City planning fair for prospective area homeowners
Event scheduled for Saturday
While some may opt to watch the housing market for the best time to buy a home, some experts advise doing so when you find the perfect house and you can afford it.
The city of Toledo’s Department of Housing and Community Development is looking to help residents find their perfect and affordable home with its inaugural homeownership fair.
More than 500 people have pre-registered for Saturday’s event — and more are expected.
The event seeks to help residents discover everything they need to know about becoming a homeowner: discovering homebuying tips, understanding the mortgage process from the lender’s perspective, protecting their investment, and maintaining their home, organizers say.
“Right now, I think if you look at the most recent census data, Toledo is almost 50 percent renters, 50 percent homeowners, and that has been a statistic — in terms of the renters — that has been increasing and we’d like to stabilize that decline,” Rosalyn Clemens, director of housing and community development, said last month on the Wednesdays with Wade podcast hosted by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
“It’s not that we don’t love renters; we do, but we know the best way to build family wealth is through your own home,” she said.
The “Find Your Way Home: Unlock the Door to Homeownership” fair takes place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Scott High School with workshops hosted by representatives of the Fair Housing Center, Huntington Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Northwest Ohio Realtors, and others.
More than 30 vendors including lenders, realtors, and financial opportunity centers will be on hand to help residents navigate the process of purchasing a home in Toledo.
“I call it everything you need to know about home buying,” Ms. Clemens said. “If you need someone to look at your credit and tell you what you need to work on, you can get it done at the fair. If you need to learn about [help] with that cash for your down payment and closing costs, we’ll have banks there and lenders that can talk to you about that process.”
Residents interested in buying their first home are especially encouraged to attend, organizers said. Attendees can also expect to receive information about qualifying for a mortgage loan as well as shopping for a home.
Eddie Campos, president of the Northwest Ohio Realtors, will hold a workshop that highlights the overall home buying process as well as speak to the importance of using a licensed professional Realtor to help guide the process.
“The process — especially now — is very overwhelming, especially for a first-time home buyer,” said Megan Foos, chief executive officer of Northwest Ohio Realtors.
While access to a plethora of websites and portals has made finding the home somewhat easier, the rest of the process can be daunting and intimidating, she said.
“Winning that offer, going through the inspections, going through the title work, going through financing, all of that can be very overwhelming,” Ms. Foos said. “So, to work with a Realtor who obviously has worked with numerous clients and who might know other professionals to gear you to who knows what the market is worth and that house is worth so you put in the right offer, really can make that process a lot easier.”
As a partner in the initiative, Fifth Third Bank Bank said its role in the fair is to do whatever it can to help people with financial stability and access to information toward building generational wealth through homeownership.
“We are really excited and honored to be one of the partners,” said Dana Capers, community impact manager. “It is very thoughtful of the city to start this homeownership fair. We have really great mortgage products and a very, very robust down payment assistance program so our representatives will be able to talk about those programs.”
For residents who aren’t quite ready, Fifth Third representatives are ready to talk to them about what they need to do to get ready, she said, “Whether it’s getting their credit together or opening an account.”
The Lucas County Land Bank and Habitat for Humanity will showcase some of their homes that are for sale. While the waitlist for homes with Habitat is currently closed, fair attendees will get an opportunity to hear what the homeownership program entails.
The fair will also offer an opportunity for attendees to enter the raffle for a chance to win $10,000 down payment assistance. The drawing is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
While the event is free, pre-registration is requested at https://www.surveyhero.com/c/3nchdtd7.
Contact Sheila Howard at
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