We have 3 workshops coming up over the next few months. In February we will meet on the 16th and the 23rd, postponed from the 9th and the 16th due to the storm. In March, we will meet as planned on the 16th and 23rd. In April, we have our first ever all in one weekend, April 27 & 28, meeting on Saturday and Sunday of that weekend.

Institution for Savings

We are pleased to welcome our newest participating lender, the Institution for Savings, in Newburyport. Looking forward to the New Year.

Andover Down Payment Assistance

We have some exciting news: 

The program has just been expanded! Now we are able to provide assistance with a maximum of 10% of the purchase price, up to $15,000, according to need!  

We will be offering an introduction to the program on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 pm, at the Memorial Hall Library. More details on the program may be found at www.coastalhbedu.org. 

And if you would like to apply, please use email MSolish@CoastalHB.org. You can fill out the application if you are interested, even if you have not identified a property at this time. There are limited funds for this program and they will be available on a first-come first-served basis.

We have just confirmed our schedule for the remainder of 2012. We will be meeting at the Amesbury Health Center on the following dates:

August 18 & 25

September 8 & 15

October 13 & 20

November 10 & 17

 

Why take a first time homebuyer course?

The first time homebuyer's workshop has two benefits:

1. the information contained in the 4 sessions. and 2. the certificate given at the end.

The information that people learn is invaluable to them because they are learning it in a "safe harbor". By becoming familiar with the process in a classroom, they can learn and make their decisions later. We have 4 sessions covering Budget & Credit, Obtaining a Mortgage, Locating a Property, and Legal Issues.  The guest speakers include our budget & credit expert, a loan officer, a Realtor, a home inspector and a lawyer. We also talk about lead paint, affordable housing and down payment assistance. The fee is $50 per household and each household gets a large workbook in a three ring binder to keep.

The second benefit is the certificate of completion given at the end. It is required for the MHP Soft Second program, MA Housing, and most affordable housing and down payment assistance programs. I have been teaching this for 8 years and everyone who takes it at the end (because they just found out they needed it to close) says they wish they had taken it earlier.

Andover Down Payment Assistance

We are accepting applications for the Anodver down payment assitance program. Please email Martha Solish at MSolish@CoastalHB.org for more information and an application.

Here is a link to an article that appeared in the Andover Townsman. Although the workshop mentioned here is over, we are starting another one on June 21.

In Andover we are offering an additional workshop on Wednesday, May 30 & Thursday, May 31 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and finishing on Saturday, June 2 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  We will meet at the Memorial Hall Library on North Main Street. For an information sheet and registration form please email EOLeary@CoastalHB.org.