Kia ora whānau,
My name is Corlene Greenwood and I have recently moved into my new home under the shared home ownership scheme.
I was happy to be asked to share my story as this is definitely something I would recommend.
I’d say don’t feel you must stay renting for years – you know that won’t help your family in the long run. Take a good look at what the Foundation offers!
Now as a homeowner I feel that I’ve taken back control of my life. No more landlord to deal with. This shared ownership scheme is real and so worthwhile.
I basically started with nothing a few years ago after coming back from overseas. I went down the path of getting a “tiny house” but with a growing teenage son and having to shift it around to different bits of land, it just wasn’t working out quite as I planned.
So I did a lot of online research to see what my next step could be. I saw this shared home ownership scheme which sounded too good to be true. “What’s the catch?” I thought!
But I did see there were success stories from other Māori families so I made an application and sent them a letter.
By some miracle I was chosen and then had to sell my tiny house to get a deposit.
When I was offered this house I got very emotional as it meant so much to me. It meant finally I would have the stability and safety of a home of my own.
I still get emotional talking about this as I think about where I am now and where I have come from.
I’m paying a mortgage now, not rent, which means I’ll have an asset in the future for me and my son. I still have a dream of retiring up north, living off the land and local kai moana. But for now I love my house, my son loves it here and we have wonderful neighbours.