Posted on 04/30/2005 9:42:43 PM PDT by LNewman
... Lenders are working to eliminate obstacles to ownership by easing conventional loan rules.
....Latino home buyers are overcoming cultural and institutional barriers ...and helping to gentrify some neglected neighborhoods.
snip
...builders should be aware that Latinos are looking for specific amenities, which include extra bedrooms for extended family; neighborhoods near churches, schools and public transportation; ... workspace ... to store tools associated with their occupations.
snip
Those challenges can include all-cash incomes and lack of traditional established credit, said Munera, who works with Pasadena Dickson Podley Realtors ... director ... of Servicios Hispanos, a Spanish-language program that offers workshops and other assistance to Latino home buyers.
Because of a deep distrust of banks, some potential Latino buyers have no accounts, said Glenn Hayes, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County ...Latinos may pay rent and utility bills with cash, so the first job of agencies that help prospective buyers is to set up bank accounts and get them to pay bills with checks.
snip
Some buyers lack federal W-2 forms ... but they qualify for mortgages because many of the country's biggest lenders have adopted creative credit practices.
Countrywide's Optimum Loan Program ... provides loans to qualified buyers with nontraditional credit, such as rent and utility bill receipts, and whose income is received in cash.
First American Corp. in Orange County ... uses its own qualifying criteria rather than the usual FICO scores. The company also guarantees closing costs and in some cases offers low- to moderate-income customers a 25% discount on those expenditures ...
Immigrant households often have three or more workers, which helps the families qualify for loans ... It's not uncommon to have two or three families' names on one title document, said Mike Garcia, a Realty Masters agent ...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Countrywide Financial Corp (casa.countrywide.com)
Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com/espanol
Citibank (www.citibank.com/espanol)
MSN Latino Personal Finance Center (www.msnlatino.com)
KB Home (www.kbcasa.com)
California HomeFinancing Authority (www.calhfa.ca.gov)
Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County (www.nhsoc.org)
LA Neighborhood Housing Services (www.lanhs.org)
Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire (www.nhsie.org)
NeighborWorks (www.nw.org)
ACORN (213-747-4211, ext. 215)
Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana (www.hermandadmexicana.com/home/homeowner.pdf)
Univision.com's Casa Channel (www.univision.com)
California Assn. of Realtors (Spanish language buyers guide available at most realty offices)
Article states:
"Qualifying for a loan sometimes takes months ... because borrowers often must finesse four layers of lending for one purchase: institutional lenders, such as Bank of America for the first mortgage; private-funding sources, such as Orange County Affordable Housing Trust, for the second; Cal HOME for 24% of the purchase price in deferred loans; and down-payment assistance such as city grants."
This, I'm assuming, is in ADDITION to the 3 or 4 family names on the title!
Earlier today I was out pulling weeds when I inadvertantly picked up a handful of cat poop and it smelled better than this article.
It was a major challenge to excerpt because there was too much to work with!
It's a major challenge for me to read most of these Bandini-laced articles.
Latino home buyers are overcoming cultural and institutional barriers ...and helping to gentrify some neglected neighborhoods.
Only if gentrification means there are goats in the front yard, perpetual yard sales going on, crowing roosters strutting about hither and yon, grocery carts strewn about the neighborhood, old couches, chairs and mattresses dumped helter skelter, lots of litter, cars parked on lawns, music that gets louder as the listeners slug down more beers.....
BTW, your Post 21 was icing on the sh_tcake we're being served.
this is one of the reasons we left San Jose, CA... multiple families crammed into one house, taking up all the parking...
we left six years ago... and now that same little 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom in that neighborhood is going for over $500,000!! ojala! (i bought it for $155,000 in 1990.)
I took it in high school and it has helped me my whole career.
That day is already here. I live in LA, and I am often told, "What?! You live in LA and don't speak Spanish?!"
I remember when Spanish-speaking people, when asking for directions or the time of day or whatever, would politely ask if I spoke Spanish. Now, store clerks, people on the street, etc., will walk up to me and start rattling off in Spanish, assuming that of course I speak their language. When I tell them I don't speak it, they act annoyed and put out.
Yep, I don't doubt it for a minute.
"Oprima el numero dos para Ingles."
Even then, 90% of Euros speak very passable English. The same cannot be said for those moving in millions to the USA.
That day arrived here, years ago. I have learned to ignore it, and continue the conversation in English.
What career does German help with?
I was thinking of encouraging him to take Latin - it would help with anything medical or with the derivation of English words. I took Russian, since I majored in metallurgical engineering and at that time, the Soviets were leaders in the field.
Except they can skip to Mexico like all the other absconders from justice and come back with new names and start again while the rest of the taxpayers are footing the bill.
The writer used a new word - gentrify. Wait until neighborhoods get a load of "gentrification"...
Engineering for one. I am an industrial electrician in the printing industry and about 50% of the machines come from Germany. It may not be all that helpful in today's world. Studying German was beneficial to me. It's close to english and it helped me see the roots of the english language. Latin is a pretty good choice, too.
Home Owners Associations were designed specifically with this in mind. I used to hate the idea like I hate communism or anything with the word Hillary in it, but I've realized that I'm exactly the kind of person who is best protected by them. I'm a good neighbor and I want maximum appreciation and minimal risk of erosion in my community standards. HOA's are private organizations which get government sanction to operate and they do with governments cannot or will not do but often should have been doing all along. (If you are going to flame me about HOAs, save it. I already know the solution to every problem you will propose.)
No flames. HOAs can protect people from the mess we've been talking about above. The police won't. The only gripe I have about HOAs is that it's like paying protection money every month on your own property, and the fees seem to go up, up and up every year.
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