Jason and Megan did everything they were supposed to do to achieve the American dream.
Get a good education. Check.
Obtain jobs with promising career paths. Check.
Be frugal and save. Check.
But when it came time to purchase a home, they hit a wall. One that seemed almost insurmountable.
“I started saving for a house in 2019 and was keeping a very close, detailed eye on the housing market,” Jason said. “I was seeing prices skyrocket almost overnight. It was pretty shocking to see that. And I knew that finding a house, especially within our budget, would be extremely hard.”
The Search
Jason and Megan both grew up in Maine – he’s from Windham, she’s from Westbrook. They met through a mutual friend and eventually got engaged. Jason leveraged an IT internship into a full-time engineering job with a Portland hotel and Megan is a daycare instructor working towards a bachelor’s degree in education to become a kindergarten teacher.
After much searching, Jason found a one-bedroom apartment he could afford at Deering Place, an Avesta Housing rental development in downtown Portland that opened in 2021. Megan moved in with him after their engagement, and they soon began laying the groundwork to buy a house.
“We wanted to buy our own home – a place we could call our own, where we could raise a family,” Jason said. “That’s the end game, right? To buy a house and get further in life.”
“I also wanted to be able to have gatherings with our family and friends, and we just couldn’t do that in our one-bedroom apartment,” said Megan, who has several siblings, nieces and nephews.
It would be an understatement to note that what they encountered was discouraging.
Jason was pre-approved for a mortgage, but it was for less than half the average cost of a house in the Greater Portland area. They increased their monthly savings – doubled it, then doubled it again. But they still couldn’t find anything that would come even close to attainable.
That’s when Avesta Housing entered the picture once more.
A New Path
In 2024, Avesta debuted “A Path Forward,” a program created to provide a new path to homeownership for low- to moderate-income households. Through the program, which is administered by the Homeownership + Financial Counseling (HFC) department, Avesta acquires and restores existing properties which are then sold at below-market prices to qualifying applicants. Two adjacent three-bedroom homes in Gray, Maine, were the first properties to be sold through “A Path Forward.”
Jason and Megan were already well acquainted with the HFC – they had taken advantage of the department’s first-time homeownership classes and financial counseling services, both of which are free to Avesta residents. They were also familiar with Bangor Savings Bank, which donated $50,000 to “A Path Forward,” as it had pre-approved their mortgage loan.
“Bangor Savings sent me an email about the ‘Path Forward’ houses, and when I saw the photos, I was like, yes, I want to check this out,” Jason said. “And when I found out Avesta was doing it, it got even more of my attention, because I knew they weren’t going to sell me a dilapidated place.
“I reached out to Maddie (HFC Senior Financial Counselor Madisen Corcoran), who was our original money coach, and she said, yeah, absolutely, come by. So we went to an open house and immediately fell in love with it.”
Utilizing MaineHousing’s First Generation Program for first-time homebuyers, Jason secured the financing through Bangor Savings. “Working with Jason throughout the homebuying process was a pleasure,” said Irene Oldfield, VP, Mortgage Loan Officer at Bangor Savings Bank. “We’re thrilled to have played a role in his journey to successful homeownership.”
On Oct. 27, Jason and Megan purchased one of the two Gray homes and received the house keys. Their journey to homeownership was finally complete.
“I was at work when I heard the voicemail (that the sale had gone through),” Jason said. “You should have seen me. I screamed, ‘WE GOT THE HOUSE!’ I was beyond happy.”
Welcome Home
It’s a few weeks after closing. Jason and Megan are still in the process of unpacking, but they’ve already turned their new house into an inviting home. A wall-sized painting of woodlands overlooks the living room sofa; fish swim lazily in an aquarium perched on the kitchen island; and their two cats, Zola and Luna, have their own pet tower. (Luna is receptive to having visitors; Zola, not so much.) Jason is eager to turn one of the bedrooms into a home office.
“We have storage now!” Megan says excitedly as they conduct a quick tour. “No more clutter!”
“This is idyllic – a perfect place,” Jason says. “There are kids that play around here all the time. Earlier today, I saw a teenager walking his dog, and I thought that was the cutest thing ever.”
Both say they can see themselves raising a family here. And they are grateful for the help they have been given by Avesta Housing, Bangor Savings Bank, and others who have helped them get to this point in their lives.
“There are so many people out there who are struggling,” Jason says. “‘A Path Forward’ is a great program, and I’d love to see more like it that help individuals move forward in life, get to where they want to go, and live their dreams.
“We are so thankful for Avesta. From the apartment to the financial counseling to being able to get into a home, they have helped us grow and succeed when it came to housing. I mean, if it wasn’t for Avesta, we wouldn’t be where we’re at today.”
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