Saving for seven years, then green lights said ‘Go’

Abel and Roberta Real Torres saved for seven years to buy their first home a block from where they had been living.

Abel, 42, a plumber, and Roberta, 38, a clerical worker, said the $107,000 price of the two-bedroom, 1,032-square-foot townhome in north Cypress was a deal they couldn’t pass up.

They bought in June.

“There were so many green lights,” Roberta said. “We had the credit and down payment. It was almost like we couldn’t afford not to. . . . I’m happy that the market opened up for our circumstances.”

The couple wanted to keep Sara, their 9-year-old daughter, in the Los Alamitos Unified School District. “We didn’t want to disrupt her life,” Roberta said. “And, it’s a really good school district.”

Another plus was they bought the home, built in the 1960s, from its original owners.

Roberta described their first real estate buy as a starter home: “We want to use it as a steppingstone to get into a bigger house.”