(.ObscxUCr Page A6 • r&f./A / <///A / / r New Columbia Renters Become Owners D e La Salle North Catholic a unique school that not only prepares students for college, but prepares them for life Affordable home made possible and we hit it off, as they were eager G aii . In August, Charade and Jenee to know all about the home buying Johnson and their kids moved out programs that 1 had to offer. We talked about PDC’s pro of theirapartment in NewColumbia to rent a friend’s rental home. Not grams and also the many other pro long after the friend decided to sell grams that could help them as well. the home. Suddenly the Johnsons By the time we were done they were had one big decision and lots ot loaded up with lots of information from home loan programs, home other smaller decisions to make. Buying a home is a big decision, buyer education classes and other and the Johnsons elected early to nonprofit resources as well. Early on, the couple made an seek out as much information as possible before they made any final important decision. They decided to take a homebuyer-training class. decisions. I met them early in September at In September they attended an all- a community festival in Kenton day homebuyer class hosted by Park. I was staffing a table for the the African American Alliance for Portland DevelopmentCommission Homeownership. Upon reflecting by J on Our goal is to prepare students to become competent, faith-filled, college ready citizens. Open up your heart and home to a youth Experience the rewards of being a Foster Parent! Tuesday, April 1st from 6:30 - 7:30 pm 018 SW Boundary Court Portland, OR 97239 www.boysandgirlsaid.org Boys & Girls Aid about the class, Charade explains, "It was very helpful with lots of detail about what to expect and what to look out for.” The couple left the class with a much better understanding about the home buying process and more prepared to make their big decision. If they were going to buy, they had to pick a lender to use and make sure they were comfortable with the loan terms. A friend who is "mortgage guy” told them they could afford to buy the home they were renting. But before commit ting to a specific mortgage lender, Charade explains “You need to shop around to see what is out there.” The Johnson’s also realized that The Johnson family celebrate home ownership in the New Columbia neighborhood of north Portland. Come to an information session at Boys & Girls Aid: RSVP: 503-542-2323 March 26. 2008 S p e c ia l E d itio n A/t 7 S p e c ia l E d it io n a verbal pre-qualification was not as good as a written pre-approval letter. They certainly did not want to get their hearts set on buying the home if it was out of their price range or until they were sure they would get a loan. In shopping for a lender, they also meet with Kari Hernandez, a loan specialist for the PDC. In the m eeting, H ernandez told them about the Oregon Bond loan and PD C's JumpStart Loan. The Oregon Bond loans is a state- sponsored program offering low- monthly payments, 30 year fixed interest rates and cash assistance equal to three percent of the loan amount. The Jump JumpStar pro gram is a temporary interest rate buy down program which would increase their purchasing power. This program would allow them to gradually ease into their full house payment as their ineome continued to rise. After talking to a few differ ent lenders they settled on getting pre-approved with PDC for a home loan. Within a few days of applying for the loan they got both good news and bad news. The good news was they could qualify to buy a home $200,000home, but a $250, (XX) purchase price was too high. This meant the rental home they were in was out of their price range. Now they were at a crossroads. Should they look into buying a home under $200,000, or should they continue renting? Over Thanksgiving weekend they contacted Alyssa Isenstein Krueger a Sales Associate for HOST Development. They liked the homes that HOST, a nonprofit de veloper, had been building at New Columbia and wondered if they had any affordable units for sale. A tthetim eoftheircall, Krueger informed them that they did not have any remaining homes in their price range. With this news, the Johnsons decided to put their home-buying plans on hold and save up for a downpayment. Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. PCRÍÍ “M eeting the Affordable Housing Needs in the Community ffor 15 djears 06362556 t Our mission is “to preserve, expand and manage affordable housing in the City of Portland and provide access to and advocacy for services to our residents.” For more than 15 years, PCRI has worked to expand housing opportunities tor individuals and families living in this com munity. We currently own more than 730 units of affordable housing, primarily scattered site, single family homes. We rent one, two, three and four bedroom houses and apartments. For more information please call (503) 288-2923 or stop by our office located at 6329 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Visit our website at www.perihome.org.