless so I only worked harder, regardless of the sacrifices I had to make. If I could do it, you can too!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am pursuing a degree in Business Management, an Inspiring Real Estate Agent in the making. After being in the front seat of being a buyer in a home purchase, I fell in love with the process of helping others own their first investment or first home. I was almost homeless, but now I’m a landlord and homeowner. I want to help and inspire others with the power Real Estate can do for you. Real Estate has changed my life. If I could be a homeowner at 18 years old, let me teach you and help you to become one too!
What makes you happy?
What makes me happy? I think we tend to fail to appreciate waking up every morning. I’m happy for waking up every morning and having another day make an impact on this world. I find happiness in helping others. Happiness isn’t having what you want, it’s found in wanting what you have, I’m happy I understand that now. I also went skydiving this past summer and that felt so free, looking at the whole world from above. So take chances!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: lapamelasanchez_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.estrada.9843499/
