Education Helps the Dream of Homeownership

olympia home owner class
Anthony and Nicole took the class as a requirement for a loan to buy their first home.
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By Barb Lally

Edward Jones Block AdSometimes it is just good information that gets rid of doubts and helps dreams come true.

That was true for a local couple, Christopher and Rachel, who really wanted their own home but doubted they could afford it.

“Like so many people, we wanted to stop paying someone else to live in their home and to start building equity and our own personal investment,” says Rachel. “We also wanted our own place to do with what we want, make it our home together.”

Both of them have good jobs. Rachel is a vocational counselor and Chris is a regional produce merchandiser for 18 Safeway stores. But Rachel had just graduated from The Evergreen State College in 2012 and the couple didn’t think they had enough in savings to cover a down-payment on a loan, a commonly perceived impasse for many first-time homebuyers.

olympia home buyer class
Brian Brock instructs students in the Homebuyer Education Seminar on affordable loan programs.

Often, people qualify for a monthly mortgage payment but don’t have enough saved for the down-payment or don’t want to deplete their entire savings. In the meantime, there are down-payment assistance loan programs that go unused because people like Chris and Rachel don’t know about them or think they don’t qualify for help.

Getting good information

The couple went to talk to Brian Brock, branch manager of Wells Fargo Mortgage in Lacey. Brian suggested the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Home Advantage loan program. The program has lower interest rates and can be paired with down-payment assistance loans that make homeownership available for qualified first-time homebuyers.

It isn’t easy credit. One of the requirements the Home Advantage program (as well as other federal loan programs) is to attend the Commission’s Homebuyer Education Seminar.

“These seminars have been extremely effective for the last 23 years,” says Kim Herman, executive director of the Housing Finance Commission. “Last year alone, we trained almost 500 local professionals to deliver the classes—and they in turn taught more than 8,000 potential homebuyers across the state.”

olympia home owner class
Anthony and Nicole took the class as a requirement for a loan to buy their first home.

Herman added, “These seminars are required in order for borrowers to use our Home Advantage and down-payment assistance loan programs. But they gain a huge advantage by learning everything they need to know about purchasing and maintaining a home.”

Happening here

Once a month for the past nearly two years, 10 to 30 first-time homebuyers have arrived early on a Saturday morning to participate in a homebuyer education seminar held at the Washington REALTOR® Association office in Olympia.

The students learn from local professionals about the entire homebuying process in the 5-hour interactive class.

Students Anthony and Nicole, for example, began looking into affordable home loan programs when their rent began to rise.

“Instead of paying an arm and a leg for rent, it made sense to see if we could buy,” says Anthony, who is a member of the Confederated Tribe of the Chehalis and could qualify for tribal down-payment assistance and possibly, the HUD Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. The monthly homebuyer education seminar meets the program’s educational requirements.

“Having our own home means we can do what we want, like put in a fountain or a garden,” says Nicole. “We are so looking forward to that and it is nice to understand that it is a possibility.”

Local experts instruct the class

olympia home buyer
Realtor Patrick McKown enjoys teaching students about the American Dream of homeownership.

Realtor Patrick McKown is one of the Commission-certified instructors of the homebuyer seminar. McKown organizes the class and communicates with the students each month.

“We equip students with the knowledge they need to borrow responsibly and to protect and maintain their investment in a home,” says McKown. “It is gratifying to see students light up with questions and get the answers they need to accomplish their American Dream of homeownership.”

Brock, who is also a Commission-certified instructor for the class, explains that as instructors or as guest speakers they do not market or give sales presentations. They simply offer their knowledge.

The professionals who instruct the class do benefit at times from being known by potential homebuyers in the classes.

“It isn’t a large part of my business,” says Brock. “But it is my way of giving back to the community by helping educate young and old first-time homebuyers.”

Tom Lally, a personal lines insurance agent with GHB Insurance in Olympia, is a guest speaker for the class on homeowners’ insurance, a necessary step when financing a home through a lender.

olympia home buyer class
Christopher, Rachel and family stand in front of their new home.

“I tell the students that the class will put them in the driver’s seat for what can seem like a complicated process,” says Lally. “I enjoy being able to answer questions that all of us have had at one time.”

Dreams come true

To qualify for their home loan, Chris and Rachel attended the homebuyer seminar in April. In May, they moved into their new home, something they had thought was not possible.

”Our new home has everything we need and want,” Rachel says gratefully. “We have four bedrooms. One we use for a small office and each one of the kids has a room. It is a wonderful home and it is ours. What a great feeling!”

Valuable information and education go a long way towards attaining dreams and that is certainly true of the Homebuyer Education Seminars.

To find the time and location of Patrick McKown’s class in Olympia, simply email McKown at cpmx@live.com or call him at (206) 818-5754.

For other classes held throughout Washington state, go to http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/index.htm.

 

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