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In our series of inspiring Truehold customer stories, we spotlight Joyce, a Truehold resident in St. Louis, who used a sale-leaseback to relieve herself of homeownership responsibilities after her stroke.
Life has a way of throwing curveballs, and for Joyce and her husband, Carl, the pitch was a stroke that left Joyce partially paralyzed on her left side. Their two-story home, once a haven for their family, now represented a maze of challenges too overwhelming to navigate. Joyce isn’t alone—only 0.15% of housing units in the US are fully wheelchair accessible. “I couldn't maneuver around the house, couldn't keep it clean, that sort of thing.”
Her husband and granddaughter were excellent caretakers, but, with her granddaughter graduating, “it'll be just the two of us.” Carl and Joyce decided it was time to downsize and begin a new chapter in their lives.
They knew they didn't want to invest in buying another house, mainly due to the responsibility. They had a vision of moving into a smaller apartment where Joyce could move around more comfortably. But how to get there?
They considered a traditional home sale, but “we didn't want to go through the traditional route because I'm not really mobile, and we'd have to go through all of the showing the house, getting it together, and it would've been just too inconvenient for us.”
Truehold appeared on their radar through a local news station. Joyce recalls, "I just thought it was just too good to be true, but I called, and the people were so nice that we dealt with." She asked how Truehold compared to a reverse mortgage, “and it just sounded a whole lot better. It's nothing like a reverse mortgage at all.” After discussing their situation, Truehold’s sale-leaseback plan emerged as a perfect solution for Joyce and Carl.
Throughout their sale-leaseback process, Joyce had a consistent point of contact in Justin, a Truehold representative, "Justin was just available anytime that I needed him, any questions that I had, he would get right back to me, and he was just so understanding.” When Joyce needed an unexpected operation, “They extended a closing date and everything. And when I was able to get back on my feet after the operation, everything just went as planned…Selling your home can get stressful, but Justin was just so patient with me."
Joyce expresses how Truehold turned their situation around: "Truehold gave us time to really look around till we found something that we like." She was “pleased” knowing that Truehold’s property management team would take care of repairs in their large house until they could move. Truehold offered them the flexibility and assistance they needed during this challenging period.
Moreover, Truehold provided significant financial relief. “We had some money leftover because they gave us all of our equity except for some repairs that they found after the inspection..the rest of the money we were able to pay off some other bills.”
“We had two mortgages, a first and second mortgage, and Truehold at closing, paid both of those... They also took over some of our expenses in terms of HOA fees, real estate taxes... that kind of freed us up as well."
"Truehold gave us time to really look around till we found something that we like."
Joyce and Carl found their perfect new apartment, one that accommodates Joyce's mobility needs, including an elevator. Truehold's support during this transition left a lasting impression on Joyce, "There was no problem. We're very pleased with the company."
With the apartment move, Joyce and Carl started their new chapter. “I'm just looking forward to really recovering from the effects of the stroke… We were just really, really getting hit from a lot of different areas when we were in the house and having all that [homeownership responsibility] over us didn't make it any better.”
While Joyce misses the memories of her old home, she is hopeful: "I consider this a new start for us... we're just looking forward to whatever life has for us now."
Joyce's journey with Truehold encapsulates the sense of freedom and relief that many of our clients experience when they choose a sale-leaseback. And to the question of whether she'd recommend Truehold, Joyce answers without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
"We're very pleased with the company."
This story is based on an interview conducted between the customer and a member of the Truehold team. All quotes are from the customer, with some words cut for length and clarity. The customer may have received compensation for their time.
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