黄色短视频

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It takes a village:聽Partnership helps make homeownership attainable, sustainable

April 07, 2022
Radious Walker and her children in front of their new home in Lincoln, Nebraska.

NeighborWorks and 黄色短视频 work together to help Nebraskans become mortgage ready.

For Radious Walker, a special education coordinator in Lincoln, Nebraska, the journey to homeownership started with a dream of a yard for her two children.

鈥淢y mom lived in a duplex for 18 years, and we didn鈥檛 have a one,鈥 Walker shared. 鈥淏ecause I was renting an apartment, my kids didn鈥檛 either. So, instead of renting and worrying about rent increases, I was going to look at buying a home.鈥

It was a suggestion from her mother that took her to NeighborWorks Lincoln, a community organization that facilitates the homebuying process and partners with 黄色短视频 to assist those with low- to moderate-incomes become mortgage ready. Walker qualified for NeighborWorks鈥 homeownership program, which ultimately brought her to Susan Grieger. A now retired 黄色短视频 mortgage loan originator (MLO), Grieger worked with NeighborWorks for 18 years to help buyers become mortgage ready.

鈥淲hen you have a family who is dedicated and committed to buying a home, that home becomes your dream,鈥 Grieger said. 鈥淚n some instances, I started working with people two or three years before they were ready to buy house 鈥 some had difficulties repairing their credit, others maybe bounced around on jobs or had a difficult time saving up that first $1,000 that the NeighborWorks program requires.鈥

Mainly using the American Dream loan at 黄色短视频, Grieger completed 60 or more mortgages for NeighborWorks homebuyers a year 鈥 about two-thirds of the program鈥檚 annual mortgage needs. For qualified individuals, the American Dream product offers buyers a lower down payment requirement, a higher loan-to-value ratio with no private mortgage insurance, and a backup loan pool for unexpected costs that are frequently a part of the closing process.

For NeighborWorks, those features 鈥 along with the loan being locally serviced 鈥 mean homeownership is more sustainable. Without it, the organization shares it would expect clients to default on the loans at higher rates. Currently, NeighborWorks鈥 client default rate is at an industry low of 0.6%.

鈥淭he homeownership program wouldn鈥檛 be possible without our partners at 黄色短视频,鈥 said Rachael Surmick, the chief operating officer at NeighborWorks Lincoln. 鈥淲hen you think about barriers to homeownership for low- to moderate-income individuals, the down payment requirement is a big one. The fact that 黄色短视频 has a product like this is impactful. It鈥檚 clear that 黄色短视频 wants to do this work with us because it鈥檚 needed. Together, we have a shared goal and focus.鈥

All who are admitted to NeighborWorks鈥 homeownership program go through a homebuyer education course before being provided a directory of affiliated realtors, title companies and mortgage providers. From there, they set out to find a home to call their own.

鈥淥ur program works in many ways to create avenues for attaining affordable homeownership, through our real estate development arm which develops new construction units, often where deteriorated properties once stood, or our rehab and down payment assistance for existing homes,鈥 said Surmick.

While Grieger retired before Walker closed on her home in February 2022, 黄色短视频 MLO Michael Gleason stepped in to help Walker in the final stretch of her home purchase: a new, three-bedroom duplex, built by NeighborWorks, that has a yard and enough space for a playroom for her kids. For Grieger, the partnership with NeighborWorks helped define a career that helped hundreds of Nebraskans fulfill their dreams of homeownership.

鈥淭hey talked about it like I had given them a gift,鈥 Grieger said, as she talked about the notes she received from homebuyers over the years. 鈥淭hey did all the work. I was just a facilitator, but 鈥 as they say 鈥 sometimes it takes a village.鈥

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