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Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Karly and her boyfriend had been living separately at their parents’ homes when her boyfriend, now fiancé, popped the question. “I was living with my mother, he was living with his mother, plus I also have two children so coming together as a family we needed a place of our own.”
Karly and her fiancé began looking at homes early in the year. Their Realtor showed homes all over Mahoning County: Austintown, Boardman, and finally Youngstown when they came across multiple YNDC homes for sale. Karly said she and her fiancé had trouble picking which YNDC home. “I was much more interested in doing, like, an older home that was revamped. My fiancé wanted to do new construction.” Eventually they decided on a recently renovated, brick home on Shirley Road. “This one was right at that sweet spot.”
Karly said there are so many elements of their new home that her family is in love with. “The inside of it still has a lot of the '50s charm from when it was built… It’s just a really beautiful home. We also have that big, just clear ravine in the back. It's very private, and we love it.”
As a first-time homebuyer, she said the process could be daunting but said YNDC made it easy. Karly found the home in March and by the end of April she was calling it home. “Between YNDC and the realtor that I used, they just collaborated really well. I was so shocked at how fast it went, because they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re good. You’re approved. Go ahead!’ I was in shock like, ‘What do you mean, like, I have a house now?’”
Karly knew budgeting was important and after enrolling in YNDC’s housing counseling program, she was impressed with how thorough it was. “We go over the budget that we originally set up, and it has been helpful to see where my money is going in terms of the house.”
By sticking to her planned budget, Karly said they were all able to go on vacation. “So we were still in boxes, then we went on vacation, and then we came back, and we were joking, ‘This isn't the reset that we were hoping for.’ But in the end, it was so nice to be in our own home with all of us together for the first time.”
To start your homebuying journey, enroll in our Housing Counseling Program by calling 330.480.0423.