This workshop, created in 2002 by the City of Bloomington Housing and Neighborhood Development Department , is designed to help first-time home buyers.
“It helps people understand how to buy a house, especially lower- to middle- income buyers, and supports with down payments,” HAND assistant director Marilyn Patterson said. “Having home buyer education is invaluable for a number of reasons.”
Patterson cites lack of information as a potentially detrimental factor to the home-buying process.
“It’s difficult to buy,” she said. “Lots of people don’t know anything about it so they get lost and don’t always make the best decisions.”
In order to help the home-buying process for first-time buyers, Patterson said the workshop primarily focuses on credit scores, interest and loans.
“We want to be able to help them borrow more money, so we teach them how to improve their credit scores and eventually pay a lower interest,” she said.
The workshops occur four times a year, two Saturdays each. The next workshops will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 13 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 20. Patterson said every workshop usually reaches capacity, averaging about 28 people per session.
Topics covered in the workshop include home ownership, developing a household budget, the process of purchasing a home and the mortgage application process.
Each participant will receive a certificate of completion. This certificate will allow the participant to qualify to apply for down payment assistance if they apply through Federal Home Loan Banks, she said.
Lori Abram, broker and owner of Choice Realty and Management , said most first-time home buyers she has worked with are at least somewhat educated thanks to the Internet.
“Most of them are more educated because of the Internet,” she said. “A lot of them look and research using online websites like homefinder.org.”
Abram closes anywhere from 20 to 40 houses a year, she said. Her first-time home-buying clients are typically 25 to 35 years old.
Though first-time buyers do not have the experience that seasoned buyers have, they are not at a complete disadvantage, she said.
“A first-time buyer isn’t any less capable than these two-, three-, four-time buyers,” she said.
For those who do not attend the workshop, Patterson had one piece of advice she said she believes every home buyer should abide by: request a home inspection before purchasing.
“I’ve heard horror stories from people who didn’t have a home inspection,” she said. “They’re always the most interesting to hear about.”
Many volunteers that teach the workshops have shared their personal misfortunes, hoping the attendees will learn from their mistakes, Patterson said.
“No houses are perfect and everyone knows that, even the new ones,” she said.
Though this workshop is specific to Bloomington, Patterson says there are similar workshops nationwide.
“I believe this is necessary everywhere,” she said. “We need home-buyer education all around the country. Any time someone can become educated in something foreign to them, they’re going to be more successful.”
