“I Don't Want to Go See That House Anymore”: How Daniela and Erick Bought Their First Home in Woonsocket
The short version
Daniela and Erick bought their first home in Woonsocket, RI. The idea had been there since the year before; they decided to act in March, and they closed on July 30, 2026. Four months end to end.
Along the way they lost an offer, Daniela texted to cancel the showing for the house they would end up buying, and that property had tenants who had lived there for years — with a loan that required at least one unit to be vacant at closing.
None of that stopped them. Here's what happened, in their words.
Why they stopped renting
Daniela and her husband Erick were still living in the apartment they had rented back when they were single. One bedroom, a small living room. Then their son arrived.
“We wanted a space we could call ours. Something of our own. Something that gives our son a better future.”
When they sat down and looked at the options, they put it all on the table: rent something bigger, or buy. A two-bedroom rental was going to run them around $2,000 a month depending on the area. No yard. And if their son wanted a pool in the summer, they'd have to ask a landlord for permission.
Erick put it plainly:
“We're going to pay two thousand dollars for something that's ours. Something we own, where we have the freedom to do what we want. Instead of paying someone else's mortgage, we pay our own.”
The other reason was room to gather. Both of their families are large, and where they were, there wasn't space. The house they bought has a yard.
Why Woonsocket
Woonsocket sits at the northern edge of Rhode Island on the Blackstone River, about 15 miles up RI-146A from Providence and right against the Massachusetts line. It's one of the Blackstone Valley mill cities, and a lot of the housing stock reflects that: two- and three-family homes, triple-deckers, and single-families from the same era, many of them on lots with a real yard.
For a first-time buyer who also wants rental income, that combination matters. A large share of the inventory I see in Woonsocket is two- and three-family, and the median sale price there runs well below the statewide figure. That's why I work this city heavily with buyers who are making their first purchase and their first investment at the same time.
From dream to decision: faster than most people expect
The vision had been there since the year before. The action started in March.
“We said: alright, we're launching this. It was a fast process, almost impulsive. We went all in.”
That's where I came in. They found me through a mutual friend — Luis Correa de los Santos, a client of mine going back years, who told them to call me. That kind of referral is the one I'm most grateful for and the one that puts the most on me to get right.
And from our first conversation I told them something I repeat with every first-time buyer: let's not fall in love with a house until it's actually ours.
I don't say that to dampen anyone's excitement. I say it because in a market like Rhode Island's, you're going to see houses you love and you are not going to win all of them. If you put your whole heart into the first one, the first loss knocks you out of the game.
Which is almost exactly what happened.
The offer they lost, and the Saturday that changed everything
They made an offer on a house. They lost it.
Daniela was completely deflated.
“She told me: no, tomorrow we look for a rental and we're just going to rent.” — Erick
That Friday around ten at night, Daniela sent the text: she wasn't going to Saturday's showing. She was cancelling.
I didn't see that message that night. What did happen is that Santiago, who was coordinating the appointment, called me Saturday morning: the ten o'clock buyers weren't coming.
And at the same time, at their house, the other half of this story was playing out. Eight thirty in the morning, Erick was getting in the shower and saw her still lying there.
“I said, what, you're not going to get ready? She says, no, I don't want to go see it anymore. I said, no, get ready, we're going to see the house. She says, I already texted Alex. I said, no — get dressed.”
And he told her something that stuck with me:
“You don't know whether God wants this house to be ours.”
They went. It was this one.
It's worth saying plainly, because it's the most practical lesson in the whole story: if that appointment had fallen through, Daniela never sees the house. If she never sees it, she never offers. And if she never offers, it isn't theirs. Losing an offer hurts. But the house you lost is almost never the last one.
It took two things for that appointment to survive: a husband who pushed, and a team that called to confirm instead of writing the showing off as cancelled. The second part isn't luck — it's procedure.
The tenants: the real challenge of buying an occupied property
This is the part that trips up first-time buyers who step into a multi-unit property, and I want to be straight about it.
The property had tenants who had been living there for years. And Daniela and Erick's loan required at least one unit to be vacant. That's not a small detail — it's a financing condition that can kill a deal.
Daniela saw it from both sides:
“The tenants are good people. We're all human beings. It looks bad when overnight someone has to leave the home they've been in for years.”
In this case, the tenants decided to move on their own, on their own terms. That satisfied the loan condition without anyone having to force anything.
And I have to be honest: it doesn't always go that way. Sometimes there's an entire household on the other side — a mother, siblings, kids — and moving quickly simply isn't possible. Rhode Island has tenant protections, and the timeline of someone else's move isn't controlled by the buyer or the agent.
That's why the tenant situation gets analyzed before the offer is written, not after it's signed. You look at what the loan requires, what the existing leases say, and what happens to your closing if the unit isn't vacant in time. That analysis is what separates a multi-unit purchase that works from one that turns into a six-month problem.
Borrowed fear
Before closing, Daniela was carrying two stories that weren't hers.
One I told her myself: another buyer I worked with won the house and won, along with it, a tenant situation that took six months to resolve.
The other came from her own circle — a close friend of hers, her son's godmother, whose tenants left an apartment in very bad condition when she went to sell.
I asked Daniela what made her move forward anyway. Her answer was the best thing said in the whole conversation:
“Just because she went through that doesn't mean it's going to happen to me. I'm not going to give up living my dream out of fear that it might. I have to keep going. And if it happens, fine — you learn.”
The way I see it: we all got invited to the same party. One person danced and had a great night, another didn't enjoy it, another had too much to drink. Same party, different nights. Someone else's bad outcome is not a forecast of yours.
What you can control is who you go with.
Communication and numbers: the two things that made the process livable
When I asked what made the difference, they didn't mention the house. They mentioned two things.
The lender. They worked with Ramón Feliz at Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. What Daniela valued wasn't the rate — it was the clarity.
“A very honest person, who explains things in a way you can actually understand. The numbers matter a lot.”
And the numbers here were genuinely tight. Ramón told them exactly what they qualified for, and with that margin they effectively had one shot. The house they found was the one that fit. That's why the offer strategy mattered as much as it did.
The communication. Daniela kept it simple:
“I could always reach someone. There wasn't a single day I couldn't. If they didn't pick up right that second, they called me back a minute later. And it didn't matter what time it was.”
My philosophy on that isn't complicated. If a client calls at nine at night, there are two options: they go to sleep with the problem, or we pick up and solve it. We almost always pick up.
What Daniela and Erick would tell someone still thinking about it
I asked Daniela what she'd say to the person standing where she was a few months ago.
“Don't be scared. If you have a dream, go make it happen. If you have a goal, go meet it. The road looks hard and the process is long, but the days go by anyway.”
And there was a moment worth pulling out, because it almost never makes it into a home-buying story. Daniela gave the credit to Erick:
“I owe my husband a lot. He was really the one who pushed me to take this step. I wanted it, but I was in that ‘later, later’ mode. If it hadn't been for him, I still wouldn't have the house.”
Erick wouldn't take the credit alone:
“It's a team.”
What I take away from this conversation
I've been 14 years in the real estate industry and I keep seeing the same thing: the worst decision is not making one.
It's all gain. If you bought, you won. If you didn't buy, you still won experience — now you know what you're short on, what you can reach, and what actually matters to you. Nobody gets to say the wine is bad without tasting it.
What I do see constantly, and what really stops people, is analysis paralysis. They load up on data, oversaturate, and freeze. They read about rates, about the market, about tenants, about what happened to someone they know — and somewhere in all that information they never take the step.
Ideas without execution are just dreams.
Daniela and Erick executed. And they're already talking about the next one.
“This is the first of many.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you buy a multi-unit property that already has tenants in it?
Yes, and it's very common in Woonsocket and across northern Rhode Island, where much of the housing stock is two- and three-family. What matters is checking three things before you offer: what your loan requires (many programs for buyers who will live in the property require one unit to be vacant at closing), what the existing leases say, and what happens to your closing if the unit isn't vacant in time. That analysis happens before the offer is written, not after the contract is signed.
I lost an offer on a house I loved. Should I give up?
Losing an offer is normal, especially on a first purchase. Daniela lost one and texted to cancel the appointment for the next house, which turned out to be the one they bought. The practical advice is not to cancel appointments you've already scheduled while you're still processing the disappointment. The house you lost is rarely the last one you'll see.
How long does it take to buy a first home in Rhode Island?
It depends on your preparation and on inventory, but it can be much faster than people assume. Daniela and Erick had the idea the year before, but from the moment they decided to act in March to closing on July 30 was four months. The slow part is almost always the decision, not the process.
What kinds of homes are in Woonsocket, RI?
Woonsocket is a Blackstone Valley mill city, and its housing stock reflects that: a lot of two- and three-family homes, triple-deckers, and single-families from the late 1800s and early 1900s, plus newer construction toward the outskirts. Two- to four-unit properties make up a large share of what comes to market there. It sits about 15 miles from Providence via RI-146A.
Who can help me buy my first home in Woonsocket?
I'm Alexander Parmenidez, Broker Associate and REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Realty, licensed in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. I work with first-time buyers and multi-unit buyers in Woonsocket and throughout northern Rhode Island, in English or Spanish. Feel free to call or text me anytime at (401) 426-4857.
If you're where Daniela was back in March — you want it, but you're not sure — you don't need to have everything figured out to start the conversation. You just need to start it.
Let me know what you're thinking, happy to help.
Alexander Parmenidez
Broker Associate | REALTOR®, Coldwell Banker Realty
Licensed in RI, CT & MA
196 Waterman St, Providence, RI 02906
(401) 426-4857
alexparmenidez.realtor
Living Elevated
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