Kaylee Kendall is a teacher and mother of five who, along with her husband Matthew, navigated credit challenges, a failed first home attempt, and USDA Rural Housing financing to purchase their forever home in Tremonton, Utah. Her advice to future buyers — 'You can't answer the what-ifs until you try' — has become one of the most quoted lines in the From Rents to Roots archive.
Life Lessons
- • You can't answer the what-ifs until you try
- • Talk to a lender before a realtor
- • It's your home — it's not just something you're borrowing
- • Patience pays off
- • Don't settle on something just to be in a house
Memorable Quotes
"It's your home. It's not just something you're borrowing."
Kaylee Kendall
Home Is Not Just Something You Borrow — Matthew & Kaylee Kendall
"Maybe you'll be disappointed, but in our experience that's not the case."
Kaylee Kendall
Home Is Not Just Something You Borrow — Matthew & Kaylee Kendall
"We wanted to be able to have a house that we want to raise our kids in and have grandkids come and visit."
Kaylee Kendall
Home Is Not Just Something You Borrow — Matthew & Kaylee Kendall
"You can't answer the what-ifs until you try."
Kaylee Kendall
Home Is Not Just Something You Borrow — Matthew & Kaylee Kendall
Stories
Kaylee Kendall
Six Months Changed Everything
When Matthew and Kaylee first tried to qualify for a mortgage, the numbers weren't there. Instead of treating that as a verdict, they treated it as a curriculum. They paid off debt, built credit history, and let their landlord's rent reporting work quietly in their favor. Six months later, they returned — qualified and ready. 'Just give it six months, and then we gave it six months, and we were able to qualify.'
Kaylee Kendall
Charlotte and 'Our House'
Three weeks after moving into their new home in Tremonton, the Kendall family returned from Bear Lake through a canyon — the same kind of canyon that used to lead to their old rental in Eden. Their three-year-old daughter Charlotte woke up and began screaming, terrified they were going to the old house. 'I don't want to go to the old house. I want to go to our house.' In three weeks, belonging had already shifted for a child who had not yet learned the word equity.
Kaylee Kendall
The House That Wasn't Right
After beginning their search, the Kendalls found a house they liked — but not one they loved. Rather than buying to escape renting, they walked away. 'We didn't want to settle on something just to be in a house. We wanted a house we want to raise our kids in and have grandkids come and visit.' The discipline to refuse something good in order to find something right is one of the most financially mature decisions in the episode.
Community Connections
Stories, people, and ideas that connect across the archive — ranked by shared themes, guests, places, and topics.
Related Episodes
(4)From Renting to Rural Living: One Couple’s Homeownership Journey
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Related People
(4)Related Stories
(4)The House That Wasn't Right
Kaylee Kendall
Charlotte and 'Our House'
Kaylee Kendall
'I Never Thought I Could Own'
Nicole Hell
Six Months Changed Everything
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Related Quotes
(4)"It's your home. It's not just something you're borrowing."
— Kaylee Kendall
"You can't answer the what-ifs until you try."
— Kaylee Kendall
"You need to make your own community. It's not going to find you."
— Charlene Freestone
"It's not get-rich-quick, it's get-rich-slowly — but it does happen."
— Scott Clark