Schooling Homeowners

(Washington Post). Being a homeowner is the single largest purchase most people will ever make. unfortunately, some of us are almost as causal about this American rite of passage as we are about shopping for a stereo or maybe a new suit. It’s hardly any wonder that a significant number of home buyers end up over their heads, ill-prepared for the responsibilities of of home ownership and holding onto property they can neither sell nor afford to keep.

"The home buying process can be quite complicated," points out Emily Kaiser of Carter Ryley Thomas Public Relations and Marketing, "and a lot of people don’t realize what they need to know about it. They don’t know about all the different types of loans that you can get. They don’t don’t think about the resale value. They don’t consider repairs and maintenance. Is it any surprise the number of foreclosures that we have?"

The solution is better preparation, and classroom courses on how to buy a house are fast becoming the weapon of choice in the battle to educate potential homeowners.

Enter the Virginia House Development Authority (VHDA) a, the largest housing finance agency in the nation. The VHDA was created to provide low and moderate income Virginians with affordable housing. About four years ago, the agency began requiring that applicants complete six hours of instructions on buying and maintaining a home in order to qualify for the FHA Plus program, which offers loans that include assistance for down payment and closing costs. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other lenders that offer low interest loan programs served as a model in requiring home buying certificates before any money could be doled out. The required course is hardly Harvard, just simply a 6-hour eduction program that reviews the home buying process and the advantages and disadvantages of home ownership. It also offers maintenance tips about how to protect your investment.

Each person who takes the course gets a VHDA home ownership educational program guide, with chapters covering "Budgeting," "Negotiating a Purchase," "Applying for the Mortgage," and "Taking Care of Your Home." After completing this program," according to the guide, "you will be better prepared to make the choices and decisions related to home ownership."

The program, comprised of two three-hour sessions, is taught by real estate agents, loan officers, home inspectors, attorneys and housing counselors. To ensure the quality of the seminaries, VHDA trains and certifies each instructor. There are now more than 502 certified trainers statewide.

"The course is designed to navigate any interested buyer through the home buying process," said Ann Bolen, the VHDA’s home education coordinator. "We have set up free classes every month for everyone. Anyone who graduates can get a certificate which qualified them for a variety of loan programs.

More than 4,500 people have attended the classes. Of the 3,300 people who have participated in the program, 1,338 have received VHDA financing that totals $102 million in new mortgages loans.