"We Owe McCaffrey Homes a Debt of Gratitude for Helping us Buy the Home of our Dreams"

Clovis couple's five-year struggle to buy a new home finally pays off at Madison Place

Shortly after getting married in 2002, Angela Gudmunson and Daniel Zack began a five-year home shopping odyssey. The couple literally looked at every new home community in Fresno, but the rug was pulled out from under them when Daniel lost his job. Buying a home suddenly became a distant dream, as the couple lived on Angela's teacher's salary for two-and-a-half years while Daniel went back to school to create a whole new career for himself.

"During that time, I kept looking because owning a home means so much to me," says Angela. "Daniel and I have both had parents who needed long term care and we've seen first hand the importance of owning a home as a long-term investment. But, while looking at homes while Daniel was in school, I started getting really sad because it was in those years that home prices skyrocketed and I thought, this might never happen for us."

But, Daniel successful completed his education and quickly found a great job. The couple now had sufficient income for a home purchase, but their credit wasn't as perfect as it had once been and they feared that they now would not qualify for a home purchase.

"Before buying a McCaffrey home in Clovis, we nearly bought one in another neighborhood, but the experience wasn't great in terms of dealing with the company's mortgage arm," says Angela. "We never got calls back and we felt like they just didn't care. So, we were pretty scared by the time we went into the McCaffrey's sales center, but we found a home there that we really loved and were determined to try again.

"The experience couldn't have been more different from the time we walked in the door, all through the buying process and even after we moved in," says Angela. "Everyone from Janice Tognotti in the sales office to Missi Lucente with the company's mortgage division, went above and beyond to not only make this happen for us, but to make the experience enjoyable and easy. It was touch and go at first because our credit score was just a little bit short of where it had to be. But they kept encouraging us and told us not to give up because we had solid careers and the required income. Missi sent us to a company to improve our FICO scores and within 40 days, during which time the McCaffrey team stayed in touch with us, we raised it by 100 points.

"At that point, we knew we had everything in line to finally purchase the home we'd always wanted," says Angela. "From then on it became a family event and when I say that, I mean both on our end and on the McCaffrey's. We felt like Janice in the sales center became like a family member and every person on the McCaffrey team was incredibly supportive, positive and patient. We were so excited, that we wanted our whole family to go through the process with us. My mother-in-law sent all her friends to tour the home and the McCaffrey team welcomed each and every one of them. They even held a design meeting late in the day so that my sister and brother-in-law could fly in from the Pacific Northwest to attend.

"We bought the Oak Knoll plan, which is such a warm and beautiful home," says Angela. "We walk in every day from work and say to ourselves: 'Is this really ours'? And we wake up each morning and just pinch ourselves.

"We owe the McCaffrey's a huge debt of gratitude because our future is completely different now," says Angela. "We don't think any other company would have gone so above and beyond to make our dream happen, but now we own the home we've always hoped for and have the kind of investment that will help us thrive in the future."