Are you thinking of buying a house? Are you unsure of the steps? Are there obstacles standing between you and your dream of homeownership?
Let NeighborWorks® Home Resources help guide you down the path to homeownership. Using our homeownership services, we can help you decide if buying a house is right for you right now. We can help you learn the steps to take to realize your dream of owning your home. We help you identify and remove the obstacles that might stand between you and your own home.
Use the following link to an excellent website to help you determine if homeownership is right for you. Sponsored by NeighborWorks® America and based on their homeownership curriculum Realizing the American Dream, this site has lots of helpful tools and information to begin exploring the possibilities of homeownership.
www.keystomyhome.orgHomeownership Classes
The homeownership education classes offered by NeighborWorks® Home Resource cover NeighborWorks® America’s curriculum “Realizing the American Dream.” Topics include the pros and cons of renting versus owning, steps in the homeownership process, shopping for a house, budgeting and saving, credit, mortgages, closing and closing documents, and post-purchase ideas such as home maintenance, finances, and community involvement.
The homeownership class is open to everyone, regardless of income or where you live. Also, it does not matter if you are a first-time home buyer.
The class is 8 hours long, offered over two or three sessions. You will need to attend each session to complete the course.
The class is held in the conference room at our Olean office, 209 N. Union St.
We have held classes at our offices in Salamanca, and we can conduct class almost anywhere, including at employers, churches, and libraries.
Registration is required. Please see the 2008 schedule below and register by calling 716-373-4100.
The cost of the class is $100 per family. If your spouse or another member of your family would like to attend the class, they will not need to pay an additional $100. If you participate in a down payment/closing costs assistance program, the cost of the class may be reduced. Also, learn how you can attend a homeownership class for free.
2008 Homeownership Class Schedule
The 2008 class schedule is below.
April -
Tuesday, April 29th, 6-8:30pm
May -
Thursday, May 1st, 6-8:30pm
Saturday, May 3rd, 9am-12pm
July -
Tuesday, July 15th, 6-8:30pm
Thursday, July 17th, 6-8:30pm
Saturday, July 19th, 9am-12:00pm
September -
Tuesday, September 16th, 6-8:30pm
Thursday, September 18th, 6-8:30pm
Saturday, September 20th, 9am-12:00pm
November -
Monday, November 3rd, 6-8:30pm
Wednesday, November 5th, 6-8:30pm
Saturday, November 8th, 9am-12:00pm
Individual credit and budget counseling is conducted by our Homeownership Coordinator, and is offered to customers after completing the home buyer education class. This individual counseling helps get you mortgage-ready by looking at your personal situation and offering advice on steps that you can take to improve your credit and increase your savings.
Being mortgage-ready means preparing your application yourself to get the best possible mortgage you can. This means understanding that you might need to save more money because homeownership is almost always more expensive than anticipated. Taking steps to improve your credit score may mean saving money to pay collection accounts or writing letters to correct errors on your credit report. Having your credit in better shape can help you receive better interest rates and terms for your mortgage, potentially saving you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.
NeighborWorks® Home Resources offers eligible first-time home buyers down payment and closing costs assistance programs that help people purchase their first home. First-time home buyers are people that have not owned a house in the last three years or are a displaced homemaker. Income eligibility is based on household gross income for your household size. Call 716-373-4100 for details on these programs.
Cattaraugus Homeownership Program II (CHOP II)
Homeownership Assistance Resources Program (HARP)
