TAMPA, Fla. — With a softening economy expected, potential home buyers are being encouraged to “get ready” for any economic forces that may help stabilize or drop home prices into a buyer’s market.
What You Need To Know
- The Housing and Education Alliance (HEA) helps people on how to buy homes
- The group offers classes that teach how to plan out a budget, improve credit scores
- Click here for more information on HEA’s home buyer education classes
“We saw homes that were sold for $400,000 and $500,000, then selling for $150,000 back then,” said Sylvia Alvarez, founder and executive director of the Housing and Education Alliance (HEA) in Tampa. “It was insane. So we feel something is coming.”
That something, according to Alvarez, could be a window of opportunity for new home buyers.
Alvarez talked about the 2008 housing crash when she and most of her employees lost their homes.
They continued to work for no pay, volunteering to help people in the same situation they faced.
Since then, HEA has saved 14,000 families from losing their homes through its home buyer education classes.
Those classes, held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings offer students more information on how to plan out a family budget, improve their credit scores and provide information on housing assistance available where they are looking to purchase a home.
“Every municipality is different. From the city of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Pasco and Orange County,” Alvarez said. “Everyone has different amounts. Everyone has different rules. Everyone has different regulations. We was housing counselors have to know about all of this.”
Alvarez says buying a home is not an overnight purchase, and it could take months for someone to be financially ready to take on a home mortgage.
But she says now is the time to get ready, so that when the market softens you can be ready to make a purchase more quickly by learning the ropes now.
For more information on HEA’s home buyer education classes, visit their website.
