A scammer conned us out of our $32,430 down payment by email. We didn’t realize it until 10 days later.

One of the first things I told Jessica when the scam happened was, ‘No matter what, we’re getting this home. This is where we start our lives.’

In the end, we do consider ourselves winners because we did exactly that.

The home was listed for $562,900, and we paid $540,000 for it. We were fortunate to receive help from our family for the down payment. They gave us $25,000, and we paid the remainder of the $32,430 down payment from our savings.

Despite what happened, it truly does feel like our home.

Jessica is a talented interior designer, and together we’ve made subtle cosmetic improvements. Her stepdad was here almost every day helping us paint, and my dad assisted with the electrical work. It was a real team effort with our family.

Right now, we’re focused on moving forward and celebrating — we’re even getting married in August.