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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
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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.