For more than 30 years, Rhode Island Housing has invested over $3.2 Billion dollars providing low-interest loans, grants, education, advocacy and consumer counseling to help customers rent, buy and retain their homes in Rhode Island through special programs such as rental assistance, homebuyer education, and safe, affordable mortgages.  

Rhode Island Housing is a self-sustaining public agency, bringing about 400 million in investor dollars into the state each year, by selling tax-exempt bonds, without any funding from the State. Everything earned is reinvested to provide safe and affordable homes for low- and moderate-income Rhode Islanders. Rhode Island Housing has helped more than 60,000 families buy homes and have financed more than 14,000 homes to rent.

This week Rich and Steve spoke with Cathleen Paniccia, the Director of Homeownership at RI Housing about the great programs they offer such as:

HelpCenter Homebuyer Education
First-time homebuyer services
Emergency Housing Assistance Funds
Heat Assistance   Tax Lien Assistance (Madeline Walker Act)
Family Self-Sufficiency
Foundations of Senior Health
Neighborhood Revitalization Program
YouthRAP

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

As their mission statement says,” Rhode Island Housing works to ensure that all people who live or work in Rhode Island can afford a safe, healthy home that meets their needs. Our belief is that a home encompasses much more than four walls and a roof.  A good home provides the foundation upon which families can thrive, children can learn and grow, and communities can prosper.”

 

 Listen to this week's show here: [46:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I got an email from a young man in New Jersey who has been thinking about taking the plunge and buying his first home, he has been listening to the show via the podcast, and is grateful for the advice I have been giving. There are a lot of myths and half-truths surrounding the real estate market these days, and it can be pretty daunting for a first time buyer, now I am not saying that everything is Rosy, but if you are in it for the long term, Real estate is still a great investment, and there are some great programs for financing for fist time buyers.

The National Association of Realtors released their third quarter survey last week and reported that 28 out of 152 metropolitan areas showed increases in median home prices from the same quarter in 2007, 4 remained unchanged and 120 declined. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and in spite of the recent downward price trend, has experienced net equity gains. Nationally, homes increased 18.3% since 2002, and 90 % of all metro areas show six-year price gains.

 With historically low prices and interest rates, coupled with the improved FHA  guidelines, and the first time homebuyer’s credit, it’s an optimal time for entry-level buyers with a long-term view, and the National Association of Realtors reported that  41% of all transactions involved 1^st  time homebuyers in 2007. According to the NAR report, the median income for a first-time buyer was $60,600 and typical first-time buyers bought homes costing $165,000. Of first-time buyers who made a down payment, 69 percent used savings and 26 percent used money from a friend or relative. Another 7 percent received a loan from a relative or friend, while 16 percent used funds from their investments. A fixed-rate mortgage was chosen by 92 percent of those surveyed.

For First time homebuyers, The biggest fear is the unknown, Homeownership doesn’t come with a manual, and a little understanding will go a long way, especially in these economic  times, According to data from NeighborWorks America, a community advocate group, foreclosure rates for homeowners who attended  homeowner education programs was 20 times less than that among subprime borrowers ,and they performed three times better than those in the prime mortgage market during the second quarter of 2008.

 To that end, Residential Properties LTD and Homestar Mortgage will be hosting First time home-buying seminars throughout the state starting after the first of the year.  This week Steve and I talked with Ian Barnacle a sales associate in Residential Properties Providence office, Ian offered his perspective both as a buyer’s agent who helps first time buyers, and as a first time buyer himself.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

 

 Listen to this week's show here [46:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download