The African American Alliance for Homeownership’s annual African American Homeownership Fair promotes homeownership among Portland’s African American community. Attendees may learn about first-time homebuyer resources, visit home buying experts, attend free workshops, enter a down payment assistance drawing, enjoy lunch, or win a prize! A bus tour featuring homes for sale will commence at 3:00 PM—seats on the bus are first come, first served.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Pre-registration is not required!

Interested vendors may contact the African American Alliance for Homeownership or view the vendor registration form online.

An event flyer and other information may be found on Facebook.

Washington County’s first annual homeownership fair will offer resources for new and current homeowners, door prizes, fun, and a special guest speaker!

Brought to you by the African American Alliance for Homeownership (AAAH) and affordable housing developer Bienestar, in an effort to support Latinx, African-American, and other communities of color to build wealth, secure stable housing, and support their families.

Learn more about this event on Facebook.

The Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® invites members to join its HOWNW.com Certified Specialist class, developed to help REALTORS® address buyers’ concerns about homeownership affordability. Attendees will learn how to provide buyers with practical hands-on information about financing programs and products that may help financially challenged or first-time homebuyers in the Portland metro region.

Class size is very limited, but attendees may earn 5 CE credits. Lunch will be provided. Register for the HOWNW.com Certified Specialist class.

(Note: PMAR will not refund registration fees for cancellations received after noon on Friday, April 22nd.)

If you want to buy a home and need help to find the best possible deal, the fair will have all the information you need to get started. This year’s fair also includes a bus tour of homes for sale. An event designed to help first-time homebuyers purchase homes, and help other homeowners with mortgage/foreclosure issues.

PMAR’s public service website, HOWNW.com (Home Ownership Opportunities Northwest) has a new section that offers consumers information from reliable sources such as the National Association of Realtors®, the Federal Trade Commission, Fannie Mae and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about how to avoid foreclosure and fraud.

To explore these useful new resources, visit: http://hownw.com/consumer/avoidingforeclosure.asp

June is National Homeownership Month and if you read the blog, you probably know I am a new member of the homeowner community.

After getting through my first transaction, I can say that I definitely understand how some first time homebuyers can be intimidated by the process of buying a home. Per the old adage, “nothing good comes easy”, and I emphasize the good.

Between choosing a Realtor and a lender, finding the right home, negotiations, inspection and the mounds of paperwork at each step, it can make your head spin when you have no experience with it. Fortunately, Realtors help alleviate all of those concerns and lend understanding to each stage of the process.  

However, for those first time buyers who may not have chosen a Realtor yet, or a just looking for more information, our friends over at the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors® (PMAR), have put together a great website for potential buyers –  HOWNW.com (Homeownership Opportunities Website Northwest).

The website features a very helpful Home Buying Process section. I peeked at the site a few times before I decided to buy and found it very helpful. The site also includes a section that allows potential buyers to search for homeownership programs that may fit their needs.

Even though I had a good Realtor, along with friends, family & colleagues around me that are knowledgeable about real estate, I still found it stressful at times (I’m a worrier), so I think any other resources that can shed some light on the process are worth highlighting – here are a few others I was able to find: 

American Bankers Association – National Homeownership Month Resources

CNN Money: Money 101 – Buying a Home

Portland Housing Center: Schedule for Homebuying 101 Classes

Image courtesy of John Salazar