It’s the classic story of achieving the American Dream: a young boy — born in a small one-room, dirt- floor house with no electricity or running water — spends much of his childhood laboring in the fields near his small Mexican village. As a teenager, he comes to the U.S. to attend school, learn English and find a job. As an adult, he is able to save enough to purchase his first home. Through a few more real estate investments, he begins to build the wealth for himself, his wife and two children that he couldn’t possibly imagine as a small boy living in poverty.

While it sounds like the next feel-good Hollywood box office hit, it’s the real-life tale of Bloomington, Ill.’s Vicente Adame, and his story has inspired Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to award him with up to $250,000 after taxes for the purchase of a new home.

Adame submitted his story to Wells Fargo for the Take The Challenge(TM) Essay Contest, which began in March 2006 in conjunction with the launch of The Great American Homeowner Challenge(TM), a nationwide educational effort between Wells Fargo Home mortgage and financial coach and No. 1 best-selling author David Bach to inspire 10 million consumers to buy their first home, a second home or investment property.

His story was selected from more than 21,000 contest entries from around the U.S.

“Mr. Adame’s story is the quintessential American Dream that so many people strive for,” said Cara Heiden, division president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “It’s truly inspiring for me, and all of us at Wells Fargo, to see how homeownership has helped him build a secure financial future for his family. There were so many inspiring stories shared with us, it was difficult to select only one winner. But Mr. Adame clearly epitomizes how homeownership is the foundation on which financial security is built.”

Heiden was one of five judges who helped make the final selection, along with Bach. His current book, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner(TM), is the foundation of The Challenge’s three-year educational efforts.

“For years, people have shared their personal stories with me of how homeownership has helped them establish financial security and build wealth,” said Bach. “Vicente is the embodiment of how everyday hard-working people can achieve wealth and security by buying a home and living in it.”

“Our goal with the contest was to capture the true-to-life homeownership stories of real people, so we could in turn share these personal testimonials with others to inspire them to pursue their homeownership dreams,” said Heiden.

The contest, which ran from March 1 through Dec. 31, 2006, was open to all legal U.S. residents. Entrants were asked to write up to 350 words on one of three topics, including:

- Why I Want to Be a Homeowner
- The Challenges I Overcame to Become a Homeowner
- How Homeownership Has Built My Personal/Family Wealth and Security

To receive the grand prize, the Adames must purchase another home before the end of 2008. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will apply up to $250,000 after taxes toward that purchase.

Here’s a copy of the winning entry:

When I was a child, I was a dreamer and was fully determined to make something of my life, but I could not have imagined the dream my life would become – a dream that began when I made the decision to buy my first home.

You see, I was born 34 years ago in a one-room, dirt floor house in a rural village of Mexico. Without plumbing or electricity, we bathed, cleaned clothes and washed dishes in a small creek nearby.

At 16, I was brought to live with family in the United States, where I attended school and learned English. Although I worked very hard and excelled in my job, I had very little to show for my money.

I took a life-turning step that set my dreams in motion when I bought a simple bungalow. At the time, it didn’t seem like a major decision; I simply didn’t want to pay rent any longer. However, the freedom I felt was something I wanted to share with the world. As equity built up, I used it to buy a home for my mother, and another for my brother the year after that. This was amazing! I then purchased a commercial property.

With the rents received, I’ve invested in four additional properties. Five years after purchasing my first small home, I moved to a beautiful, 4-bedroom Victorian on a street straight out of a story book.

Last year, I became a realtor, the only Spanish-speaking realtor in our area, because I enjoy nothing more than to help others find the life-changing freedom in owning their own home.

I try to imagine going back in time to tell the 7 year old at work in the fields that some day he would own a big beautiful dream home, and that his children would go to school and play without ever worrying about their family’s finances. That determined little boy would have laughed at the fairytale I was telling him. Then, he would have gone back to work to make that dream come true.

About Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is the nation’s No. 1 retail mortgage lender* and servicer** of home mortgages. As a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., it has a local presence in more than 2,400 mortgage stores and bank branches, plus the capabilities to serve the home financing needs of customers nationwide through its call centers, Internet presence and wholesale lending operations. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage services loans for more than 7.7 million servicing customers.

About David Bach and FinishRich Media
The founder and Chairman of FinishRich Media, a company dedicated to revolutionizing the way people learn about money, Bach is the author of seven consecutive national bestselling books, including two No. 1 New York Times business bestsellers, Start Late, Finish Rich and The Automatic Millionaire, as well as the national and international bestsellers Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, The Finish Rich Workbook, and The Automatic Millionaire Workbook. His new book The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner has already sold over a million copies and was recently released in Spanish. In all, his FinishRich books have been published in more than 15 languages, with more than 5 million copies in print in the U.S. alone. Currently a featured contributor and columnist at Yahoo.com, Bach is also the creator of the FinishRich(R) seminar series, which highlights his quick and easy-to-follow financial strategies, and which has been taught to more than one million people worldwide. For more information visit his website at http://www.finishrich.com/ .

* Based on year-end 2006 statistics compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance
— Feb. 23, 2007
** Based on year-end 2006 statistics compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance
— Feb. 9, 2007

The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, Take the Challenge, The Great American Homeowner Challenge, Smart Women Finish Rich, Start Late Finish Rich, and The Automatic Millionaire, are trademarks of FinishRich, Inc. These trademarks are used under license from FinishRich Media, LLC by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.