ELKINS — Sometimes a little information can go a long way. For nearly 900 households in the region, information that came from the HomeOwnership Center Inc. helped them buy a house.
The HomeOwnership Center has been offering personalized financial advising, credit analysis and mortgage loans for 20 years, and during that time it often has been the difference between a family buying a home or not.
“We take each customer from wherever their starting point is, and work with them to get them mortgage ready,” said home ownership advisor Carrie Shupp in a news release. “Sometimes customers come to us and they are ready to speak with our loan originator that day, and find out about our loan products and options right away. Other times customers have some work to do before that home ownership dream can become a reality. They may need to pay down debt or improve their credit. We let them know what they can do to improve their situation, we stay by them throughout the process, and if they to put the work in to get things fixed up, we are there cheering them on at the closing table when they purchase their home.”
Since its beginnings in 1998, the Elkins-based not-for-profit organization has educated, guided and lent to home buyers of all incomes and household types in an eight-county area.
“We are in it for the smiles, for the sense of satisfaction people feel when they accomplish this goal. Buying a home can be a great opportunity for a family to build wealth, to be able to pass something along to the next generation. It is a very important step for many families,” explained loan originator Tawnya Holbrook.
Executive Director Kate Somers agreed, and added, “We are so proud to have assisted almost 900 households in purchasing a home during the last 20 years, and we are excited to see how much more we can accomplish over the next 20 years of serving our community.”
The HomeOwnership Center will be celebrating this milestone throughout 2018 by highlighting customer success stories, and invites former HOC customers to reach out and share how home ownership has positively impacted their lives over the years.
The mission of the HomeOwnership Center is to create and support successful home owners through sound and ongoing financial counseling, home buyer education and responsible lending. Services are available to all who are interested, without restrictions.
The HomeOwnership Center is located at 2276 Randolph Ave., Elkins, along U.S. 219 north toward the Parsons Road. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information is available by calling 304-636-9115 or visiting www.hocwv.org.
Article courtesy of The Inter-Mountain