That's right, I didn't give up. I said with the help of the Lord, I do
want a modern home. I'd look at other people's houses, then I'd think
back over my life how we was poor and come up. After my husband paid me
off, I took $900 and give it to my brother and said, "Go down there and
buy that …" I thought it was going to be that lot up there on the
corner. When he come to see about it, Watkins said that lot was sold. So
he came down here, my brother did—all back there weren't nothing but
woods—there weren't a house back there, just those houses up there and
then one house up there across the street where Mrs. Culbertson live.
But he came and picked this lot here. I didn't much like this lot, but
he said he liked it, so I just let him go and get it. The lot was $875.
I had his name on my bank book. Give him my book and told him to go head
and draw the money and pay cash for the lot, so that's what he did.
That's how I got the lot. Then I had to work and save money to get the
down payment. So I did that. He said, "The only loan we can get will be
FHA." I didn't want that because it took so long, but I didn't have
enough money to pay for it the other way.
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loan give two-third for it; you have to have the third. But I didn't
have a third. I had to accept the FHA plan which was $11,050 that I
would have to pay and the FHA took up the rest. So that's what happened.
Them twenty years, from '55 till '74, and that was it. But when I got
sick, my brother came down here—supposed to carry me to the hospital
that morning for X-ray—he said to me, "I want to see your loan book." I
was down to $974. He said, "I want to check your book." So he come and
got me and carried me to the hospital. He said, "I'll come back and pick
you up." The doctor was through with me before he got back, but I was
waiting downstairs. It was pouring rain. He went on off, and when he
came back, I went on out there and got in the car. He give me the book,
he said, "There's your book. That's your house." He paid the $974 cash
on my book and give me the book, said, "That's your house." So I got
through a year ahead of time which made it nineteen years, but by him
paying ahead of time, I got $600 back. I asked my brother, I said, "Do
you want some of it?" He told me no, he didn't want none of it. So
that's it. I paid a for it a whole year before the twenty years was
out.