Buying a home is a dream within reach for anyone equipped with the right advice, according to experts from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, an organization seeking to expand within the Latino real estate market.
“We focus on educating real estate agents to offer better advice to Hispanic families who want to buy a home,” said Ron Martinez, president. “We are also offering sessions led by experts to encourage members of our organization to not only sell homes, but to also grow their own businesses.”
Members who attend the informational sessions walk away with legal and financial advice as well as an analysis of the real estate market.
“Our organization has been in the city of Atlanta since 2006 and since then, we have hosted different events to educating Hispanic and non-Hispanic real estate agents on becoming better references for clients looking to buy a home as well as the constant ups and downs in the real estate market,” said Melissa Agosto, vice president. “In our sessions, we promote the message that we are 53 million Latinos living in the United States and of that number, more than 25 percent qualify to buy a home.”
Specialists believe that in order to land a good deal when buying a home it is ideal for potential buyers to have good credit, a fixed income and to have an idea of where they want to live.
However, not being able to meet these conditions doesn’t shut the doors on one’s dream. In fact, there are many other ways people can purchase a property.
“Anyone can buy a home,” said Aldo Lopez, a mortgage specialist. “There are many programs that can help people obtain credit for the purchase.”
Lopez emphasized that the difference for people with bad credit is evident in the interest rates they are offered and the down payment required at the time of acquiring the property.
“If potential buyers do not have a credit history or their credit score is bad, some banks will more than likely not approve a mortgage, however there are ways people can work around these drawbacks,” said Lopez, who stressed that a good real estate advisor always offers options to their clients.
Another aspect to consider is how taxes are filed, the expert said.
“People should pay attention to the way they file their taxes and take into account that it can affect them positively or negatively when buying a home,” the mortgage specialist explained.
According to experts, the best and most advisable time to invest in real estate is when a buyer has less than 50 percent of their income committed to debt payments.
“Often times, it is not the best time to buy, which is why renting is convenient, even though the money you put towards it is essentially being lost,” Lopez said.
The expert said that on certain occasions buying a house can add on more responsibilities to people, as opposed to renting, but purchasing this type of property always offers more security for families.
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