1. LA NHS
Partnership-Building
LA NHS makes a commitment to the process by creating a partnership of
residents, business and local government leaders. A plan for targeted
community revitalization is put in place.
2. Prepurchase Homebuyer Education
The homebuyer learns about the purchase process with a supportive organization
that helps them clear up credit problems, find a home they want to buy,
and coordinate the rehabilitation needs of the property.
3. Flexible Loan Products
Local lenders work with LA NHS to create mortgage products the customer
can afford -- with features like lower down payments and rehabilitation
loans even when the total cost exceeds the value of the home.
Property casualty insurance and mortgage insurance companies
provide products that allow for the high loan-to-value ratios. The lender
can hold the loans in portfolio or package and sell them to Freddie
Mac or Fannie Mae's secondary markets. Neighborhood Housing Services
of America purchases special-needs first mortgages as well as second-
and third-mortgage rehabilitation loans. The secondary markets return
funds to the lender, who recycles them by originating additional mortgages
to the community.
4. Property Services
LA NHS inspects the property, offers technical assistance to the homebuyer
and assists with the property's rehabilitation.
5. Postpurchase Counseling
LA NHS trains the new owners in home maintenance and budgeting, and
supplies early intervention delinquency counseling so that defaults
and foreclosures are avoided.
6. Neighborhood impact
Homeowners gain a stake in their communities; lenders reach a significant
market in which risk has been mitigated; the tax base increases; and
the nonprofit partnership is one step closer to achieving its goal of
neighborhood self-sufficiency. Everyone benefits.