Getting Ready To Buy Your First Home

If you are interested in buying a home but have never done so before, you might want to attend a homebuyer education class. Many local agencies offering financial assistance to first-time homebuyers require completion of such courses. A number of community-based nonprofit groups offer homebuyer education classes for a modest fee or free. The course usually consists of eight hours of class and individualized counseling. Topics covered include: preparing for homeownership, shopping for a home, obtaining a mortgage, loan closing and life as a homeowner.

Below are links to nonprofit organizations whose staff have been trained and certified by HUD, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation or the American Homeowner Education and Counseling Training Institute to offer homebuyer counseling.

• SCANPH’s Directory of Certified Homebuyer Education Providers
  www.scanph.org (click on Homebuyer Ed)
  
  
• Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Los Angeles
  www.cccsla.org
  
  
• Community Financial Resource Center
  www.cfrc.net
  
  
• Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services
  www.lanhs.org/classes.html
  
  
• Access Community Housing
  www.accesshousing.org
  
  
• ACORN Housing Corporation
  www.acornhousing.org
  
  
• Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services
  www.homeownershipcenter.com
  
  
• Montebello Housing Development Corporation
  www.mtbhousingcorp.com/programs.htm
  
  
• New Economics for Women
  www.neweconomicsforwomen.org
  (Click on Financial Literacy)

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